If you’ve ever paid attention to the Snarky Puppy band, you can observe musicians with such flawless organization and musical genius that they can survive even a thousand years.

They are the musicians who live by their work, from their toes to the tips of their trembling breaths. What initially started as a band among college friends then turned into a family when they eventually embraced Robert "Sput" Searight, Shaun Martin, Bobby Sparks, and Bernard Wright – all of whom were regulars of the Dallas music scene. As a result, the band’s sound evolved to something different.

Their outstanding achievements over the years have been crowned with many Grammy Awards. The group desires to create music that always moves its listeners emotionally, physically and intellectually. Snarky Puppy combines various jazz idioms, rock, funk and world music to perform innovative, bold, complex and often finely detailed pieces. It seems undeniable that they will become one of the building blocks of jazz music for future generations.

Although we traditionally believe that orchestras and musical ensembles require a musically competent leader to achieve perfect performances, this is not true for Snarky Puppy. In fact, on their stage, everyone is a leader to one another, with composition and stylistic knowledge, a broad musical background, a deep understanding of rhythm and tempo, and a well-developed "sound memory." Michael emphasizes that their music is a philosophy and way of life rather than a mere genre. During their shows, there are creative leaps from original melodies, and subtle, soft or energetic rhythms harmonize. Michael states, "I know everyone on the team has an incredible work ethic, an inquisitive mind and incredible musical intuition."

People who come together within the framework of musical practices, as invented traditions of modern life, unite to form a specific collectivity. While these unifications create a common identity, some groups and individuals "invent" their differentiating elements. They reinforce their claims of difference by combining these elements of difference with large-scale collectivity. While these unifications create a common identity, some groups and individuals "invent" their differentiating details. They reinforce their claims of difference by combining these contrast elements with large-scale collectivity elements. While Snarky Puppy also establishes the points of similarity with the members of the group he imagines as a member of, the members’ actions and belonging are at the "action level," reinforcing "with musical expressions." For Michael, the group’s founder, being in this community is the right thing to do, and it is parallel to using his talent to the same extent.

"I think it’s quite easy if you’re the right person. First, everyone in the band is compassionate and humble, and secondly, a great musician. This is so important in a band with 20 people. You must be generous, supportive, and happy to let the people around you shine without thinking of yourself. But, of course, you also must have a deep love for songwriting, serious improvisational abilities, a deep groove, stylistic versatility, and various other skills. So while it’s easy for people with all these qualities, that kind of person is hard to find."

This group of successful musicians desires to share the technical and musical level they have reached with the audience and to show them this knowledge due to the hours they spent with their instruments. As they step onto the stage, these "voices," which we listeners need to express ourselves better, can be engraved in the soul in a healing way with the presentations of promising musicians.

Although jazz, funk, rock and ethnic elements stand out in their albums, limiting the band’s music to a single genre is impossible. This is the most crucial point that makes them unique. They reach a fundamentally different point by distorting a simple melodic idea and adding and expanding complex rhythmic variations. And they do this without tiring, scaring or forcing their musical perceptions.

"Everyone in the band has their compositional style. What you described above is an approach many band members employ when writing. I think the music sounds the way that it does because we’re constantly thinking of how to make every single second in a song important, engaging, and enjoyable to listen to," Michael said.

Original concept

Their work mainly consists of multicultural songs. It is possible to see the positive effects of bringing different cultures together on the band members and their music while performing the group performances on the stage. While they reflect this cross-cultural mix in their music and settings, they perform their art meticulously without harming the projection of different cultures into music.

"First and foremost, it shows that the world is small and things are much more related than we sometimes think. When Snarky Puppy plays music inspired by a non-black-American tradition, we prioritize putting our stamp on it, running it through our filter. That way, we can engage with the concept securely and rootedly rather than just making a cheap and unauthentic imitation of something deep and meaningful. In the end, it has to sound like Snarky Puppy," Michael said.

