Michael League is certainly his own man. His approach seems pretty unique to me.
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NAMM Duet featuring Michael League
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
Michael League is certainly his own man. His approach seems pretty unique to me.
I'm all in when it comes to Michael League!
He is absolutely brilliant!
I also have to show Wesley Stephenson some love.
He is also a monster player capable of playing any style of music from gospel to jazz fusion!
He is absolutely brilliant!
I also have to show Wesley Stephenson some love.
He is also a monster player capable of playing any style of music from gospel to jazz fusion!
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Here he is with Cory Henry
9:00 to 10:00 has one of my favorite keyboard solos of all time.
The audience is totally cool, too.
IMO, Michael League is the jazz fusion version of Marcus Miller!
He is multi-talented (bassist, producer, etc...), and controls all aspects of his incredible shows.
He is multi-talented (bassist, producer, etc...), and controls all aspects of his incredible shows.
I know what you are saying, but Marcus Miller would likely say he is the Jazz Fusion version of Marcus Miller since one of his earliest big gigs was Miles Davis.
That is one fantastic performance! That whole band is wonderful. Michael League makes me wish a P-bass and flats was my sound, but I know it isn't.
I just love the way he gets the music out of his bass. He is proof that instruments don't have limitations, musicians have limitations and blame their gear! Of course, musians can also have ideas that cannot be executed in some too, that is why there multistring and fretless bass.
League has also been in the vanguard of white bassists who have really studied Urban Gospel and have used that feel to enhance their music. Michael League is just impressive any way you look at his body of work.
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Marcus is the Marcus Miller of just about everything!I know what you are saying, but Marcus Miller would likely say he is the Jazz Fusion version of Marcus Miller since one of his earliest big gigs was Miles Davis.
Marcus IS a jazz fusion version of Marcus.
League is solid and seems nice enough but he's a long way from Marcus' heights.
And yes I've seen League several times live.
I have to admit I find Snarky Puppy a little baffling considering all the fusion heavyweights around.
They seem like the diet fusion group to me for people who missed out on the Brecker Brothers, Stern, Tribal Tech (Willis rules), Cobham's bands, Marcus, Miles, Scofield, Sixun, Zawinul, Steve Gadd's bands, John McLaughlin's bands, Wayne Krantz etc
I never said he was on Marcus' level or reached his heights. So many bassists struggling for work, and Michael League, like Marcus Miller, has carved his own niche. That is undeniable and should not be minimized!
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A big part of Fusion was young guys with a lot of chops who liked rock and funk. About half of the time they couldn't make up their minds if they wanted to shred or score a crossover hit. Snarky Puppy takes it down a few notches and develops compositions for there own worth, not as a showcase for chops.
During an interview Michael League acknowledged that a lot of guys can blow him away chops wise. However, he is also smart enough to know that great music and musicality isn't defined by who has superior chops!
It's his musicality that makes him a great musician and Snarky Puppy successful!
Like Marcus, it's his brilliance that allows other musicians to have steady work with Sparky Puppy and branch off to do their own projects.
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Hey, knowing how use your tools is the name of the game. It worked for Miles Davis just fine. He was not fastest or played the highest notes.
There were two versions of Miles... the earlier one could hang with the best of them. The latter took a more stripped down approach. Same guy.