Red Snapper are a British instrumental band founded in London in 1993 by Ali Friend (double bass), Richard Thair (drums), and David Ayers (guitar). The three core members are also joined by various guest musicians and vocalists on different records. According to music journalist, Jason Ankeny (Allmusic) “the British acid jazz trio were notable for their pioneering synthesis of acoustic instruments and electronic textures”.
Stylistically, Red Snapper’s music contains elements of jazz, funk, jungle, trip-hop, hip-hop and breakbeat, as well as references to early psychedelic and progressive rock.
The band released three EPs before signing to Warp Records for their debut album, Prince Blimey (1996).[1] The band were a somewhat unusual feature of Warp Records’ 1990s roster: in contrast to the studio-oriented IDM the record label primarily dealt in, the band had a live and organic sound: a smoky mixture of dub, jazz and all tempos of breakbeat from trip hop to drum and bass. In 1997, Red Snapper (along with the Foo Fighters) supported The Prodigy on their Fat of the Land tour in the UK
For their follow-up Making Bones they were joined by jungle MC Det, Byron Wallen the jazz trumpeter and singer Alison David. The latter was replaced by Karim Kendra by their third album, Our Aim Is to Satisfy (2000).
