Snarky Puppy veterans Robert “Sput” Searight (drums) and Nate Werth (percussion) have assembled one of the world’s great groove bands, evocative of funk icons like Lettuce, Tower of Power, Louis Cole and even James Brown! These two men rhythmically defined Snarky Puppy’s groundbreaking work for years, winning multiple Grammy Awards in the process. With the release of their third album, Mustard n’Onions, the members of Ghost-Note have become OGs or elder statesmen, influencing newer generations of “frustrated jazz musicians,” to borrow Sput’s favorite description of his bandmates — state-of-the-art, jazz-trained players who worship the groove but not genre limitations. Describing the recent album Sput says, “I feel like mustard stinks. I feel like onions stink. You put the two of them together… it’s just funky.”

A legendary ensemble co-led by drummer Mike Clark and percussionist Bill Summers, The Headhunters originally formed in 1973-75 around Herbie Hancock’s epic jazz-funk recordings, Head Hunters, Thrust and Man-Child. Now featuring NEA Jazz Master Donald Harrison on alto saxophone, the band’s 8th album, The Stunt Man, was just released in 2024 on Ropeadope Records. Their smash hit “God Make Me Funky” has been sampled on over 350 hip hop and pop songs.