KERRVILLE WINE & MUSIC FESTIVAL
Snarky Puppy will be headlining the fest this Sunday night, September 5, at 10pm. La banda will be:
Robert “Sput” Searight – drums
Shaun Martin – keys
Chris McQueen – guitar
Mark Lettieri – guitar
Nate Werth – percussion
Michael League – bass
Clay Pritchard – tenor sax

ALBUM/DVD RELEASE & FALL TOUR PLANS
Whew! Finally! “Tell Your Friends” is coming out! Tell everyone you’ve ever met… on September 26th, Ropeadope Records will be releasing the double-disc live album/DVD in a bundle with a T-shirt, stickers, and probably some other kooky stuff. I can’t wait. We’ll be touring to support it from late September until the end of October, hitting these cities along the way.

Baton Rouge, LA
Lafayette, LA
New Orleans, LA
Hattiesburg, MS
Denton, TX
Dallas, TX
Atlanta, GA
Birmingham, AL
Roanoke, VA
Harrisonburg, VA
Richmond, VA
Boston, MA
New York, NY
Burlington, VT
Montreal, QC
Toronto, ON

Full details soon to come!

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITES
Everyone has stayed pretty busy outside of Snarky Puppy as the almost 3-month long touring intermission nears its end and things gear back up for a very active fall. Sput is heading to Malaysia with Timbaland, Maz and Bob and Bullock have been freelancing all over NYC, Jay has been touring Europe and the U.S. with Eli “Paperboy” Reed, Nate laid down some percussive goodness for the Lee Boys’ next album, Justin is gearing up for a move to the Big Apple, and I’m part of a new project with Henry Hey (of Rudder), Adam Rogers, and Jason “JT” Thomas that has been gigging at the West Village staple 55 Bar and will be recording a debut album around Christmas. Oh! And if you’re wondering who that ridiculously awesome horn section is on Beyonce’s next album, it just might be these two goofballs…

Boomtown and Jay at KMA studios, Times Square.

BLACKWATER MUSIC FESTIVAL
Here are some pics from this past weekend’s Blackwater Music Festival in Live Oak, Florida. Our good friend Matt Grondin’s amazing fiancé, Jolie Lopez, took these wonderful photos.

from the rear, hut!

Chris "Boomtown" Bullock

Soon-to-be New Yorker Justin Stanton

Sput, growing out the follicles.

Rocking the lean-back. Something fusioney must have been happening! Woo!

After a 3-hour break, we played a set of Matt’s tunes. Matt tore it up, Shaun played a keyboard behind his back, the crowd got rained on and didn’t give a crap, and it was awesome.

There's Matt. And Shaun in the background, undoubtedly doing something suspicious.

All in all, lots of great hanging and music. I’ll leave you with a wonderful photo that Jolie took of Michael Franti while we all watched from the wing, and another of Matt and a couple of the boys.

Michael Franti, the tallest musician in the world.

Matt Grondin, Justin Stanton, and Nate Werth. Hang time.

Dramatic!

Matt is a Jacksonville-bred, New Orleans-based guitarist who stumbled upon Snarky Puppy at our favorite NOLA hang, the Blue Nile. He asked me to co-produce his first album and we used a few of the pups on it (Mark Lettieri, Sput, Justin Stanton, Bobby Sparks, Clay Pritchard) as well as some other guests (John Popper, Ivan Neville, J.J. Grey, Sherik).

This kicks off what should be a very busy fall… our first official CD/DVD release on Ropeadope, Bear Creek Music Fest in FL, Kerrville Music Fest in TX, and of course, our annual fall US/Canadian tour. I’ll have the full, official tour schedule up after this weekend.

See you in sunny Florida,
Michael & pups

The big obvious news is that Snarky Puppy has been awarded “Best Jazz Act” in the 2010 Dallas Observer Music Awards, making it three years in a row. Like daaaaaaaaaa Bulls. Remember? The 90’s? Maybe not.

