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Media Alert
Friday, August 14 2015
Contact: Jessica Wolf 310.825.7789
Grammy-Winning Jazz Collective Snarky Puppy Makes
Royce Hall Debut September 24
First jazz performance of the CAP UCLA season also features
explosive quintet Kneebody
Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA (CAP UCLA) presents an exclusive concert
pairing of two rollicking jazz collectives— with Grammy winners Snarky Puppy
headlining, and the group’s frequent collaborator Kneebody opening the show
Thursday, Sept 24 at 8 pm in Royce Hall. Local group Apollo Soul will kick off the evening
in a free pre-show concert on the Royce Terrace starting at 6:30. Tickets ($19-$49) are
available now via cap.ucla.edu, Ticketmaster and the UCLA Central Ticket office at
310.825.2101.
The once Texan, now New York-based Snarky Puppy has gone from the best-kept
secret to one of the most respected names in instrumental music. Although still
“underground” in many respects, the band has earned high praise from critical
stalwarts like the BBC, Village Voice, Guardian, and Boston Herald, and has performed
at some of the best venues and festivals in Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America.
The band has always used live performance as its chief form of evangelism, and
maintains a more intense tour schedule than almost any band in the idiom. Snarky
Puppy is led by award-winning bassist/guitarist/composer/arranger Michael League,
whose creative grassroots approach to a tougher-than-ever industry has created a
new model for independent artists. Snarky Puppy is a three-headed creature: first, and
most obviously- an original music ensemble. Second- a production team and session
band for individual artists. Third, and probably most importantly- Snarky Puppy is a group
of musicians enthusiastically committed to music education and community outreach
The group won the ‘Best new artist’ and ‘Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary
Group/Artist’ categories in Jazztimes magazines 2014 readers’ annual poll. This year will
see the band release their first major label album, a ground breaking collaboration,
specially written orchestral suite with the world famous Metropole Orkest on the
legendary Impulse Label. They will also be recording the second volume of their
Grammy award winning ‘Family Dinner’ series in New Orleans with a stellar guest artist
line up.
Kneebody’s sound is explosive rock energy paralleled with high-level nuanced
chamber ensemble playing, with highly wrought compositions that are balanced with
adventurous no-holds-barred improvising. Kneebody is keyboardist Adam Benjamin,
trumpeter Shane Endsley, electric bassist Kaveh Rastegar, saxophonist Ben Wendel and
drummer Nate Wood. The band has no leader or rather, each member is the leader;
they’ve developed their own musical language, inventing a unique cueing system that
allows them each to change the tempo, key, style, and more in an instant.
Kneebody draws upon influences spanning D’Angelo’s Voodoo to music by Elliot Smith,
Bill Frisell, and Miles Davis. Their live shows are known for intense sonic landscapes of the
Radiohead ilk, for the rhythmic bombast of a Squarepusher or Queens of the Stone Age
show, and the harmonic depth and improvisational freedom experienced at a Brad
Mehldau concert.
Kneebody will also perform a free outdoor noontime concert for UCLA students as part
of welcome week activities and CAP UCLA’s Art in Action engagement program. Local
performers and UCLA students Apollo Soul will kick off the evening performance in a
free pre-show concert on the Royce Terrace.
TICKET INFORMATION
General tickets are available at cap.ucla.edu, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at
310.825.2101 or in person at the UCLA Central Ticket Office located in the southwest
corner of the James West Alumni Center. Student rush tickets, subject to availability, are
offered at $15 one hour before show time to all students with valid ID.
PRESS REVIEW TICKETS/PHOTO PASSES/INTERVIEW REQUESTS: Contact Jessica Wolf at
IMAGES: Available for download at cap.ucla.edu/press-images. Register for access.
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