Brooklyn’s Snarky Puppy Receives Its Third Grammy Nomination

Brooklyn-based jazz ensemble, Snarky Puppy, is no stranger to the Grammys, and 2017’s award ceremony will be no exception. Announced today, Snarky Puppy’s 2016 album, Culcha Vulcha, has been nominated for “Best Contemporary Instrumental Album,” which will be awarded on February 12th at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Other contenders for “Best Contemporary Instrumental Album” include Herb Albert’s Human Nature, Bill Frisell’s When You Wish Upon a Star, Steve Gadd Band’s Way Back Home: Live from Rochester, NY, and Chuck Loeb’s Unspoken.

If Snarky Puppy brings the award back to Brooklyn in February, this will mark the ensemble’s third nomination and third Grammy Award in three years. In 2014, the band made its Grammy debut by winning the award for “Best R&B Performance” with its track, “Something,” off Family Dinner – Volume 1. In 2016 they followed up on this first accolade by winning the Grammy Award for “Best Contemporary Instrumental Album” with Sylva, the band’s 2015 collaborative record with the Metropole Orkest. While the Grammy’s are a familiar honor for Snarky Puppy, this particular nomination for Culcha Vulcha would be the band’s first Grammy Award for an entirely solo album.

Although you can listen to Culcha Vulcha from front to back on Spotify and SoundCloud, Snarky Puppy is an instrumental ensemble best experienced in a live setting. The band’s next run of live performances are at Irving Plaza in New York City over New Year’s Eve, with one show on Friday, 12/30 and two on Saturday, 12/31. Tickets are selling fast but are still available here. Don’t miss your chance to hear Culcha Vulcha live before winning the Grammy (knock on wood), and check out this classic video of Snarky Puppy receiving its first Grammy with Lalah Hathaway in 2015.