Snarky Puppy - Shofukan (We Like It Here)
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- Опубліковано 16 лют 2014
- Snarky Puppy - Shofukan
From the live DVD "We Like It Here"
Streaming: orcd.co/welikeithere
Digital/Physical: store.groundupmusic.net/colle...
Recorded and filmed live (free of overdubs) from October 7-10 at Kytopia Studios in Utrecht, the Netherlands, for GroundUP Music. For more information and upcoming tour dates, please visit groundup.ropeadope.com or www.snarkypuppy.com.
Written, arranged, and produced by Michael League.
Personnel:
Michael League - bass
Shaun Martin - keyboards
Bill Laurance - Fender Rhodes
Cory Henry - keyboards
Justin Stanton - trumpet (solo)
Mark Lettieri - guitar
Bob Lanzetti - guitar
Chris McQueen - guitar
Nate Werth - percussion
Larnell Lewis - drums
Mike Maher - trumpet
Chris Bullock - sax
Bob Reynolds - sax
Jay Jennings - trumpet
Yannick Hiwat - violin
Tessel Hersbach - violin
Mara Tieles - viola
Susanne Rosmolen - cello
Engineered by Eric Hartman, Roy Van Rosendaal, Mike Harrison, & Colin Benders.
Filmed by Andy LaViolette, Brad Holt, Emily Schwarting, Joseph Lafond, and Christi LaViolette.
Mixed by Eric Hartman in Dallas, Texas.
Mastered by Scott Hull at Masterdisk New York, NY.
this is shofukan cool
Hahaha
LIAM jones lol Well played. And the girl at 0:36 is shofukan hot
U have aids
love u baby
Zilliath you have aids
I think it would be so cool if Snarky Puppy scored a film.
It would be freaking awesome.
+Anonymous Guy The start of it sounds like the start of a bond theme!
Anonymous Guy Assassin's Creed soundtrack
Heck yea!
Or if a film scored them :)
And groups like Snarky Puppy are a prime example of why music education is so important. School music programs reach out and embrace a population of kids that would otherwise find school very difficult. Band kids get bullied to within an inch of their lives and music is often their big escape and savior. I guarantee you that your average high school kid hasn't heard of Snarky Puppy... but that disenfranchised and bullied band geek has. To him or her, THIS is what they aspire to be. Believe me... I know. I WAS that kid. I am 50 now and the hurt still sits there... lingering away. Listening to this makes me feel strong and damned proud to have spent my entire life playing music. Back when I was a kid, it wasn't Snarky Puppy.. it was Pat Metheny, Spyro Gyra, Maynard Ferguson and many more. I cannot say on just how many levels I absolutely ADORE this collective of musicians.
You sound like a guy who went on to drum corps :-)
@@writesmartcopy Freelancers 1987-1992, then spent the next two decades, writing, teaching and judging and then put my marching shoes back on in my late 40s with the Kidsgrove Scouts in the UK.
I knew it 😊
Sunrisers in the UK. 85 - 98
You marched with loads of my buddies who went to Kidsgrove after Sunrisers finished.
Cookie, Tez, Matt Hall (and Jeanette), Nicky, Vicky and Pete on mello - loads of 'em 👍
Sunrisers uniform was modelled on Freelancers 👌
Goddamn, the mixing engineer did his job perfectly, every single instrument is heard so clearly
he's the real MVP
#kevinduranttear
Exceptionally well done audio mix. Kudos, invisible person.
Indeed
What about the strings?
@@sebastiannolte1201 Agreed, strings vanish in the mix
that drummer is a straight savage son
Yes I can immediately hear when it's him on one of the Snarky songs.
Kick drum from 5:05 to 5:20... ridiculous. Took me until the 6th or so listen to notice that gem.
x3i4n Level: black
hardest shit ive heard so far :O
Larnell Lewis is a master.
5:22 *Drummer's literally ripping a hole in space-time* Lets cut to everyone group chanting into their mics haha neat
Such an underrated comment uwu
They all wanted their own screen time xD
"ripping a hole in space-time" Yup, that's about the only way to describe it. I gonna use your time marker to go play it back again a few times.
You can see the film crew RUSH over there near the end of it, they realized they fucked up during lol
I was thinking the same thing 😂😂😂
What an elegant trumpet solo. Not over stated. Beautiful tone.
You must be a real musician
Right out of Herb's horn!
@@hopeirakoze1678 i found the guitarist lol
That was a perfect way to describe it.