Anywho, no one was in town to accept the award, so our buddy Sarah Crisman scooped it up for us. See?

it looks like she's saying "yaaaaaaaaaargh"

Or if stillness isn’t entertaining enough for you…

Ah. But if you actually watched any of that, you now know that Bernard Wright’s trio was also nominated for this award. You know, the greatest living musician on earth? This guy…

This guy, too…

Still this guy…

And yes, even THIS guy…

In addition to being everyone in the band’s favorite living musician, Bernard is also our biggest collective influence. So it felt really, well, dirty to accept the award this year. Shit. I didn’t even vote for us… I voted for Nard. [T-shirt idea, maybe?]

In other news, the Pups’ fall plans are panning out. It looks like it should be crazy. Sput, Justin, Mark and I will be heading to Europe in the middle of our fall tour to play with Grammy-nominated gospel group Myron Butler & Levi. Sput’s the MD. Gulp.

Here’s the tentative agenda.

8/28 – Blackwater Music Festival in Live Oak, FL
9/5 – Kerrville Wine and Music Festival in Kerrville, TX
9/28 - Baton Rouge, LA
9/29 – Lafayette, LA
9/30 - New Orleans, LA
10/1 – Hattiesburg, MS
10/2 – Hattiesburg, MS
10/7 – Denton, TX
10/8 – Dallas, TX
10/9 – Myron Butler & Levi in Europe
10/10 – Myron Butler & Levi in Europe
10/11 – Myron Butler & Levi in Europe
10/12 – Myron Butler & Levi in Europe
10/13 – Myron Butler & Levi in Europe
10/14 – Myron Butler & Levi in Europe
10/15 – Myron Butler & Levi in Europe
10/16 – Myron Butler & Levi in Europe
10/17 – fly back to USA
10/18 – Birmingham, AL
10/19 – Boone, NC
10/20 – Roanoke, VA
10/21 – Roanoke, VA
10/22 - Harrisonburg, VA
10/23 – night off in northern VA (my high school best friend’s wedding)
10/24 – Richmond, VA
10/25 – New York, NY
10/26 – Brooklyn, NY
10/27 - Boston, MA
10/28 – Montreal (w/ Zach Brock’s trio)
10/29 – Montreal (w/ Zach Brock’s trio)
10/30 - Toronto (w/ Zach Brock’s trio)
10/31 – Toronto (Halloween show, covering “Songs In the Key of Life”)
11/12 – Bear Creek Music Festival in Live Oak, FL
11/14 – Bear Creek Music Festival in Live Oak, FL

More updates on all them shitz when things get nailed down. In the meantime…

Oh, wait… did you vote for us in the Dallas Observer Music Awards yet? If not, just lie and say you did.

Yep, that's ol' Chris "Biscuit" McQueen of Oso Closo fame. No Brian May solos on this gig, smart guy.

Know the difference between Shaun and me? He makes that sh*t look GOOD.

I'm really just patronizing Mark here for the sake of the crowd. He never says anything funny.

Someone must have pooted on stage.

And finally, the man with the most serious setup in showbiz, Nate Werth…

ANIMAL!!!!!!!

Hope the summer’s treating you all well. This 100 plus degree business needs to stop up here in Brooklyn… it’s the only way I can think of to make the city smell even worse. Besides more musicians moving here, of course.

Oh! Almost forgot. Some video of us playing “Flood” in Roanoke with John Ellis and Jason Marsalis this past March. Skip ahead to 1:45 to avoid listening to me babble. And what the hell was up with my hair that night? Not to be a girl or something, but seriously… rough.

Lots of hot, stinky love,
m

That silly little acronym stands for Dallas Observer Music Award. Snarky Puppy has been nominated again this year under “Best Jazz Act,” which I always get a kick out of. I guess they didn’t have enough crop for a “Best Crazy Singer-less Combination of Too Many Genres To Even Be Enjoyable” category.

We’ve won the last two years in the same category, so do us a flavor and help bring home the 3-peat.

Last year's DOMAs may have gotten a little out of control...

