Something unexpected happened at the 2014 Grammys. In a field populated with names like Miguel, Q-Tip and Kendrick Lamar, the trophy for Best R&B Performance was awarded to Snarky Puppy—a relatively
unknown group of 18 studied and practiced musicians—for their collaboration with Lalah Hathaway on a new arrangement of the Brenda Russell number “Something.”

Snarky Pupped teamed up with the First Daughter of Soul for Family Dinner, Volume One, the 2013 album that includes “Something,” only after releasing a series of live, all-instrumental recordings. Captured live and bolstered by Hathaway’s polyphonic vocals, the song was a surprise crossover smash and, by the Grammys, over two million people had watched the video. It’s easy to chalk up the popularity of this particular clip, now at more than four million views, to the rarity of Hathaway singing chords without the aid of any external effects. But the band’s next most popular video—for their original composition “Lingus”— has over three million views and is entirely instrumental, featuring a nearly 6-minute-long keyboard solo.

Snarky Puppy’s roots trace back to the University of North Texas College of Music, whose alumni include Roy Orbison and Norah Jones. While most of the 10 members of Snarky Puppy’s earliest lineup were enrolled in the school’s pioneering Jazz Studies program, the band’s original mission came from their desire to work outside of those academic restrictions. Bandleader and bassist Michael League explains, “I was writing music that wasn’t really jazz and I wanted some kind of outlet.” In 2004, he gathered nine of his buddies to rehearse in his basement on Sundays. Their first gig took place on the subterranean level of a Denton, Texas pizza parlor.

These inauspicious beginnings established a philosophy that carries through with the band today. “We started with a very small amount of ambition,” says League. “We did it for fun. Our goals have never been business-based, just music-based. The one goal is to constantly be making new, original music that challenges us and that we enjoy playing.” Cory Henry, the keyboardist responsible for both the organ interplay with Hathaway on “Something” and the epic solo in “Lingus” concurs: “We’re trying to further the music in the best way that we can— keeping things fresh and trying to push the bar.”

Despite their propensity for extended solos and interchangeable arrangements, Snarky Puppy have never considered themselves a jazz outfit. “I would argue that we’re part of the lineage of the jazz tradition in some kind of way, and if [our] records become popular, then maybe we’re indirectly bringing people closer to jazz,” League says.

Henry addresses the matter more directly: “I think that Snarky Puppy is finding its niche in the jazz world, but I don’t look at us technically as jazz—even though we come from a place of jazz—because we try to cross as many lines as we can. We play a lot of different music.” He believes the band falls more in the tradition of dedicated musicians who defied genres, such as Stevie Wonder, Prince and D’Angelo. “All the music that
I grew up with involved people who were hard workers in their field. These guys all practiced to be where they are; it gives me a standard to reach for. And I try to communicate that standard with everybody. It’s just about
trying to figure out the way to be the best you that you can be, and what comes out, comes out.”

That diligence has paid off. In addition to the Grammy, they recently released Sylva, a recording featuring the 52-piece Metropole Orkest and have a second volume in their Family Dinner series— featuring, among other high-profile guests, David Crosby, who once tweeted, “Snarky Puppy is quite possibly the most advanced band in the world…certainly the best I’ve heard/seen”—ready to drop in January. The next logical progression for a band that has mastered the art of the live recording is to actually enter a studio.

“With this last Family Dinner record, it was so smooth and stress-free that now we have to create another situation that stresses us out,” League says, clarifying, “not necessarily [something] that adds more problems for us, but something new. Going into a studio and overdubbing the shit out of ourselves for a week and a half is something we haven’t done in a very long time, so everybody’s really excited about it.” Henry lends an additional perspective on the process, explaining, “Basically, Snarky Puppy is a group of producers who play instruments. We all like to make decisions, so once we get to sit there and flesh out the ideas, hopefully, we’ll come out with a good project. It’ll be cool.”

While there are dozens of musicians on Snarky Puppy’s roster, the band usually tours with a leaner lineup of seven to 12 people. Aside from the obvious logistical advantages, League offers, “There isn’t that kind of dilemma of making it sound like the record. All anyone is thinking is: ‘How do we make this sound the coolest and best it can with the individuals we have?’ The nice thing about having a rotating cast is that we’re able to get all the different personalities putting their own thing on the tunes.”

It’s not just the internal variety that sits well with the Puppies, though. “Part of the fun of touring is to see other bands killing, just slaying, the game,” says Henry. “It gives a little bit of a push to everybody, and the spirit of the music comes across. Before all the [issues with record companies], it was all based on good music.”