Where You Wish You Were

Michael League and Bill Laurance are leading figures of the massively popular collective Snarky Puppy, who snag everything from jazz, rock, funk and world music into their virtuosic orbit. Here, multi-instrumentalist and lead-Puppy League and keyboardist Laurance offer up a much more intimate affair.

The focus here is on composition and subtly shifting harmonies. League wields various fretless instruments, and is primarily heard on the oud. ‘I just love playing the oud,’ League says in the press release, ‘but because I’ve never really taken any lessons, my relationship with the instrument is a bit unrefined.’ Perhaps it's that ‘unrefined’ quality that lends the compositions outstanding originality. Sure, this could be called a ‘world jazz’ album, but it feels wildly new, free from the MOR pitfalls of other albums that fall into that category. Take album highlight ‘Sant Esteve’ for example. The oud and piano (to which Laurance added extra felt to dampen the sound further) complement each other beautifully. There is so much heart in this track, which ends with what sounds like distant ringing church bells, a tolling that is almost imperceptible as the sound of the piano and oud die. Pure magic.

The exclusion of a rhythm section gives the album a wonderfully untethered feel, but that's not to say that there aren’t some fabulous grooves – check out the churning bass line of ‘Tricks’ or the rhythmic break of ‘Bricks’. But the beauty of Where You Wish You Were is in the warmth of the relationship between Laurance and League. Everything about this album feels joyful; these are two musicians who love what they do, and long may that continue.