Speaking of Texas, we’re playing a really cool, really FREE show at a beautiful brand new amphitheater in Arlington (betwixt Dallas and Fort Worth) this Sunday, June 20. The lineup is going to be super fun… Shaun Martin, both Mark Lettieri AND Chris McQueen on guitar, Nate-O, Sput, and old-school Snarky Puppy saxophonist Clay Pritchard. I can’t wait. Want to know more about it? Glad you asked.

And one more time, I have to say how happy I am that we’re a part of the Ropeadope family. This has got to be the coolest label around… in preparation for the release of our new live CD/DVD “Tell Your Friends” (now slated for September to allow for increased promotion), these easy-going but hard-working dudes are drumming up brand new T-shirts, stickers, buttons, and even pimping out this ghetto website. I can’t wait to see what happens.

On a completely unrelated note, I’ve been seeing these ads on the subway in NYC for some TV show, and apparently there’s a famous dude that looks exactly like Snarky Puppy part-time violinist Zach Brock.

I bet this guy can't shred

This guy totally shreds

I’m just sayin.

1) We’ve been officially invited to perform at the following 2010 music festivals. And we’ve agreed to all of them – just working out the details at this point. Exact performance dates and times to come soon.

Levitt Performing Arts Concert Series
Sunday, June 20
Arlington, TX
8:00pm / FREE

Blackwater Music Festival
Live Oak, FL
August 27-28

Dallas International Jazz Festival
September 3-4
Dallas, TX

Kerrville Wine and Music Festival
September 3-5
Kerrville, TX

Bear Creek Music Festival
Live Oak, FL
November 12-14
check this lineup. whoo!

2) Author, freelance journalist (from the likes of Downbeat and beyond), and jazz educator Cicily Janus has written a very, very interesting sounding book called The New Face of Jazz. It will be officially released next month, and is comprised of interviews with folks like Nicholas Payton, Keith Carlock, Randy Brecker, George Benson, Jeff Coffin, Chris Cheek, Dave Douglas, George Duke, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Hunter, Christian McBride, Marcus Strickland, Esperanza Spalding, etc. Want the full list? It’s pretty amazing. Anyway, Cic reserved a little place in the book for some Snarky Puppy love… she and I ended up talking about the Dallas music scene, jazz education, and church versus college. I’m really excited to see how the book turns out – it’s a really incredible thing to have the voices of all of these people, from very different generations, in the same book.

oooooooo!

You can buy an advance copy right the hell now. It’s on sale. Scoop it up!

3) I spoke with Andy from Ropeadope last week, and they’re ecstatic about releasing our new CD/DVD “Tell Your Friends” next month. He’s talking about maybe doing a bundle deal… CD, DVD, T-shirt, bumper sticker, etc. in one swipe of the card. For CHEAP. We’ll see what happens. Those guys are badasses, and I’d trust them with my first-born. Or, in this case, I guess I’m trusting them with my fourth-born. Keep your ears open – we’ll be making a lot of noise before the official release.

4) So, remember that time in March when we recorded new tunes with professional pimps John Ellis and Jason Marsalis? Those 3 tunes (2 previously unrecorded, 1 a redux of “Flood” from Tell Your Friends) will be available for free download on the Ropeadope site as well as this one. When, you ask? Damn soon. Just relax! Jeez. Here’s a little taste…

Flood feat. Jason Marsalis & John Ellis

John Ellis – tenor sax
Chris Bullock – tenor sax
Jay Jennings – trumpet
Mike Maher – trumpet
Bob Lanzetti – guitar
Justin Stanton – keyboards
Michael League – bass and Moog bass
Nate Werth – percussion
Jason Marsalis – drums

Recorded and mixed by big pimp Jake Dempsey at the Jefferson Center’s Music Lab in Roanoke, Virginia. March 2010. Full versions on the way.

Well, lots to come in SP-ville, so stay tuned. Mucho amor to you and yours.

-michael

#1) Sitting second row behind the third base dugout at a Yankees game.

Noice.

My boss of sorts, the wonderful Marianne Bennett, hooked me and Maz and our buddy Hildegunn up with free seats. These seats also happened to come with an endless supply of gourmet food. Not too shabby. Want to know how that feels?

