Once again, hat tip to Pandora for sourcing and playing the latest, greatest music from around the globe. I’m not even sure which station I was listening to but a familiar sound graced the airwaves and it only took about 3 seconds for me to glean that Snarky had released another album with the Metropole Orkest. Of course, l immediately bought the album…

Now, it was a little pricey. But, you do get a DVD of the performance–which is just mind blowing in every respect–so that brings quite the value. Snarky fans know that the value is there anyway, so it’s hard to pass up new music from these guys. As the saying goes, “IT’S ALL GOOD!”.

For those that missed Snarky Puppy and Metropole Orkest, Round 1 (Silva), Somni really provides more of a Snarkyized version of the awesome combination than the previous release (imho). I’m always a big fan of bands playing with orchestras. The arrangements of all the various orchestra sections is amazing to see play out and each section has the power to really embellish various organic elements of the music–especially the incredible joints written by Michael League. We could do a whole nother ‘Oprah about that musical genius. Perhaps another time…

While Silva was very orchestra heavy–meaning that the compositions seemed more classical in nature and more what a typical symphony sound might bring–Somni had much more of a familiar Snarky vibe. The compositions were a little more beat driven and the orchestra was there as more of a compliment to the tunes than what I imagined for Silva was a work written for an orchestra. I think the listener will be able to discern this better just comparing and contrasting the two.

The personnel for Snarky were the usual suspects. For those familiar with Silva, the setup was similar–Michael League and the conductor (Jules Buckley) at the top of the pyramid with the various parts of the band and orchestra setup in a huge round. The visual for Somni was much cooler. It seems the band learned a bit from filming Silva. Of course, the audience was there (with their Beats headphones!) to acknowledge the pure musical joy that watching a very intimate viewing of a concert like this can provide.

While I was watching the DVD, I just couldn’t help thinking about the juxtaposition of what are extremely talented players in a setting where the pressure is literally on. Sure, classical players in orchestras are used to this kind of thing. All classical players are on point–this is their calling and why they end up in symphonies–they don’t fuck up. Granted, their lines aren’t typically too challenging technically–but they have to be perfect, every time. Generally, you’ll have a featured soloist or two who is the “virtuoso” who opens it up more and owns that position because they are that good. But even for your high level jazz musician–not being able to make a mistake is very nerve racking! I just couldn’t help thinking that these guys cannot be off their game by one iota. And they really weren’t. It was amazing.

The Snarky line-up was familiar–although augmented somewhat from their typical show and even audio recording these days. They featured four drummers! By the way each kit was mic’d, it sounded like Larnell Lewis and JT were the main drum sound, accompanied by Jamison Ross and Nikki Glaspie (who can play the fuck out of the kit by the way–girl power!) All three guitarists were there with quite the collection of new guitars! It seems Mark Lettieri has a PRS sponsorship now, while Bob and Chris having been playing some more exotic looking axes these days as well. The regular horn section was in full force (Jay, Maz, Chris & Bob). The keyboard section was very cool. Bill Laurance (a jazz staple) was flanked by Justin Stanton on Rhodes and Bobby Sparks II on Hammond and Mini-moog. Nate Werth looked like he was having a hell of a time with quite the backup percussion section around him. Every time they showed him he was playing a different percussion instrument. Zach Brock was on violin and really shined in the mix.

The music was great. As I write this, other than the couple joints I’ve heard on Pandora, I’ve only had one proper viewing of the concert. As such, I don’t have a handle on which tune was which. This write up is really just a primer. However, I can tell you that all of the songs were amazing, well written and super clever in their segues in and out of what I would characterize as sections that were more and less orchestra heavy, including various tempo modulations and feel changes. It was just a solid ride start to finish and I found myself clapping along with the audience at the end of every tune. It was really that good.

Highlights of the show: Zach Brock’s amazing violin solo in the first tune! He’s a total pro and I’ve heard him play many times before but this particular performance was top notch. Killer violin solo channeling one of my old school French favs–Jean Luc Ponty. The drum solo section with all 4 drummers trading 4’s and licks was pretty insane. They’re all incredible but I have a hard time deciding who I like better between JT and Larnell. Subtly different styles that compliment the Snarky sound so well. Both Bill Laurance and Justin Stanton had killer keyboard solos. The contrast between Rhodes and piano was really cool. They’re such tasty players. At one point they were even playing the same piano together. Of course, it’s always fun to see Bobby play that funky whammy bar on his keyboard–he had a pretty hot solo too. And there was A LOT more here but I’m going to have to watch this a few more times…

If there was any drawback to the first viewing or the show in general it was that there was not enough guitar! As a guitarist, I love the way Snarky uses the three guitar section in their works–it sounds so cool. That was definitely there but the three had very little solo time in the mix and I feel that they could have been featured a little more. Not to mention, right when Mark was about to light it up they segued away into another section and his solo was over like that….wtf? It sounded like he was just building it up to go off and could’ve used another 32 measures or so.

Overall, this is a definite add to one’s collection, Snarky fan or not. For Snarky fans, I think y’all gonna be super impressed by this, especially if you guys liked Silva. This is like Silva with some serious jam in the jelly. For me, I wanted to put out this primer ahead of their show coming in April. I don’t think they’ll bring the Metropole Orkest with them, but I assume they’ll handle all of those compositions in a way that comes correct. I am definitely super excited to see them again live–especially bringing this new material.

I will report back after the show in April…stay tuned!