Band on the Wall joins Snarky Puppy in celebrating their GRAMMY win

Snarky Puppy collected their second GRAMMY award – ‘Best Contemporary Instrumental Album’ for their album with Metropole Orkest – at the award ceremony in LA last night.

The Manchester venue and the New York-based jazz collective share a long relationship, which began when the Band on the Wall team saw their potential and brought them to the UK for a show at the venue in 2012.

Since that first show, Band on the Wall has continued to support the band, hosting six Manchester shows and helping them progress to larger venues with two UK tours. The latest tour, in October 2015, saw Band on the Wall present Snarky Puppy in large-scale venues across the country, including the 5,000 capacity Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith.

Snarky Puppy have also supported the education activity that takes place at Band on the Wall, leading a 5-day intensive residency with emerging musicians from across the UK, culminating in a showcase event of newly created material in January 2013.

Gavin Sharp, CEO Band on the Wall, said: “We are overjoyed to see Snarky Puppy’s success at this years Grammy Awards. It is now several years since we all crowded around in the Band on the Wall office to watch the band on Youtube and resolved to bring them over to the UK, initially for just a few small shows. However, once they arrived and we realised that not only were they a fantastic group of musicians but also incredibly generous with their knowledge and experience and a joy to work with, and so started to develop an ever stronger partnership. They are hugely deserving of their success and we are sure that they will continue to delight audiences and music lovers for many years to come.”

The relationship between the venue and the band is so strong in fact, that Band on the Wall Chief Programming Officer, Mike Chadwick, after booking their initial UK shows, became Snarky Puppy’s manager. He was at the award ceremony with the band and said: “I’m so proud to have played a small part in this amazing album. Congratulations to Snarky Puppy and the Metropole Orkest”

Whilst the collective take stock and look to their next project, Band on the Wall presents shows with Snarky Puppy members across the UK this Spring as they tour their various solo projects:

Keyboard player Bill Laurance brings the Bill Laurance Group plays the The Wardrobe Leeds on 9 March and Band on the Wall, on 10 March.

Guitarist Mark Lettieri plays Band on the Wall, Hare & Hounds Kings Heath, XOYO, London and The Hope & Ruin, Brighton in April.

Organist Cory Henry presents The Revival Project at St Philip’s Church, Salford, Union Chapel, London and Colston Hall, Bristol in May.

Snarky Puppy aren’t the only Band on the Wall affiliated artist to have success at this year’s GRAMMYs – American jazz bassist Christian McBride won ‘Best Improvised Jazz Solo’ award. Band on the Wall has hosted McBride twice previously and he returns to the venue alongside fellow bassist Edgar Meyer on 22 March.

In total, Band on the Wall has played host to ten of this year’s GRAMMY nominees since its re-opening in 2009 – a remarkable achievement for a small UK venue.