KORI BARKLEY
Staff Writer
The once Texas, now New York-based, collective of musicians known as Snarky Puppy play an infectious fusion of jazz, funk, soul and world music, or “music to move the brain and booty,” as the band describes it.
Snarky Puppy features a collective of at least 40 musicians at a time, creating an energy that helped them win a Grammy last year in addition to “Best New Artist” and “Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artists” categories in Jazztimes Magazine. One of the musicians is the legendary Cory Henry, who visited Fredonia last Tuesday, March 21, to present a master class about jazz collaboration. The master class was sponsored by Fredonia Jazz Workshops.
More of a causal discourse than a master class, Henry played some Snarky Puppy tunes and other jazz standards on piano and synthesizer before sharing his musical history and opening up the floor to questions.
Henry was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He told the story of spending most of his childhood in a Pentecostal church where his mother was the choral director and there was a large musical community.
At the age of 2, Henry’s mother recognized his musical potential — he would bang on pots and pans and play his neighbors’ instruments every chance he got — and gave him keyboard lessons. At the age of 4, Henry was the organist at his church. From then on, he dedicated his life to learning and developing his skills as a musician.
Henry did not finish high school and never had formal keyboard training at a university. Instead, at 19, he began touring and performing with musicians like The Roots, Lalah Hathaway, Sara Bareilles, Boys 2 Men, Ray Chew and The Crew, P. Diddy, Mary Mary, Sean Kingston, Bruce Springsteen, Snarky Puppy and many others.
Henry accredits his training to habitually listening to music of jazz greats — he mentioned Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea, John Coltrane, Mouse, Bobby McFerrin and James Brown — and the ear he developed playing organ at church.
Contrary to the ideals of many in the School of Music, when Henry was asked about his technique practice, he admitted he doesn’t practice technique often because, while he believes technique is important, he understands that technique is not what will win listeners’ attention.
After a period of questions, Henry couldn’t wait to play again. The Fredonia Jazz Ensemble was elated to perform the Snarky tune “What About Me” with Henry. His style was bluesy and soulful, groovy and beyond, but he always seemed to incorporate a church-like sound into his solos.
The keyboardist of FJE, Ian Liedke, had the exciting opportunity to play alongside Henry on the piano.
“To get to play with someone who is essentially a child prodigy is unbelievable,” Liedke said. “It was just so cool to watch him and study exactly what he was doing, how he voiced chords and how everything came together. The fact that he never had formal training is pretty amazing … [and] his whole philosophy on ear training is absolutely right on the money. While I believe that good technique will help you in the long run, listening to other musicians and analyzing what they are doing is probably the most important step in jazz music.”
A positive energy radiated from Henry throughout the evening. His eclectic style proved his creativity, and his playing brought out an array of colors in the piano. It was evident he had a way of taking listeners on a musical journey, as many people cheered and shouted during his playing.
Henry encouraged students to have fun with their music and play from their hearts.
“When music doesn’t become a thought process, it becomes fun,” he said. “It takes time to get really comfortable, but let your music happen organically and naturally. Sometimes the freshest ideas come from mistakes … You define your own music.”