@@hopeirakoze1678 hi Hope! nice to see you here. and this is a great trumpet solo, i like the player
I just noticed that those people at 6:22 are applauding in a 4:3 polyrhythm!
HeXe DeZee just pass some butter to them godammit
I saw them live on Thursday and they had the audience clap in a 3/4 polyrhythm because it was in one of the songs
how do u even pay attention to a detail like that holy shit.
pass the god damn butter indeed!!!!!
lmfao
Theres always one guy that claps louder than the others. And then theres ppl like me, who clap polyrythms to that becuse why not.
the way the percussionist and drummer complement each other at 5:20 is literally ridiculous, i love it
“We had a travel issue with one of our drummers the week of recording for the album We Like It Here in Holland. It looked like he wouldn’t make it, so we called a drummer from Canada named Larnell Lewis to see if he could come play at the last minute. He had done 2 or 3 gigs with us, but almost all of the material for the record was new. He agreed, got on a plane two days later, learned all of the music on the flight, and landed the day of the recording session. He knew the music better than we did. It was unbelievable. Then he joined the band as one of our three steady drummers.”
@@niemand262 Hot damn, I was thinking he was the drummer for a while ! Crazy !
insane
Aye I'm 420 likes. ^.^ lol
Can we take a moment to appreciate the cinematography in these videos? The camerapeople are almost as phenomenal as the musicians, they capture all of these tiny details that add to the sensations of the music -- I honestly feel like I was there just by watching.
That's Andy LaViolette for you. He has done tonnes over other videos for GroundUp now
SP is know today in all entire world because of their clips and their nice video edit. And also because of the big nice sound. It's music porn.
Tho not a glimpse of the percussionist from 2:18 onwards...Check 5:22!
Seriously, the video is what stands out to you? It's alright, but in no universe a comparison to the music
Yeah, it's good, but not showing the tasty bass lick at 5:55, and showing us the back instead is a criminal offense at least.
1:26 "-hmm. A hint of strawberry, if I'm not mistaken?"
hahah underratd comment
Can't do that with my instrument.
Comment win.
THIS IS THE BEST COMMENT
AAHHAHAHHHAHHAHH
Man as awesome as this is, not getting a single shot for Nate during the unwrapping of the universe in 5:20 is just plain criminal.
got to be the single most frustrating thing abt the whole video. a killer drum-percussion dual solo(??)… & you barely see the drummer. nothing at all of the percussionist. j random ppl singing into microphones…
most underrated thing on this video is the shape of the nose at 1:32. such great curvature.
He was actually the designer of the Concorde!
Wowwww..this comment has made my entire 2020 😂😂😂
I saw that
Glad to know I wasn't the only one who thought that.
Just a little mad that I couldn’t really listen until I saw the nose bc this comment.
This chello girl steals my heart every time.
Who is she?
@@justinteal3893 She is Susanne Rosmolen, listed in the credits above and has a few vids on youtube. Check out her music, she is very talented!!
What a pity you can’t hear the strings in this mix.
Yup! And she's married to Yannick, the guy on violin
@@billhargreaves7337 agreed, and this strange. The mix seems quite good to me, most other instruments are easy to hear, but for some reason I can't find the strings.
The Cellist's facial expressions is my favourite thing about this video 💕
Who is she?
@@justinteal3893 Sussane Rosmolen
I'm glad someone else noticed... felt like she was looking right at me. Pretty sure we're gonna get married now.
Oh, she's the only one who made me forget what I heard for a second. Totally in love...
She's the main character
*Normal people watching this:* 2:56
*Musicians watching this:* 0:44
*Me throughout the whole video:* 3:12
these comments are giving me life
@@Jakenm-qq6de I’m so glad😂❣️
HA
Hahaha nice. Gave me a chuckle 🤣
Michael League is super expressive , its funny how he is making faces to the soloist all the time
Michael Leagues job description:
1. Play bass
2. Constantly make faces at soloist
Hahahah
Reminds me of a drummer friend of mine. I have yet to see a picture of him playing without him making a weird face.
You missed out on composing these gems😍
@@JorisGriffioen this is amazing. This comment is 3 years old, your 3 months old reply was the first reply to this comment, and the latest reply before my comment is 3 weeks old. Damn...
@@theramatube and I just drank 3 glasses of water
Nate werth does not get enough camera time! He is snarky puppy’s secret weapon. What an amazing percussionist! Especially at 5:21 both him and Larnell Lewis are playing 32nd notes in unison… crazyyy
Oh yeah.
