Red Snapper is a British instrumental group that was founded in London by Ali Friend (double basse), Richard Thair, and David Ayers (guitar). The core trio is joined by various guest musicians, vocalists and drummers on different records. Jason Ankeny (Allmusic), a music journalist, said that the British acid jazz trio was known for their innovative synthesis of electronic textures and acoustic instruments. Red Snapper’s music is eclectic in style. It includes elements of jazz, funk and jungle as well as hip-hop, breakbeat and trip-hop. There are also references to early psychedelic rock and progressive rock. Before signing to Warp Records, the band released three EPs. Their debut album, Prince Blimey (1996) was their first. [1] Warp Records’ 1990s roster featured the band as an unusual element. The band was a contrast to IDM, which was primarily a studio-oriented IDM, and had a live and organic sound. This included a mix of jazz, dub and all tempos from drum and bass to trip hop to drum and beat. Red Snapper, along with the Foo Fighters, supported The Prodigy’s 1997 Fat of the Land UK tour. For Making Bones, they were joined by Byron Wallen, a jazz trumpeter, and Alison David, a jungle MC Det. Their third album, Our aim is to satisfy (2000) saw Karim Kendra replace the latter. Red Snapper declared its dissolution in early 2002. It’s All Good, a compilation album, was also released in 2002. The album also featured “Ultraviolet”, a previously unreleased song. Redone, an album of remixes, was released the following year. It featured tracks that were remixed by Snapper. Ayers and Felix Tod were credited with The Creation. Thair remixed the song “Ultraviolet”, while Ted Barnes, Gavin Clark, and Friend created the “Odd Man Out” (Odd Man Remix). The vocals were included on the last track. The Flameboy Records, owned by Jake Williams, a former RS keyboard player, released a 4-track record called “RedOne”, that included a previously unreleased Red Snapper song entitled “Drill” with MC Det. Red Snapper was reformed in 2007. This was posted on their MySpace Page: “After six years of concentrating on various projects, Red Snapper have returned.” Ali has been working alongside Beth Orton and Clayhill. David has been writing music for TV, with his work featured on the highly-acclaimed BBC series ‘The Tribe. Rich has been working alongside Jakeone in their band Toob with Rennie Pilgrem, the TCR Allstars, and Bomb the Bass. After a jam session, they decided to join forces again before Christmas and are now back in the studio recording new material with Tom Challenger, saxophonist. Red Snapper was also present at Bloc Weekend 2008 in March 2008. On 2 October 2008, Pale Blue Dot (Lo Recordings), was released by the band. They performed on the Glade Stage at Glastonbury 2009. Text contributed by users is available under Creative Commons By–SA License. It may also be available under GNU FDL.
