Review Summary: A shallow empire.
When Michael League¸ bassist and leader of the jazz collective Snarky Puppy, directed the group to write music hearkening to or epitomizing their place of genesis (Dallas, TX), I don’t think the intended result was for me to make the determination that I would never be visiting.
Judging by the compositional theme, Dallas appears to be a slow, lazy city that has very little going on, which is probably a bit unfair to Dallas. The normally vibrant and adventurous soundscapes of Snarky Puppy have been dulled to fit within a framework that does not suit their style or musical ability very well.
Snarky Puppy are all virtuosic on their respective instruments. Nothing but the best is demanded of the ensemble and the technical proficiency and talent that has been a constant throughout their discography is no different here. The album is live recorded in keeping with the standard Snarky Puppy format, adding to the allure of their musicianship. Unfortunately no amount of musical brilliance uplifts this album from being a disappointment.
An immediately noticeable problem is that the album is a behemoth, clocking in at just over an hour and a half. This wouldn't even be a complaint if the record were consistently engaging or interesting, but arduously trudging through long and lifeless tracks to get to the interesting ones, such as "Portal” or “Pineapple,” is a constant problem throughout.
The length of the record is of lesser concern, however, to the composition. While I have referenced the virtuosity of the musicians, the songwriting is too boring to allow them to showcase what they are really capable of. There are points where the band shakes off the dull pallor and comes to life, which of course is incredibly enjoyable, but it's too infrequent to offset the overwhelmingly mundane composition that plagues this record.
Furthermore, the songwriting approach itself is a bit pretentious. Truly excellent songwriting is substituted for a "theme" which either fails to capture the highlights of Dallas or accomplishes making Dallas very bland. Either way, it does not effectuate any sort of emotional response. It might work better if they incorporated a southern
musical theme, but using the city itself as inspiration doesn't really work here and leads to a circumstance where much of the record is spent wondering when it's going to get better.
I realize I'm being a bit harsher than is maybe warranted, and perhaps this album will grow on me with further listening. I'm not some jazz snob or a critic who listens for "the modal undulations of the synthesizer underpinning the droning bass line overlaid by Coltrane-esque saxophone solos" or some such. I'm not asking for some masterpiece again and again. Hell, I could be totally wrong and this album is great, but having listened to peak Snarky Puppy, it's hard not to feel utterly let down. Frankly, you're better off going and listening to Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis, or Snarky Puppy's earlier discography for that matter. For all it’s intricacies and talent, this album just isn’t it.
