Immigrance

Album review

“On stage, Snarky Puppy is amazing! Not so much on record…” The American collective has heard this one quite a few times since breaking onto the jazz scene in the early 2000s. With Immigrance however, Michael League’s band authors a strong, raw and direct album, and without a doubt one of their most refined. And like the title may suggest, it pays tribute to population exchanges and migrations, encapsulating the very essence of Snarky Puppy that draws from the diversity of its members, who originate from all corners of the United States and the world.

“The idea here is that everything is fluid, that everything is always moving and that we’re all in a constant state of migration”, explains League. “Obviously the album’s title is not without political undertones… Like Culcha Vulcha, this record is largely inspired by our travels, and we’re always trying to pass specific ideas through our filter and into our idiom without being disrespectful to the tradition at hand.” As usual with Snarky Puppy, the jazz appellation can be both judicious and irrelevant. The sheer amount of influences brewed here prevents the Texan collective from ever going in circles. Fusion jazz feeds from electro, then moves onto Eastern inspirations before stepping back to a more classical format, then dives head first into a rock volcano on the border with trance music, and finally takes a sudden funky groove turn. The whirlwind is intense, carried by the band’s foolproof instrumental virtuosity. © Max Dembo/Qobuz