Bill Laurence & Michael League

It's been nearly twenty years since Southern California-born bassist/multi-instrumentalist Michael League founded the globally acclaimed, four-time Grammy Award-winning collective. As for London-born keyboardist Bill Laurance, he's been part of the adventure for almost as long. So the fact that League and Laurance are releasing their first duo album together, Where You Wish You Were, in 2023 seems both a logical development and a surprise. League plays a very different role here than he did in Snarky Puppy. He plays primarily oud and other acoustic picking instruments. Their compositions with Laurance, recorded solo, have an Arabic jazz flavour due to the oud's distinctive sound, but the more subtle ECM-style jazz is also a good catch-all for the sound.

Both were looking forward to doing something quite unexpected. It's a long-awaited opportunity for them to explore the intimacy, fragility and purity inherent in their relationship. League, who has Greek roots, has close ties to both Greek and Turkish folk music, and his playing is unique in that he is self-taught on the instrument, with his mentor, the great Armenian-American musician Ara Dinkjian, insisting that he pursue his relationship with the oud without formal, traditional studies. Something we can admire at the House of Music, as Bill Laurance will be working on the delicate sound of the piano. An unmissable experience for Snarky Puppy fans, highly recommended for all others.