Fifteen years into their career, nearly as many album releases, and a couple of Grammy awards to their credit, Brooklyn, New York based jazz-fusion/jam band Snarky Puppy keep on cranking out the music and never fail to amaze the listener. Immigrance is their latest effort, and sees the large ensemble act diving into plenty of dazzling grooves and jaw dropping flights of musical virtuosity, all the while crafting tight melodies that make all these instrumental songs highly memorable.
It's a winning formula no matter how you look at it, which is one of the many reasons why this act has grown in popularity over the years, not just among the jazz & jam band scene, but proggers and indy music fans love 'em too. "Xavi" is a perfect example of all they do so well, complete with soaring violin, sax, ripping guitar, flute, and rhythms that percolate, bubble and boil, drawing you in from the get-go and never letting you go. "Chonks" bursts with plenty of firepower, as does "Bigly Strictness" and "Bling Bling", the musicians firing off each other with a vengeance, while "Coven" and "While We're Young" simmer and float with a grace you'd expect from a Weather Report or Spyro Gyra. Tight funk grooves permeate the upbeat "Bad Kids to the Back", a rip snortin', snappin' slice of horn driven Brecker Brothers styled funk-o-zoid jazz, and the closer "Even Us" goes in a completely different direction, with mournful piano, sitar, strings, and other more folk based instruments, highlighted by a sizzling trumpet solo.
Compositionally tight, musically daring, Immigrance is an absolute winner from a band that continues to explore parts unknown, with no boundaries in sight.
Track Listing
1) Chonks
2) Bigly Strictness
3) Coven
4) Bling Bling
5) Xavi
6) While We're Young
7) Bad Kids to the Back
8) Even Us
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