Snarky Puppy are a collective that has deliberately avoided clear genre classification for more than twenty years. The band operates as an open platform for musicians from the jazz, funk, R&B, and experimental scenes. For over two decades, they have maintained an exceptional position on the contemporary instrumental music scene, collecting awards across categories ranging from jazz to R&B, including five Grammy Awards. After four years, they will once again perform in the Great Hall of Prague’s Lucerna.
The band’s story began in 2004 in the Texas town of Denton. Although relatively small in size, Denton holds great significance for music: since 1947 it has been home to the world’s first university jazz department. One of its graduates is Michael League, who founded Snarky Puppy as a ten-member ensemble for a school project and from the very beginning conceived it more as an open platform than a fixed lineup. Over the years, the musicians have changed, but the principle has remained the same: an emphasis on a shared sound, collective dynamics, and music that evolves together with the people who play it.
A turning point came with the 2010 album Tell Your Friends, which was followed by the band’s first European tour. Another major leap in popularity arrived in 2013, when Snarky Puppy—thanks in part to their collaboration with singer Lalah Hathaway—won their first Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance for the song “Something” from the album Family Dinner – Volume One. Their true international breakthrough came with We Like It Here (2014) and Culcha Vulcha (2016), albums that defined their current sound—a combination of jazz harmony, funk groove, and influences from African and Latin American music. Another unmistakable milestone was their collaboration with the Dutch Metropole Orkest, which began with the Grammy-winning project Sylva (2015) and continued in 2025 with a new joint work, Somni. Recorded live in Utrecht, this project represents Snarky Puppy’s most ambitious production to date and presents the band in dialogue with a symphonic ensemble without losing its characteristic energy and collective spirit.
Snarky Puppy’s concerts are not reconstructions of studio recordings. They are built around the band’s current form, audience interaction, and music that changes from night to night. This is precisely why Snarky Puppy hold a unique position on today’s instrumental music scene—as a project that continues to grow over the long term without repeating itself.
