Snarky Puppy
With the release of its live, two-disc album/DVD Tell Your Friends, Snarky Puppy has gone from an underground
secret to one of the most internationally respected names in instrumental music.
The Grammy Award-winning group (Best R&B Performance, 2014) fuses a deep knowledge and respect for musical tradition with sonic and conceptual innovation in a way that is able to reach the most critical—or most carefree—of audiences. In her seminal 2010 book The New Face of Jazz, Cicily Janus called the group “one of the most inventive in sound and funk since Maynard Ferguson’s fusion years.”
The core of the group, now based in Brooklyn, features Grammy Award winners Robert “Sput” Searight on drums (God’s Property, Snoop Dogg) and Shaun Martin on keys (Kirk Franklin, Erykah Badu). Led by award-winning bassist/composer Michael League, Snarky Puppy delivers raw funk and sensitive dynamics, relentless pocket and lyrical melodicism, lush harmony and soulful simplicity, and most importantly, a delicate mixture of composition and improvisation.
3:45 p.m.–4:30 p.m. Snarky Puppy Jazz Clinic
Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Second Level
4:45 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Snarky Puppy Performance
Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Second Level
Festival Schedule of Events
Unless otherwise noted, all events take place in the Hynes Convention Center, 900 Boylston Street.
10:00 a.m. –12:00 p.m. Open Jam Sessions
The Jazz Workshop Room, Ballroom C, Third Level
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. City Music High School Academy Ensemble Performances
Berklee Showcase Room, Ballroom A, Third Level
Program Director: Mark Kohler
The City Music High School Academy program provides year-round music instruction to High School students in underserved communities in Boston and the Greater Boston Area. The program is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. Paper-Scissors-Stone
Interactive contemporary music program with Cloud Ludum ensemble
Berklee Showcase Room, Ballroom A, Third Level
Directed by Olga Karaseva
Cloud Ludum ensemble presents an interactive music program that will allow audience to try out on their own some compositional techniques used by twentieth-century composers. During the event attendees will be given fun tools to create musical excerpts that will be developed into complete pieces and performed right away by Cloud Ludum ensemble! No prior experience required! Just bring your phone and be part of this collaborative unique and fun experience.
12:15 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Women in Jazz Clinic
The Jazz Workshop Room, Ballroom C, Third Level
Hosted by Berklee faculty member Tia Fuller
1:00 p.m. –2:00 p.m. Open Jam Sessions
The Jazz Workshop Room, Ballroom C, Third Level
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Berklee Salsa Ensemble
Berklee Showcase Room, Ballroom A, Third Level
Directed by Berklee faculty member Bernardo Hernandez
1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Berklee Rainbow Band
Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Second Level
Directed by Berklee faculty member Tia Fuller
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Berklee Tower of Power Ensemble
Berklee Showcase Room, Ballroom A, Third Level
Directed by Berklee faculty member Ken Zambello
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Berklee Vocal Ensemble
Berklee Showcase Room, Ballroom C, Third Level
Directed by Berklee faculty member Ned Rosenblatt
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Berklee P Funk Ensemble
Berklee Showcase Room, Ballroom A, Third Level
Directed by Berklee faculty member Lenny Stallworth
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Pitch Slapped A Cappella Ensemble
Berklee Showcase Room, Ballroom C, Third Level
Directed by Berklee Students
3:45 p.m.–4:30 p.m. Snarky Puppy Jazz Clinic
Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Second Level
4:45 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Snarky Puppy Performance
Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Second Level
5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Opening Concert and Awards Presentation
Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Second Level
Featuring the Berklee Rainbow Band, directed by Tia Fuller. Part of the concert will include the work of this year’s winner of the Herb Pomeroy Jazz Composition/Arranging Contest
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Winners Showcase Concert
Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Second Level
