Nick Maclean's Snaggle
THE LONG SLOG (2016)
3X 'GOLD' Global Music Award Winner
"Snaggle plays music without borders, music that is at once sophisticated and inclusive, bristling with infectious funk grooves, rock riffs, and jazz-based improvisations woven into a tapestry of an ambitious yet accessible compositional palette. Seemingly irreconcilable influences vie for attention, from heavy, Zeppelinesque rock riffery to gentle jazz-funk, with hints of Radiohead and the Brian Blade Fellowship Band sprinkled in for good measure, all stitched together in a seamless, somehow inevitable way."
- Dave Restivo, jazz piano giant
This album, the sophomore release from Snaggle, represents a rich palette of highly diverse original music featuring the band's current incarnation. They initially faced much internal political turmoil and uncertainty in the early stages of the makings of this record - the end result being the departure of some players and the heart-felt welcoming of newer exciting additions. Thus its completion marks the triumphant end to a long stage in Snaggle's evolution and the beginning of a new chapter with all the intriguing challenges, opportunities and possibilities that go with it.
Often described as Canada’s answer to Snarky Puppy, Snaggle combines influences from jazz, rock, metal, classical and everything else they can get their hands to create their own brash and infectious brand of hard funk. With a sound ranging from Miles Davis to Rage Against the Machine, Snaggle features a repertoire of exciting, dynamic and highly diverse original material which is garnering them more and more attention both at home and abroad. This all-star line up of players, including the fastest drummer in world, are among some of the best 20-somethings on the scene and represent the next generation of irreverent, boundary pushing Canadian players and composers. Snaggle is an artist on the roster of the award winning record label Browntasauras Records.
released October 2, 2016
Nick Maclean - Rhodes/Organ/Synthesizer
Doug Moore - Bass
Tom Grosset - Drums
Mike Murray - Guitar
Max Forster - Trumpet
Graeme Wallace - Tenor Sax
Special guest: Brownman Ali - Trumpet
Produced by Brownman Ali
Recorded by Brian Legere
Mixed by Josh Bowman
Mastered by Joao Carvalho
Artwork by Nick Ragetli
AWARDS & ACCOLADES
– 2017 International Independent Music Award nominee
'The Long Slog' for ‘Best Jazz/Funk/Jam'
– 2017 Toronto Independent Music Award
'The Long Slog' winner for ‘Best Jazz Instrumental'
– 2016 3X 'Gold' Global Music Award winner'The Long Slog' for ‘band’, ‘album’, and ‘creativity/originality’
– 2016 4-star rating on AllAboutJazz.com
for 'The Long Slog'
– 2016 Top 10 Downloaded
for “Snaggle #7” on AllAboutJazz.com's Download of the Day
– 2016 No.1 on the jazz charts in Kamloops
for 'The Long Slog'
VIDEOS
Sep 14 2016
"So now my main man Brownman has opened the doors of his label Browntasaurus Records to local artists he's been associated with in Toronto and other locales, and the first label release from young pianist Nick Maclean's 6-man electric-jazz group SNAGGLE is most impressive! The music on Long Slog is very, very challenging, yet groovy, soulful & exploratory at the same time. Brown himself guests on 2 tunes and fits in with flying colors -- no easy task given how difficult some of this music is! Extremely well performed, written and executed you Snagglers, with high-end production from Brown in the producer's chair. Very impressive work. Reminds me of a band I used to play in! Really well done guys."
- Randy Brecker, multi-Grammy winning trumpet legend (NYC, USA)
Nov 04, 2016
"Snaggle is a Canadian jazz orchestra led by pianist Nick Maclean; a sextet that plays a hard-pumped, groovy form of electro-jazz-funk-rock; music that appears fearless, muscular, sometimes psychedelic – as if it were a self-conscious powerhouse on drugs. At the same time, the orchestra's music is rigorous and clearly focused. And it is that range that makes it so unusual. You can sense that Maclean and his sextet, in an adult but childishly playful way, are going for the full, the fiery, the condensed."
- Ivan Rod, music critic (Denmark)
Oct 29, 2016
"Funk/jazz fans, the next generation is in the house. Led by a 25 year old, produced by a sidekick of Randy Brecker and listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the world's fastest drummer as part of their crew, your ears aren't deceiving you when you put this on and think you're in the presence of some killer, new funk. A bunch of hard charging lads that probably can't do anything but deliver the goods, this is what you have to play when you need to get the blood flowing."