World's best audience

Perhaps the most basic motivation of art is to bring the "beautiful" together with the audience. There are also many reasons why Snarky Puppy’s audience reacts enthusiastically when they hear the band or watch it onstage. They both have foundational backgrounds in gospel music and impressive hip-hop, funk and jazz careers. And the best part is that they can be pretty adept at conveying it.

When I received a special invitation for the concert they performed at Zorlu PSM Turkcell Stage on Nov. 5, 2022, there was only one thing I was sure of – all virtuosos and people who understand this gig would flock there. Indeed, that’s what happened. If you had been there, you would have seen people criticizing each other in the waiting areas, excited with each other, confident that the concert would go great. The audience listening to this band knew a lot about music. This is the most religious motivation for the group.

"I honestly think we have one of the best audiences in the world. They listen intently while giving us loads of energy onstage. It’s scarce to find that combination of traits in a crowd. Normally it’s either too stiff or too much of a party. But with them, we can play whatever we like, and they will happily accept it," he elaborated.

They had an excellent and exciting performance. From Michael on the bass guitar to Jamison Ross on the drums, Shaun Martin on the keyboards, with all his positive energy, sympathetic movements, and pleasant words of all the band members, increased the appreciation even more. When I asked if he had a model for designing a playlist to get the most positive feedback from an audience at his concerts, Michael emphasized that the idea is to take the audience on a unique journey each night. Therefore, the songs have a different energy depending on the time they are played at each concert.

"I don’t have a formula I follow other than trying to create a new story each night with the setlist. I’m not sure we’ve ever played the same set twice while headlining. It keeps the band on its toes, and the crowd feels that" he said.

Expressing that each song has a different process, sometimes on the bass, sometimes with a voice note, and sometimes on a new instrument that he does not play well, Michael states that the only consistent thing is to sing constantly while writing – he laughs – "This helps the melodies feel more natural."

He says that the indispensable part of his shows is the connection between the band and the audience.

"That’s all. If that’s happening, everything else falls into place. We want to create a new experience every night, a special thing that will never happen again the same way."

They once again hosted a Turkish percussion group they invited to the stage at their concert in Istanbul. Therefore, an exciting synthesis was created.

Power of improvisation

It can be said that improvisation characterizes music with the production of sound at the moment, that is, with the impulse to compose the sound. In this respect, improvisation is a natural form of composition. Improvisation is not the expression of structureless music but music in the making. The structure of music is its process. Form flows as it is in the moment, and the sonority changes. What is meant by this is the metamorphosis of the sensation of tonicity. Let’s say that the pressure at the moment is reflected in the sound as it is the time pressure. What passes through sound is the moment.

This is another essential element that makes the Snarky Puppy group special. Each individual in this community consists of people who can open to the voice in different ways each time. They dare to hear the music in the voice surrounded by the halo of the moment. And so they are to everything that conditions the sound. They are intimately involved not only with sound but also with all the determinations that sound affects. With a collective consciousness, they listen to the improvised musicians, the audience, and themselves in all moments. And as a result, the most crucial reason for the effect they created on the stage is that they made themselves during the show in line with their interaction with all of them. Their music is as much a reaction as it is an action. It is as reactive as it is active.

Michael explained this process effortlessly: "Improvisation is introspective as it is communicative. You get to discover what’s happening in your head and finally get to do something with everything floating around in your subconscious. It’s risky and exciting and impossible to predict or plan. I love that. "

Türkiye’s importance

After the earthquakes on Feb. 6, causing thousands to lose their lives in 11 provinces, the Snarky Puppy group expressed that they shared our mourning for the earthquake victims who lost their lives and were affected by the earthquakes.

"As the whole world, we are watching what is happening in Türkiye with a broken heart. As a team, we have many Turkish friends with whom we cooperate and are very close friends, and we are all worried about the people there. And you know that we have been trying to support various announcements for Türkiye since the first day of the incident, and I am in cooperation with my friends to find ways to help physicians in this process.’"

Defining the earthquakes as a great tragedy, "I want to be there in the next month and share your pain with you. But, you know, Türkiye has given me a lot. So whatever I do will be insufficient," Michael said.