Kind of a crime that they don't have the cameras on them for that segment
*16th notes*
Truly agree mate
I believe he marched snare for the drum corps SCV (Santa Clara Vanguard)
Larnell lewis (the drummer) is a beast. Literally learned most of the songs on this album except for two on the 7 hr flight to the recording studio
“We had a travel issue with one of our drummers the week of recording for the album We Like It Here in Holland. It looked like he wouldn’t make it, so we called a drummer from Canada named Larnell Lewis to see if he could come play at the last minute. He had done 2 or 3 gigs with us, but almost all of the material for the record was new. He agreed, got on a plane two days later, learned all of the music on the flight, and landed the day of the recording session. He knew the music better than we did. It was unbelievable. Then he joined the band as one of our three steady drummers.”
They are all beasts
@@niemand262 If you understand the skeleton, the rest of the body makes sense.
@@niemand262 holy fuck
What uf hecwrite the song.
There's not enough hype about that trumpet solo.
Dude, it literally takes you into another world while listening to it
Further, I suggest that "Thin Air" would be a sick name for a jazz trumpet album
It’s special indeed but it’s real power is based in it’s framing by such an adept band.
Fantastic trumpet!!!!
it's good to be alive when music like this exsists
yes sir
no sir
Maybe.
Do we have to do this now?
depends on the definition of being alive
dude, that bass player is always rocking the fuck out, fucking goals dude
+Rice Curry love the undertale profile pic btw
"We Like It Here" is 10 years old. And still so fresh, Snarky Puppy is so amazing.
again and again and agian....can"t stop this
This fucking video... This fucking song... Makes my head explode every time I listen to it. The level of musicianship from everyone in the group is absolutely astounding. The flavor everyone adds with their parts and solos is so rich, on top of the already freaking cool as shit composition/arrangement. On every listen hear a new subtlety that one of the musicians has blended really well into the whole sound. Then, the experience is expertly captured by the recording engineer, and the many instrumental layers are somehow perfectly balanced by the mixing engineer. Just utterly talented people involved at every step of making this music.
evesira Humans are evolving, indeed. What you hear and see is evidence.
evesira Word!
***** couldn't agree more
This is an old comment, but I just wanted to give an example of one of those subtleties that took many listens to notice:
5:07 to 5:18, listen to the kick drum. Larnell Lewis is ridiculous.
Vincent Rubinetti, I am with you definitely.
I love how Shaun and Cory stop and do that dance at 5:55 - 6:02 to let Michael's(?) little run shine through ^.^
TheKynosaur ah I never noticed that before, awesome. Man you can listen to this everyday and catch something new and amazing.
Dude yeah they didn't want to clash it was good listening!
Love this.
@@clayjohnson2618 I suspect it was intentionally included in the arrangement but still it speaks to the attention to detail. Such a small thing but that bass fill is one of my fav parts
Probably my favorite part from the whole thing. That run is amazing.
2:56 This guy looks like he's enjoying the music while getting an interesting business proposal from a Colombian drug lord.
Very underrated comment
I'm dead 😂
This is something that I have no idea about but I 100% agree
The fact that he is a ginger makes it funnier
LoL 😆😆😆
That transition at 2:25 is supremely sexy. The bass line, the minimal drums, the suave trumpet solo. My goodness. It's perfection.
Word
this!!
Holy cow that bass fill at 5:55
Notable moments:
00:58 - Nate Werth hits all the things!
02:07 - Bill Laurance grooves to the music
02:56 - head move to match the music
04:17 - one of the string players comes back to Earth after that trumpet piece
05:21 - the joy on the face of the middle singer :)
And obviously, throughout 00:00 - 6:52, the music!
Mesingel Empericae You forgot one of the most notable moments : Michael League tearing through everything with that bass run @ 5:55
0:58 the guy on the back though looks like he's been grounded
i guess, Nate had to rescue himself because of bad timing:-)
1:28 the way he looks at his sax lolll
5:22 The destruction of the space-fabric from that drummer.
As great as all of this is, and I hesitate to point out any part as greater than another, bc the sum is just so phenomenal, I have to point out what is not shown on camera starting at 5:21. Both the incredible drummer AND the percussionist are playing 32nd notes in unison without breaking at all. That's just so impressive.
It's just glorious. And it drives nonstop right into the big explosion.
