Michael League Archives - Page 9

Snarky Puppy joined with a host of vocalists and musicians in February 2015 in New Orleans to record an album in front of a live studio audience. Now, that album, and an accompanying video, documenting the performance is available to hear and watch as Family Dinner, Vol. 2. The project from Snarky Puppy, led by bassist/composer Michael League, aims to...

Snarky Puppy recorded their upcoming release, Family Dinner Volume Two in February, 2015. Among the tracks was this one, featuring vocalist Susana Baca and guitarist Charlie Hunter. The tune is “Molino Molero”, which was written by Baca and arranged by Snarky Puppy bassist/bandleader Michael League and the band. “The [Family Dinner – Volume Two] project is a true testament for...

Dunlop brought Snarky Puppy in for their “Sessions” series, which blends performances and interviews with artists. In this episode, members of Snarky Puppy discuss “their beginnings and the risks and rewards of standing by your musical vision.” There’s also the music of course, with Michael League and the band performing “Binky” and “Flood”. Enjoy.

I’m not sure there’s a more exciting band out there today than Snarky Puppy. The band has just released their new album, Sylva, along with Metropole Orkest. Here they are performing “The Curtain” from that album, with bassist and band leader Michael League playing both electric bass and Moog keybass on the tune. And does anyone have more (or better)...

Snarky Puppy’s latest album, Sylva, is unlike anything it has produced before — this time out, the groundbreaking band has created music with The Netherlands’ Metropole Orkest, which the band and orchestra then recorded live. “The last thing I wanted to do with this opportunity was turn it into a Snarky Puppy With Strings situation,” said Snarky Puppy leader/bassist Michael...

Time for some Snarky Puppy – including the great bass work (and composition) by Michael League. This is the band performing “What About Me?”, which appears on their live DVD, We Like It Here. These guys are ridiculously good. Wow.

Ever since we featured Michael League (and his band, Snarky Puppy) in May, 2011, he’s been a popular bassist here on No Treble. Michael’s band has grown in popularity – enormously so – in the years since. In 2014, we interviewed Michael to find out more. That, plus Thomas Milacher’s transcription of Michael’s arrangement of “Continuum” and some killer videos...

One of the stops on Snarky Puppy’s current world tour was the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival in Boston, on September 27th. Luckily, cameras were rolling. Here’s the band performing “What About Me” at the Festival, from their latest album, We Like It Here. This one has it all, including the great bass faces from Michael League.

Don’t call the Tommy Igoe Groove Conspiracy a jazz big band. Instead, the San Francisco-based 15-piece band led by Igoe is something else. “We’re a rock band in a jazz band’s body,” said Igoe, a distinguished drummer. And it’s definitely a group with plenty of low end. Dewayne Pate serves as the band’s primary bassist, but on the group’s ,...

Snarky Puppy is hitting the road for a massive world tour that will cover North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe through the end of the year. The band, anchored by bassist Michael League, will be performing in support of their latest album, We Like it Here, which came out in February. The tour will thoroughly cover the East Coast and...

“Lingus” was one of the tunes released on Snarky Puppy’s We Like It Here, an album and DVD recorded live in Kytopia Studios in Holland back in 2013. Here’s the group performing that track during this session – one that offers up some incredible, intertwined rhythms and some groovalicious bass by band leader, composer and producer Michael League.

“Continuum” is one of the most well known songs for bass players, and I’d argue it is one of the greatest tunes on Jaco Pastorius’s self-titled debut album. After listening to this performance of Michael League three times in a row, I decided to transcribe his version.