Reservoir Announces Publishing Deal With 4x Grammy Winner Michael League, His Band Snarky Puppy, and His Company GroundUP Music
Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) ("Reservoir" or the "Company"), an award-winning independent music company, today announced a worldwide publishing deal with 4x Grammy award-winner Michael League and his internationally acclaimed band Snarky Puppy. As part of the deal, Reservoir will also represent League's GroundUP Music, which is the label and publishing home for many of Snarky Puppy's members, collaborators, and larger musical family.
Michael League is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, arranger, songwriter, label owner, and bandleader. League founded Snarky Puppy in 2003 and performed as the bassist for the ten-piece ensemble. The group has since grown into an international super-band, regarded as one of the major figures in the jazz world. Comprised of various talent over their 14 albums, with about 19 current roster members, the collective is expected to record its next album, Empire Central, in early 2022. In addition to founding and leading Snarky Puppy, League also started international music ensemble Bokanté, collaborated with a diverse range of artists, and released his debut pop solo album, So Many Me, in June 2021.
In 2014, League and Snarky Puppy took home their first Grammy in the 'Best R&B Performance' category alongside vocalist Lalah Hathaway for their version of "Something" by Brenda Russell. In 2016, the group's album Sylva, which debuted at #1 on Billboard's Heatseekers, Jazz Albums and Contemporary Jazz Albums charts, won the Grammy for 'Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.' Snarky Puppy earned the award a second time the following year for Culcha Vulcha and again in 2021 for Live at the Royal Albert Hall. With these four Grammy Awards spanning genre categories, Snarky Puppy has cemented itself as a prolific, genre-bending ensemble of world class artists.
League established GroundUP Music in 2012 to create a supportive environment where Snarky Puppy and its members could release their music. In addition to releasing albums by the ensemble, the label has been the ambassador to many successful solo careers of the group's members, including Justin Stanton, Bill Laurance, and Mark Lettieri. Notably, Lettieri's album Deep: The Baritone Sessions, Vol. 2 has been nominated for a 2022 Grammy award for 'Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.' GroundUP Music is also the label home for some of music's most innovative names, including jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee David Crosby, singer-songwriter Lucy Woodward, and Lee Pardini of Dawes.
On the new deal with Reservoir, League said, "I couldn't be more excited to open a new door not just for myself, but for all of my friends and fellow writers at GroundUP Music, as we join together with the incredibly hard-working and motivated team at Reservoir. I have no doubt that this will take our music to new places and fresh ears."
Reservoir's Vice President of A&R and Marketing David Hoffman added, "Michael and his GroundUP Music colleagues' global approach to composing, along with their incredible musicianship, inspires a dedicated fanbase around the world. We at Reservoir count ourselves among those fans, and we can't wait to support Michael, Snarky Puppy, and the GroundUP roster's numerous talents."
