“On this record there was some collaboration in the writing process but when a song goes to the band and the players start making suggestions or changing things our collective feeling really comes through.

“Snarky Puppy has always been a band that prioritizes the sound of the music,” notes League. In reviewing the first of the band’s eight Deep Ellum performances from which the record was culled, the Dallas Morning News raves that “in classic Snarky Puppy fashion, the new tunes zigzagged with laser precision between jazz, funk and wigged-out prog-rock.” With a lineup consisting of three guitarists, four keyboardists, two brass, two reeds, a violinist, multiple percussionists and drummers and bandleader Michael League on bass, Empire Central expands upon the collective’s wide array of influences including blues, hard rock, classic soul, modern gospel, funk, new tech, fusion and jazz. All three episodes are available worldwide on October 12. tour dates.Īdditionally, Snarky Puppy has partnered with Osiris Media to create a new podcast documenting the writing, recording and creative process of Empire Central. The band is also set to tour Europe throughout the fall before hitting the road in the U.S. The record also features the last recorded performance of ’80s funk pioneer and Snarky Puppy’s musical Godfather Bernard Wright, who passed away tragically at age 58 shortly after the Empire Central recording sessions. Recorded over the course of eight nights in front of a live-in-studio audience at Dallas’ Deep Ellum Art Company, Empire Central consists of 16 all-new tracks heavily influenced by and paying homage to the city that gave birth to the group after they formed while studying in the fabled jazz program at the University of North Texas. The group also recently premiered the album tracks “Trinity,” “Bet” and “Belmont,” receiving critical praise from NPR Music, NPR’s “Here & Now,” JAZZIZ, TIDAL and many more. In celebration of the new release the band is debuting a live-in-studio performance video of the track “Take It!” from the album’s recording sessions watch/share it HERE. The album is available to purchase/stream HERE. Four-time Grammy-winning, genre-defying musical collective Snarky Puppy’s highly anticipated new album Empire Central is out now via the band’s own GroundUP Music imprint.

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