Snarky Puppy in Des Moines

Snarky Puppy is an American jazz-fusion ensemble formed by bassist and composer Michael League in Denton, Texas, in 2004. Its music sets jazz improvisation against funk and rock grooves, and the group is known for instrumental pieces such as “Lingus” and albums including We Like It Here, Culcha Vulcha and Empire Central. The sessions for We Like It Here placed the ensemble before a studio audience at Kytopia in Utrecht in 2013. Snarky Puppy later documented a 2019 concert on Live at the Royal Albert Hall, then recorded Empire Central during a series of audience-attended performances at Deep Ellum Art Company in Dallas. Well beyond its Texas origins, the group has performed at Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival and at North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam.