Music at the NC Museum of Art

NCMA Sponsors Snarky Puppy

Snarky Puppy, the eclectic, unclassifiable, genre-defying jazz/funk/global band, will give an early start Sunday, May 1, to the North Carolina Museum of Art’s 2016 summer concert season. Doors open at 5 p.m. prior to the 6:30 p.m. performance.

Formed in 2004 at the University of North Texas, the band has toured four continents, recorded with Justin Timberlake and Snoop Dogg, and performed over 300 shows on its own over the past two years.

The band was voted Best Jazz Group in Downbeat’s 2015 reader poll and Best Electric/Jazz-Rock Artist in Jazz Time’s 2014 reader poll. Hailed far and wide, from the BBC to the Los Angeles Times, the band is revered for its mix of sophisticated composition, harmony, and improvisation.

The ensemble’s new album Family Dinner, Volume 2, recorded in New Orleans, features assists by musical stars including Susana Baca, Terence Blanchard, Charlie Hunter, Ivan Neville, Salif Keita, and David Crosby.

Lake Street Dive to Perform

The North Carolina Museum of Art was so impressed with last summer’s performance by the Lake Street Dive that it jumped at the chance to have the quartet return Sunday, June 10, as part of its summer concert series. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for an 8 p.m. performance.

The group has just released a new album, Side Pony, which exemplifies their irresistible cross-generational blend of R&B, pop, ’60s-era rock, and soul music.

The band members met at Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music. They studied jazz, but it was their love of classic 1960s pop and rock music (the Beatles, Beach Boys, Dusty Springfield) that brought them together as musical soul mates. Lake Street Dive is fronted by powerhouse vocalist Rachael Price with Mike Olson on trumpet and guitar, Bridget Kearney on upright bass, and Mike Calabrese on drums.