StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Snarky Puppy's eclectic collective

This week, it's time to check out some videos of jazz/funk/world/fusion band Snarky Puppy, who will be returning to St. Louis to perform Sunday, May 19 at Atomic Cowboy's outdoor pavilion.

Sometimes described as "a loose collective" under the leadership of bassist and founder Michael League, with a lineup that can range in size from seven or eight musicians up to 25, Snarky Puppy draws on an eclectic mix of influences - most notably jazz and funk, but also a variety of other musics from around the world.

Thanks in part to relentless touring and in part to winning Grammy Awards in 2014, 2016 and 2017, their fortunes have risen rapidly in recent years. They've gone from playing small-to-medium-sized clubs to headlining major venues and festivals around the world, and in 2017 even started their own annual event, the GroundUP Music Festival in Miami Beach, FL.

Snarky Puppy currently are touring in support of their most recent album Immigrance, which came out in March. You can hear some of the music from the album starting up above with the "official" video for "Bad Kids to the Back," which was done to promote the song's release as a single.

After the jump, you can see the first live performance ever of "Xavi," another tune from Immigrance, as recorded in February at the band's GroundUp Music Festival. That's followed by another performance from this year's GroundUP event, "Thing of Gold," which was originally recorded for their 2012 album GroundUP.

Next, it's "Grown Folks," as recorded in July 2018 at the Festival Django Reinhardt in France, and then "Go," as captured in November 2018 at Sol de Sants Studios in Barcelona, Spain for the web series "The Furious Sessions."

Last but not least, you can see a full set from a show in June 2018 at The Fillmore in Philadelphia.

For more about Snarky Puppy and Immigrance, check out the interview and performances featured on this week's episode of NPR's "World Cafe", and Michael League's interviews from March of this year with Rolling Stone and Qwest.tv.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...