FOUR-TIME GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING GENRE-DEFYING 18-MEMBER SUPER-BAND

Four-time Grammy Award-winning Texas-bred powerhouse Snarky Puppy combines a variety of jazz idioms, rock, world music, and funk, and represents the convergence of many different music cultures from around the world. After over a decade of relentless touring and recording in all but complete obscurity, including their last performance in Victoria as a part of TD JazzFest 2015, this super-collective suddenly found itself held up by the press and public as one of the major figures in the jazz world. With as many as 20 members in regular rotation, four Grammy awards (“Best R&B Performance” in 2014, “Best Contemporary Instrumental Album” in 2016, 2017, and 2021), and multiple Reader’s and Critic’s Poll Awards from JazzTimes and DownBeat Magazine, the defining characteristic of Snarky Puppy’s music is the joy of performing together in the perpetual push to grow creatively.

Their latest and eagerly anticipated fourteenth album, Empire Central, was released in September 2022 and most recently nominated for “Best Contemporary Instrumental Album” at the 2023 Grammy Awards. Empire Central shouts from the rooftops how far Snarky Puppy have come since bassist, composer, and bandleader Michael League formed the group at the University of North Texas in 2004.  It also raises the question – where will Snarky Puppy go next? For Snarky Puppy fans, the answer to this question is a very exciting prospect, and for those in Greater Victoria and beyond, look no further than June 22 at the Royal Theatre as a part of the 40^th edition of TD Victoria International JazzFest!