Progressive, ethno-jazz tinged bromance from underdogs turned top dogs.
Michael League is best known as the founding member of Texan progressive jazz outfit Snarky Puppy, and London-born pianist Bill Laurance has been in that band since before their first album while also developing a fascinating solo career on the side in recent years. Their first collaboration as a duo is a record full of surprises, and anyone expecting Snarky Puppy unplugged may be in for a shock.
It’s certainly stripped back, with Laurance concentrating everything on a “prepared” grand piano with some of the brightness deliberately dampened, though his playing still has plenty of sass on tracks like La Marinada. It’s League who confounds expectations here: the funky bassist in Snarky has switched to traditional stringed instruments like the oud,…
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Prog (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 138