Maz on the lunch.

#2) My neighbor’s new dog, Fluffy. Pretty self-explanatory.

We match.

#3) John Ellis and Doublewide at Rose in Brooklyn. It just happened to be International Tuba Day, so you KNOW that Matt Perrine pulled out some stuff. Seriously, this is the coolest band on earth. My face hurt after the show from smiling the whole damn time. John Ellis – sax, Matt Perrine – sousaphone, Derek Philips – drums, Brian Coogan – organ, Alan Ferber – trombone.

TOOOOOOOOOOBA!!!

#4) Rediscovering this little ditty. My new favorite song.

So there you have it. Life is good.

#1) Shaun Martin dropping some serious Moog ridiculousness at Dallas, Texas’ Prophet Bar during our album pre-release party. For the AD/HD and others with short attention spans, skip to 1:25.

#2) My friend and roommate Nikki D’Agostino, uh, “hipped” me to this. Look. And LAUGH YOUR ASS OFF.

That’s all for now. Heading over to Manhattan’s lower east side to check out one of my favorite living bassists… the great Tim Lefebvre. For free. Shit, while I’m posting videos, check him out in this clip with Wayne Krantz (guitar) and fellow-UNT-dropout (makes me feel a little better about myself) Keith Carlock (drums) in France many moons ago. Enjoy!

Alright, seriously, last thing. I was out eating lunch with a good friend today and we encountered this amazing 11-year-old French Bulldog. His name is George, and he effing rules.

he looks like a gremlin.

Aight, y’all. Sleep sweet.

Not really. I just believe that free speech is awesome. I believe that all people have the right to their own opinion, no matter how dense or misinformed they may be. I believe that these people should have the right to have blogs, where they can say how they feel about music and the world around them. Even if it’s pretty freaking stupid.

As a musician, I have a natural distaste for music criticism. It just seems weird to me that a dude or dudette puts his/her heart and a crapload of time into creating something they feel is meaningful, and then another dude or dudette listens to it for anywhere from 10 seconds to 40 minutes and proceeds to inseminate the general public with an authoritative judgement of the product’s worth. I think Ayn Rand had pretty strong feelings about this kind of stuff as well, even if she was a bit out of her gourd. I have to agree with her here. That said, there are lots of wonderful music critics that inform the general public of what they are about to hear as best they can. I guess I prefer listening to someone write about music if they have an identity outside of writing about music… it gives you an idea of where they’re coming from. Pat Metheny writing about Kenny G, for example. Or hell, even if it’s Clint Eastwood writing about the newest Radiohead album (don’t search that, it doesn’t exist).

But when a dude or dudette that hasn’t done anything in any fields – creative or non-creative (other than writing about other people’s music) – totally bashes not only the quality of a musical product but the intentions of the people behind it, it gets my goat. I’m a firm believer in negativity breeding negativity, so I implore you all to view this as comedic rather than sincere. So please don’t bombard this dude with the reciprocally, uh, snarky, responses that his “work” deserves. I’m just posting this stuff because I’m amazed by it. And also because shit-talking is entertaining, and most blogs aren’t.

Behold, the voice of reason.

Remember the back of Highlights Magazine? Where you had to count the number of things wrong with the picture, or something like that? You can totally play that game with factual inaccuracies in this dude’s blog. And trust me, most kids would even run out of energy counting that sh*t. Henry (see his comment at the bottom) was dead on. Just say, “I don’t like it.” There doesn’t HAVE to be a reason, dude. It doesn’t HAVE to be because of what you think our intentions are. Trust me, I could list a thousand legitimate reasons to not like Snarky Puppy… it’s my freaking job to find them and correct them so that we can create better music.

I want to be clear that I have no objection to reviews that bash us. Take a second and read the last sentence of the previous paragraph one more time. I just think that unsolicited negativity puts the burden of proof on the author. As in, only say things that are accurate. *Important side note* – this guy wrote the article based on watching a Youtube clip. Not a live show.

