Snaarj to perform at The Bishop Friday

Members of Snaarj are speechless when asked about their specific musical sound.

Other than that, the progressive jazz band, who are all students in the Jacobs School of Music, talked about the shock value of Lady Gaga’s meat dress, the rom coms they love to watch with their moms and the definition of a “snaarj.”

Snaarj will be performing at 8 p.m. Friday at The Bishop.

Senior Dustin Laurenzi can play several instruments but is mainly responsible for the band’s distinctive tenor saxophone sound.

The band formed in March 2009 and released its debut album “Road Snacks” in June 2010.

“When you’re in a music school like Jacobs, you want something that is your own,” Laurenzi said, “and we wanted to do something different than the typical jazz.”

Just as Laurenzi was trying to explain Snaarj’s qualities, sophomore band member Ben Lumsdaine hopped in the line for coffee at Starbucks.

“Maybe he can help explain our sound better,” Laurenzi said.

Lumsdaine had no problem catching up with the conversation, but quickly took it in a direction further away from the yet-to-be-defined Snaarj sound. However, the chatter that ensued did determine what Snaarj isn’t.

“We don’t need to wear meat dresses or matching outfits to make our music good,” Lumsdaine said.

Providing the versatile percussion, drummer Lumsdaine plays everything from soft, mellow rhythms to loud clanging on the band’s tracks.

Josh Johnson, alto saxophonist, offered explanations about song titles and the album cover art, which features animals with mismatched heads and bodies.

“We really like bears and birds,” Johnson said. “We don’t really know what the obsession with them is, but it has a lot to do with free association. Almost every aspect of our band can be related back to free association.”

This is when ground is broken on Snaarj’s musical definition of sound.

“Free association is in us and our music,” Johnson said. “I think the music we play incorporates elements of all the music we like.”

Johnson said as a band, Snaarj tries to put a sound together in an organized and clear way; influences are fair game.

Specific influences of the band members vary, but Katy Perry was notably in the top three.

“She has the ability to write well-crafted pop music,” Johnson said. “If you can write a song that gets stuck in someone’s head, you’re doing your job as a musician.”

As the idea of free association was still fresh, more digression ensued.

“It’s Halloween in Starbucks,” bassist Bobby Wooten said, referring to the seasonal pumpkin spice latte he had just ordered.

The musical dynamic of Snaarj can be considered different from traditional jazz. It’s form can be described as a more accidental art.

“We all know what is fun to listen to, and we try to play music that is exciting to us and the audience,” Lumsdaine said. “There is definitely a difference between self-serving art and listener friendly music.”

Actually, calling Snaarj a jazz band at all might not be totally accurate, Laurenzi said.
 
“We don’t really sell ourselves as a jazz band. We all study jazz, but tend to shy away from the preconceived jazz notion that’s usually assumed of our band,” Laurenzi said. “All of our influences vary from pop to alternative to electronic, and that really shines through in our free association of
jazz music.”