It seems fitting and propitious that UCSB Arts & Lectures launches another formidable season with an event both serious and shamelessly celebratory. Those twin forces are part and parcel of the popular neo-fusion band known as Snarky Puppy, bringing its happy-footed hybrid of funk, “world” influences, jazz spices, and audience-stoking instincts to the Arlington Theatre on Tuesday, October 1.
Formed in the jazz education hotbed of University of North Texas in 2004, Snarky Puppy has developed a die-hard fan base and a Grammy Award–flecked discography of 10 albums, through 2022’s Empire Central. A hefty, rotating cast of accomplished musicians have passed through the ranks of this little big band, led by founder/composer/arranger/tireless spearhead Michael League. Although the band hasn’t often registered highly in the circles of jazz cognoscente and critics, it is a self-powered success story respected for its sizzling live shows and bone-deep independent spirit.
In an interview, League explained that “In today’s world, with people's attention spans and aesthetics and preferences, you’re already swimming upstream with a band without a vocalist, in terms of keeping people's attention. So, we really do everything we can to provide motifs and make sure that the grooves are always interesting, that the melodies are always singable and catchy, and that compositionally, there is lots of stimuli — for us, as well as the listener.