But if you think that’s bad, check this one out by the same guy. It’s about a song that our buddies in Oso Closo wrote for a contest at Chipotle. Oh, by the way, they won $10,000 for it. And got a burrito named after them. And got free burritos for a year. Because the song and video are really, really fricking witty.

I guess it’s like Zappa said.

“Most rock journalism is people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, for people who can’t read.”

Thank God we play “jazz” and not rock. Jazz. Where the critics are awesome and accurate. Because “jazz” is what we play, right? You’re welcome, Day Bow Bow, for sending more readers over to your site… you can buy me a beer the next time you see us play. Wait. I mean the first time.

Sput (drums) is back in Dallas, reveling in the giant success (#4 on Billboard! see this post) of Myron Butler & Levi’s newest album, Revealed – Live in Dallas, which he co-wrote, co-produced, and played drums on. He’s also working on production projects for the man on top of the music industry right now, the one and only Timbaland.

Shaun (keys and awesomeness) is also back in Dallas, where he has resumed his post as music director at the baptist mega-church Friendship West. He’s working on gospel icon Kirk Franklin’s new album as well as running his own ridiculous 10-piece band, Shaun Martin’s Go-Go Party.

Bullock (sax) and Jay (trumpet and impeccable Chicago accent) are in NYC freelancing their butts off, bringing some horn stank to a black church up in Harlem every Sunday. Bullock and Justin (keys, trumpet) just got through with the tracking for Joe Pace’s new live gospel album in Dayton, Ohio, which is projected to do as well as Myron Butler’s. How did all of these white boys get on the scene? WASPs representing. Kinda.

Maz (trumpet) has started his own pop project in New York accurately and succinctly entitled… Maz. He’s wearing a pimp-ass suit and singing in it, which rules. And the music is freaking ridiculous. Look out for that first record when it drops. Damn.

Chris McQueen (guitar) has started a new band in Denton called Foe Destroyer. They rock. Hard. Mark Lettieri (guitar) has started a new band in Fort Worth with vocal freak Keite Young called the Black and Blooz. They also rock. Hard. Bob Lanzetti (guitar) is finally starting a project he’s been brewing up for a long time- an experimental instrumental trio. They debut at the Local 269 in Manhattan on May 27. Damn. What’s up with all of this guitar ambition?

Wow. Mark's doing REAL good.

Bill Laurance (keys) is off in foggy London town rocking tracks for Apple and a bitchin singer named Rianna. No, not that one. And he’s thinking of moving to New York. Again. I’m pressuring him heavily. VERY heavily.

Nate (percussion) is brewing up all kinds of craziness percussiveness at the house in Denton… he rocked some serious Indian samples on Myron’s new album as well as the debut record for Hatch. As the only REAL adult in the band, he’s also managing a dope pizza spot in Grapevine, TX.

Bobby Sparks (keys) is still rocking it in Mesquite, Texas, as a full-time member of Marcus Miller and Kirk Franklin’s bands. He, Jason “JT” Thomas (drums), and I are making our international debut as a trio at The Rex in Toronto, Ontario, for two nights of the Toronto Jazz Festival in late June.

I’m back in Brooklyn, trying to play as much different music as possible. In addition to developing the trio with J.T. and Bobby Sparks, I’m also writing music for and playing monthly in the Birdland Big Band, music directing for future pop star (let’s pray for it) Jackson Harris, and filling the bass chair with lots of super talented singers in NYC. I’m playing this Saturday in Manhattan with a new quartet called “Bedtime” (Ari Hoenig – drums, Adam Rogers – guitar, Henry Hey – keys). As an aside, here’s a wicked video that Henry produced during the last election…

Oh, and I just got to Boston tonight to spend a few days with my brother, Panayotis, my wonderful sister-in-law Ana, and their ABSOLUTELY TEETH-CLENCHING ADORABLE baby Jasmin. Since everyone loves babies, here goes.

She's really awesome at being mad cute and picking my nose

There are lots of new things on the horizon for the Puppy itself, including 3 music festivals and two potential new albums. Relax! I’ll get to ‘em in a minute.