Well the bass also drives the beat so it's much easier to not miss a single hit. Also we cant see them at all points so if the percussionist happened to miss something but came back in on the next bass hit then it wouldnt be noticeable. My nightmare was my highschool marching band having to do 5 bass line split in 32nd notes with each bass only doing 2 32nd hits every time it was there turn, started at the 4th bass twice and ending on 2nd 1st time but second time it kept going to first and came all the way back down to 5th. It was hell.
Larnell starts it all at about 4:36 with the incredible hi hat work
Yeah that was pretty awesome
“We had a travel issue with one of our drummers the week of recording for the album We Like It Here in Holland. It looked like he wouldn’t make it, so we called a drummer from Canada named Larnell Lewis to see if he could come play at the last minute. He had done 2 or 3 gigs with us, but almost all of the material for the record was new. He agreed, got on a plane two days later, learned all of the music on the flight, and landed the day of the recording session. He knew the music better than we did. It was unbelievable. Then he joined the band as one of our three steady drummers.”
This comment section is just a bunch of musicians nerding out and I’m here for it
Lol thank you lmfaooo 😭
0:35 Introducing magical creature
0:43 Magical creature with attitude
4:17 Magical creature making hearts melt
I see what you did there.
She was lovely!
04:37 Magical creature rocks out your soul.
It's fucking awesome how into the groove and feel she is. Proper passionate musician moments there.
Name of magical creature: Susanne Rosmolen.
Weird as hell bro she's mid
5:07 just noticed the middle guitar guy focusing on his 5/8 part while every one else is jamming in 4! This is one of my favorite snarky puppy moments!
Polyrhythms my friend
Thats Mark Lettieri - insane guitarist
you might like this as well ua-cam.com/video/iScSUwSZAuI/v-deo.html
isn't that polymeter?
King Crimson vibes!
5:55 damn the bassman killed it
You mean the composer? :)
@@sealofapproval3163 Da Man!
The bassman wrote it
Michael League on bass and composer. 👏❤
That trumpet solo goes straight to my bones. Just riveting.
ikr! Literally inspired me to start playing trumpet. I'm about 3 months in and fucking loving it.
I can never just watch this straight through because the guy at 2:56's head movements catch my attention EVERY. TIME. And then I have to rewind to watch it again. Like, the movement is so smooth, and then there's that robot-esque movement he does right before the camera cuts to the next scene... It's just so fascinating XD.
+Hirosashii Just watched it like 5 times, thanks for that.
+Jeremy Cays Haha that's funny to read; thanks guys!
+DrummerDaan Wait is that you? :D
Sick trumpet solo!
I agree with you man. Pretty rad this solo is.
I can safely say that I like it here
We like it here
@@jwaj great comment
@@dorianvaughn4241 you too brother
These guys are the NY Philharmonic of Jazz
5:55 sickest bass run ever
Absolutely filthy... Glad someone else caught it
that bass fill is better than sex im telling you
This and the one from What About Me are amazing.
And completely logical. Inescapable. I LOVE it when a part is played THAT strong.
Fucking Michael League man...
find yourself someone who looks at you like this guy looks at his sax 1:27
haha
Lmao! That made my night!
@@Cha0sRising90 So you did find someone who looks at you that way? XD
@rbaleksandar nope, I found several saxes, though! ^_^
I think one of the camera guys had a crush on the cello player.
One sympathizes.
4:18 That look...
Wonderful to see there are young musicians still dedicated to their craft in a world where the pretenders get all the praise.
exactly dude ur right...
Thanks Colin, you are so right. :)
The drummer totally killed it.
That little bridge after the trumpet solo at 4:10 before the keyboard bass kicks in might be one of the best things I've ever heard. It resolves so beautifully and makes me feel things
so on my 1800th listening of this....... man the fucking mix is just .... awesome. Every detail, every cymbal, every intonation, beautiful mixed and balanced in stereo.
Michael's over the bar phrase at 5:55 kills me every single time. love it when he does that in his improv
and since the basses on the keyboards give them space and don't play, you can see how they do an epic dance with their hands, the best part of the song
THAT TRUMPET SOLO.......... WOW
@@R1ff07 Justin Stanton. He plays keys and trumpet
Albert Suhett I’ve been dying to know his name!
@@albertsuhett Justin is amazing on both! He actually writes a good bit of the tunes, but specifically on the solo here it is the awesome Jay Jennings!!!!
Who dat man?
the madman pushes his valves down halfway and fuckin pitch bends on a trumpet
This level of drumming should be illegal
Just learned of Larnel today in a drumeo, holy fuck! Dude is amazing, then I get this song....mind blown!
