Snarky Puppy - Snarky Puppy Europe 2027

A collective that has won five GRAMMY Awards®, Snarky Puppy has “always been a group that puts the sound of the music first”, says Michael League, the group's leader and bassist. Drawing on a broad range of influences — funk, rhythm & blues, hard rock, classic soul, contemporary gospel, new technologies, fusion and jazz — Snarky Puppy is not quite a jazz group, nor really a fusion band, and certainly not a jam band. The best approach is probably to follow the advice of Nate Chinen of the New York Times, who wrote during an online discussion about the group that one should “take them for what they are, rather than judge them for what they are not”.

“Our sonic universe has expanded considerably over the years,” says League. “When we started, we were more jazz, more cerebral and more focused on the music itself. By joining the Dallas scene, our music became groovier, more emotional and, in a certain way, deeper. We became more focused on conveying a clear message, one that is accessible to the listener without oversimplifying our music.”

In January 2025, the group once again collaborated with the Metropole Orkest, a hybrid ensemble based in the Netherlands known for blending jazz, classical music and popular music on a symphonic scale. Recorded live over three evenings, from 17 to 19 January 2025 in Utrecht, the project once again brings the two ensembles together, ten years after their first collaboration, Sylva. Released in 2015, this orchestral suite earned them the following year the GRAMMY for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. The result of this renewed partnership, Somni was released in November 2025 on GroundUP Music.

“It is by far the most ambitious project we have ever undertaken… and yet it is also one of the albums whose making was the most natural,” says League.