- Chris Spectre, critic at The Midwest Record
Oct 05, 2016
"Snaggle defies genre boundaries to make 21st century jazz"
- Terry Pender, The Waterloo Record
Nov 14, 2016
"The music of Snaggle, a fruitful sextet based in Toronto, translates into mature compositions and stupendous executions. The members of the band, virtuosos in their respective instruments, resort to a laudable sense of unity and superior taste to creatively orchestrate the nine pieces of The Long Slog, their sophomore feature album… In a certain moment they’re confronting Miles Davis with Medeski Martin & Wood; in the other, you may find the Red Hot Chili Peppers colliding with Incognito or Mahavishnu Orchestra."
- Filipe Freitas, Jazz Trail (New York, USA)
Nov 09, 2016
"What’s most striking about this group is that they are continually challenging the “norm”, so what you get will be completely fresh and new. I give this band a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"
- Dick Metcalf, Improvijazzation Nation
Dec 01, 2016
"Everyone's mood is outgoing and they remain willing to give it their all, even on the slower and more atmospheric tracks"
- Vangelis Aragiannis, JazzBuzz
Nov 28, 2016
"The wonder of the musicians’ playing is how engagingly, articulately, flowingly and creatively they pour themselves into the songs, adding further lustre to this recording, which is stylish, responsive and richly atmospheric."
- Raul da Gama, the Whole Note (Toronto, Canada)
Nov 23, 2016
"Their uniquely brash and infectious brand of jazz -funk is a melodically driven sound which incorporates primal groove qualities more commonly
associated with pop and rock, swinging their live show from quietly contemplative all the
way to explosively fierce, sometimes all within the same tune."
- Memphis Marty, The Jazz Music Blog (Australia)
Dec 20, 2016
"...this ain’t any Kenny G oatmeal for folks with no teeth."
- Mike Greenblatt, Classicalite
May 31, 2016
"Snaggle plays music without borders, music that is at once sophisticated and inclusive, bristling with infectious funk grooves, rock riffs, and jazz-based improvisations woven into a tapestry of an ambitious yet accessible compositional palette. Seemingly irreconcilable influences vie for attention, from heavy, Zeppelinesque rock riffery to gentle jazz-funk, with hints of Radiohead and the Brian Blade Fellowship Band sprinkled in for good measure, all stitched together in a seamless, somehow inevitable way."
- Dave Restivo, jazz piano giant
May 12, 2016
"Metric modulations, meter changes, tempo shifts, counter-point lines, but all with underlying melodic ideas that captivate while shifting from hard funk to gentle motifs (sometimes all within the same tune!)... they're SERIOUS... a truly astonishing ensemble!"
- Brownman Ali, jazz trumpet icon
Sep 14, 2016
"An album that puts a mystical space tiger front and centre on its cover sets some serious expectations, and the Long Slog delivers. This album is adventurous, slightly proggy and seriously grooving and finds the band living up to their reputation as 'Canada's answer to Snarky Puppy.' Tightly composed, thoughtfully arranged and fiercely performed (with just the right amount of weird); exactly what that space tiger deserves."
- Brad Cheeseman, JUNO nominee
Oct 02, 2016
"If you're a fan of Miles Davis' electric jazz-funk...you will like Snaggle!"
- Errol Nazareth, host of CBC's Big City Small World
Sep 09, 2016
"Snaggle’s sophomore recording The Long Slog features funky, thoughtful, and inventive compositions played by an impressive group of young musicians. Snaggle is definitely more than the sum of its parts!"
- Mike Murley, Juno award winning tenor player
Sep 17, 2016
"Snaggle is a world class band playing contemporary jazz-rock that'll knock your socks off! Great playing, writing, and sound design. I love the sense of adventure, the captivating melodies, rockin' guitar, the space, the jazz sensibility and the deep groove. Look out!"
- Kim Ratcliff, highly sought after Canadian guitarist
Sep 09, 2016
"Nick Maclean stands out for me as one of the most gifted young Toronto pianists to come along in the last few years. His combination of raw creativity and a well studied grasp of the technical and theoretical aspects of music makes for a powerful musical statement. His project Snaggle embodies the spirit of what jazz is today--this is music that recognizes everything that came before it while also looking forward into the future, searching for new pathways of expression through the language of music."
- Adrean Farrugia, Juno Award winning jazz pianist
Nov 12, 2016
"Music for the toes, feet and heart."
- George Harris, critic at JazzWeekly.com