Haven't you ever listened to any jazz????
@@DrSamE yes
Guy is a filthy, scurvy dog for sure.
Pockets so deep they could buy the house a round.
That trumpet solo is literally my favorite trumpet solo. Easily one of the best of the decade.
Nate Werth is the most passionate musician I've seen in a while
Michael league seems alot more passionate imo
Robert O'halloran okay? I wasn't critcising or judging anyone I was just saying I find Michael League not only on the faces he pulls but because he's the one who writes and arranges most of snarky puppy's songs. Havent you ever seen him in interviews? He's absolutely in love with music
2:53 for about 10 seconds. Priceless.
I cannot NOT make faces. I completely surrender
Ripping from the previous post. Can we take a moment to appreciate the music talent in this piece?
BEST Trumpet solo in 21. century!
I love the Snarky comment sections on UA-cam, it's like a family reunion lol! Hey cousins!
0:43 "yeah, let's f***in do this." CELLO FACE.
Hahaha absolutely kind of john petrucci's face also !
I made the choice to watch one Larnell Lewis drum video and it lead me down the rabbit hole of some of the freshest music I've listened to in a while.
Yep
5:55 It brings me great joy, the brief moment when Cory and Shaun dance during their short rest.
That drummer is such a beast, his groove is unbelievable
I'm a bit in love with the cellist.
Whoever is in charge of the mixing in this is insanely talented. TO be able to hear every detail with such clarity is mind-blowing.
The mix engineer is a genius.
Damn the cameras gave Nate Werth no love here. He KILLED it on aux. percussion.
Facts tho! Nobody mentioned how big a role he played! Larnell is a monster but its physically impossible to make all those sounds at once with only 4 limbs.
Yeah. They literally never showed him and the contributions he makes to the sound cannot be duplicated
Lil Dicky is grooving on bass.
I wish more people understood this
More people understood this? You realize his album topped top 10 on 5 US charts? Lil Dicky isn't exactly underground mate
That's phenomenal.
lol this is what Im talking about bro!
Bass face
0:44 that look from Susanne. She's so confident.
So communicative too. The way she leads that string section with her eyes...
Who is she?
@@richardharrold9736 convincing.
@@justinteal3893 the cellist one.
That percussionist is killin it!
5:57 - 6:02 !!!!! best moment, when the bass plays a really cool variation while the keyboarders dance :-D
YES! I just caught this subtle moment today listening in the car!
These dudes are CRAZY!!!!!!! THEM HORNS, THEM HORNS!!!!!!
Thums up👍👍👍👍if you are watching in 2024
Not only watching but playing this exact arrangement with my students, what a masterpiece 😍👏🏻
@@anetageorgemusic good to hear that 👍
Good music is timeless, which is odd.
Epic is totally the right word to use here. Fukkin Epic!
camera man had a crush on that cello player
+andy kent I understand him !
+andy kent So do I, even w/o the stankface, but it's cool she feels it
+andy kent ladies in string section are damn good lookin!
Susanne Rosmolen
Who wouldn't...
Can we just talk about how good looking string players from the Netherlands are?
California here and i go to dialysis three times a week. One of the technicians Darryl turned me unto this fantastic band, I bought the live double cd and have not stopped listening for a month. Time to buy more, Love this band!
Good for you! It's a blast of positive energy straight up your veins, for sure! I have times when I teeter on the brink of depression, Snarky Puppy (or Jacob Collier, also highly recommended!) always get me back from there.
What I would give to be in the room during this recording...that groove is so got damn filthy it makes me wanna cry...
1:26 wait... did i bring my chocolate sax by mistake ?!?!?
Hahahaha
actually LOLed
Roe Sham Boe LOL
Before hitting play I checked top comments and I was like... ok, I'll listen from the beginning and not just start around 1:26. LOLOLOLOL. So unexpected :D
XD
4:16 Oh, I'm so proud of you my little pigeons, now you can fly by yourselves. I think im gonna cry
I'd love to be her little pidgeon :D
Up until a couple years ago, I hadn’t heard of Snarky Puppy or Shofukan. My daughter’s high school marching band plays it as part of their stand tunes during football games. It gets stuck in my head every football season. Love it. This video is awesome- love watching a group of talented musicians who are obviously thoroughly enjoying themselves!
I used to play it for marching band in the stands too! :D
This is one of those rare videos that’s just so good I wanna cry watching it.
