Snarky Puppy’s reputation had gone before them.
The original venue for their gig had to be changed to accommodate the large number of attending punters, and by the time the doors opened at the Forum, a queue snaked from Flinders St and down Hosier Lane onto Flinders Lane.
Snarky Puppy was formed in 2004, led by bassist, composer and producer Michael League. Many of the members met at the University of North Texas and the band now has over 25 players in regular rotation. The band has won Best Jazz Act three years running at the Dallas Observer Music Awards (2008, 2009 and 2010) and has played with such artists as Erykah Badu, Snoop Dogg, Morcheeba and Kenny Garrett.
Thanks to one email from jazz singer Alison Wedding to the Melbourne International Jazz Festival’s artistic director, Michael Tortoni (with a link to their track, ‘Quartermaster’) Snarky Puppy travelled from the US and performed their first ever Australian gig amongst the Romanesque statues and gargoyles at the Forum as part of the festival.
Formerly Melbourne-based Alison Wedding sang the first set with the band, starting off with a heart-felt ‘Doesn’t Make a Difference’, sung as a duet with Michael League on bass. Alison sang seven songs, mostly originals. Her pure, strong voice, incredible vocal control and skills as a formidable improviser have been missed in Melbourne. We got a taste of what was to come with an accomplished tenor saxophone solo by Chris Bullock in ‘Remain’ and Michael League’s virtuosic bass solo in ‘Too tight’. Alison ended the set with a flawless a cappella tune, ‘We’ll All Be Gone Tomorrow’ which had the crowd transfixed.
Snarky Puppy opened the second set strongly, their first track a wall of sound with pulsating rhythms, punchy brass doing tight harmonies and a mind-blowing keyboard solo by Justin Stanton. The mood then came down a few notches with a lyrical keyboard solo by Bill Laurance. There were two drum sets on stage and in their tune, ‘Flood’, Nate Werth and Robert Searight worked the crowd into a frenzy with their drum duet. Throughout the gig Michel League nodded his head and moved to the beat with a perpetually ecstatic look on his face. Band members grooved along to the frenetic crazy rhythms in the wings during their breaks . All around the Forum bodies were responding to the ‘music for the brain and booty’ (the band’s own words).
The band were roared on for an encore and Michael League told the crowd of upcoming gigs in Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane. An amazing experience – get there if you can.
Rating: 4 ½ stars out of 5
Snarky Puppy (USA) featuring Alison Wedding (USA)
Performed by:
Alison Wedding – vocals
Michael League – bass
Chris Bullock – saxophone
Mike Maher – trumpet
Justin Stanton – keys & trumpet
Bill Laurance – keys
Bob Lanzetti – guitar
Nate Werth – percussion
Robert Searight – drums
The Forum, Melbourne
1 June
Additional performance: Bennetts Lane, Melbourne, 4 June
Melbourne International Jazz Festival
31 May – 9 June