0:45 :Best expression ever, "Wow, that fits! Nailed it"
i am agree
Hi agree I'm dad
Vrotdugi Dortigan I just found your comment 3 years later and it made me laugh so much I genuinely cried. Thank you so much
@@williambristow2795 i'm glad you liked it !
Bunch of great musicians making great music!
Hey Reign of Kindo is a wonderful band of great musicians too! just thought i'd share
AddHazers Yes I love Reign of Kindo but Snarky is on a whole different level technically and musically.
If they toured together with Lettuce and Soulive I would Kill to see those 4 bands on the bill.
Eddie Grant going to see lettuce in october
I just love what Candyrat does
Andy fam
How is that the more you hear this piece, the better she is ? Greetings from France.
My high school jazz band got to play with Justin Stanton, one of the coolest experiences of my life
Man, that 'cellist could melt steel beams!
...right!
that's what bush said on September 12, 2001
This drummer be cray. Snarky Puppy is the present and the future!
Everyone: A large band with no conductor can never work live.
Snarky Puppy: Hold our dozen sixpacks of beer.
The seatbelts
Also to a lesser extent BOTAR (non orchestra version) and Streetlight Manifesto.
So basically jazz bands
Oh theres a conductor all right. He's the one wearing the white Adidas shirt and red headphones.
lmfao
In a jazz band the bassist is essentially the conductor. In this case Michael League is literally the bandleader too
S tier ensemble.
These musicians are elite.
And as a lifelong drummer, I think larnell Lewis is incredible. Absolutely brilliant
Just amazing. Kind of disappointed they didn't get the percussionist on camera during his solo. Maybe it wasn't a solo but you could hear him going nuts. 5:21.
There's another song where he has a solo this song was more of a trumpet solo (3 years to late I know)
@@shockingbunny2122 which song?
It's always cool to see the chemistry between the musicians.
This is the first song I've heard by Snarky Puppy and now it's SNARKY PUPPY BINGING TIME
I just found out about them today and wow! The temptation to just straight binge all their work and forgo sleep is strong.
Nate Werth on aux percussion...once you hear how he MAKES the vibe playing 6 different things at once you can't unhear it
the cellist at 0:43 is like, 'Yeah, this is amazing!'
That's Whats up.. lol.. Larnell Lewis on drums baby. Canada Represent
From the amount of good melodies you could write ten songs
At 5:22 they sing "pa pa paaaa pa pa pa". After the last song played at Tortona, Italy, at the end of the concert,, the public sung that piece and the band started playing Shofukan! That was epic!
That cellist is stealing my heart
Larnell Lewis. Holy shit
Indeed. Holy Shit
I've spent a lot of time with Snarky Puppy over the last two years or so. I'm pretty familiar with everything they've recorded. I'm pushing 70. Jazz Fusion was a go-to genre for me in the 70's. I wore out Weather Report's albums along with most of the other Fusion pioneers. There are very few bands from my era I care to listen to anymore. Steely Dan is an exception. I was a music major in college and made a living as a musician for a number of years. I know the classical canon pretty well from Bach to Rach. I'll probably have Elgar's Nimrod played at my funeral. From my perspective, Snarky Puppy is a once in a generation phenomenon. Great bands are great not because of their musicianship or mastering of instruments. Go to Nashville and there are phenomenal musicians starving in every club on every corner. Yes, these guys are all world class, but there are others who could fill their shoes in a heartbeat, and I guarantee you they know it. Is Cory Henry not a phenomenon? Is his Lingus solo not pure magic? Of course, but he's been gone from the band for some time and yet Empire Central is going to be influential for decades in my opinion. Larnell is the sickest drummer of any genre on the planet right now but he's replaceable I promise you. The point is, what makes a great band is composition. It's the songs. When Don Henley was asked what made the Eagles great, he started naming off all their hits. It's all about the songs. Just think Beatles. I cannot think of an instrumental band ever with a catalog as strong as Snarky, and it's still growing strong. Trinity is a masterpiece of composition. Having said all that, I offer my three favorite SP compositions. The Curtain, Trinity, and the amazing Shofukan. If I were stranded on an Island with only these three recordings, I would be just fine, thank you. Shofukan is just about as perfect a composition as humans can produce. Hooky melodies, infectious rhythms, and an exquisite arrangement. Nothing left on the table but nothing overdone either. It's just a transcendent piece of magic. I never get tired of it. Okay, maybe no one else on earth would have come up with the piano solo on The Curtain. Don't go anywhere, Bill Laurance. Snarky and the rest of the world needs you.
0:43 I always wait for this moment.