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KBCS 91.3, KNKX and Dimitiriou’s Jazz Alley welcome 2023 and 2019 Grammy-winners Ranky Tanky (a Gullah phrase for “get funky”) with 2x Grammy-winning special guest vocalist Lisa Fisher. Band members include: Quiana Parler (vocalist), Charlton Singleton (trumpet and vocals), Clay Ross (guitar and vocals), Kevin Hamilton (bass), Quentin Baxter (drums and percussion) and very special guest vocalist Lisa Fischer. Show times Thursday and Sunday at 7:30pm. Show times Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm and 9:30pm. Doors open at 6:00pm Thursday and 5:30pm Friday – Sunday.ARTIST INFO
“Lisa Fischer is a master shapeshifter, and trying to get a firm grasp on her music is a fool’s errand. Just when you think she’s settled into a particular style or setting she heads off in a new direction. In this project, she joins Grammy Award-winning Gullah groovemasters Ranky Tanky, a band of native South Carolinians who mix the low country traditions with large doses of jazz, gospel, funk, and R&B. Originally working together as an in-demand jazz quartet on the Charleston scene, the group named for the Gullah/Geechee phrase meaning “Get Funky!” added the dynamic vocalist Quiana Parler to celebrate the bone-deep mix of spirituals and gutbucket blues that marks the low country mainland and Sea Islands.” Quiana, vibrating with excitement about the collaboration, described Fischer as “electrifying, timeless, and a force to be reckoned with. I am so honored to be able to share the stage with such great music royalty!” (San Jose Mercury/Andy Gilbert)
After four decades of featured background singing with icons like Luther Vandross, The Rolling Stones, Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, and Nine Inch Nails, Ms. Lisa Fischer set out to take center stage with her own humble, heartfelt song. The 2013 Best Documentary Oscar winning film “Twenty Feet from Stardom” altered the course of Lisa’s musical journey, telling her story, with clips of her legendary duets with Sting or with Mick Jagger on “Gimme Shelter”, left audiences eager to see and hear more, so Lisa took the chance to set out on her own reinventing classic songs with her co-conspirators JC Maillard and Grand Baton. Their organic fusion of Caribbean psychedelic soul and jazzy progressive rock ignited Lisa’s flexibility and freedom of expression, awakening her lifelong desire to make music that heals but still rocks the house.
While Lisa’s range is legendary, her greatest gift is the ability to connect, to reach the hearts of her listeners. Raised in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, she emerged from New York’s fervent studio scene in the early 1980s, sang for two decades with legendary vocalist Luther Vandross, and released “So Intense”, earning her first Best R&B Performance Grammy with “How Can I Ease The Pain”. She joined the Rolling Stones for their 1989 Steel Wheels tour, and continued to grace their stage for the next 26 years. Lisa’s passion for constant growth and experimentation with different styles invited recent collaborations with jazz pianist Taylor Eigsti, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Michael McDonald, Eric Krasno, Talib Kweli, Billy Childs and YoYo Ma, the BBC Proms / Jules Buckley and the Metropole Orkest, Alonzo King, LINES Ballet, Anna Deavere Smith’s “Notes from the Field” for HBO, and especially her full evening program The Classic Lisa Fischer with Grand Baton and Seattle Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony and the National Philharmonic.
Ranky Tanky (a Gullah phrase for “get funky”) are five lifelong friends from Charleston, South Carolina, who have established themselves as passionate global ambassadors for their local culture and community, helping to faithfully preserve the traditions originated by African Americans in the coastal South during slavery that are kept alive through the present day. 2024 finds the band in the midst of recording their new record, songs from which will be performed in this brand new set with Lisa Fischer!
Fresh from a 2023 GRAMMY Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album, Ranky Tanky are celebrating their second GRAMMY win in a four-year span. Celebrating the music of their West African-rooted Gullah community, Ranky Tanky were honored in 2023 for their first-ever live album Live at the 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival- which was captured during their debut at the iconic festival last year. Ranky Tanky previously took home Best Regional Roots Music Album in 2020 for their studio album Good Time, marking the first-ever GRAMMY Award win for an album of Gullah music. The five-piece have now won Best Regional Roots Album for two consecutive releases and become the most awarded group in the history of the category.
"Live performance is at the heart of what we do as Ranky Tanky and to be recognized for our inaugural set on the historic New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival stage is a high honor," the band said during their acceptance speech. "Once again, it is an honor to be able to stand on the shoulders of our Gullah Ancestry and continue to bring this music and message to the world!"
The 2023 GRAMMY win is just the latest accolade in a long line of 'firsts' that Ranky Tanky has achieved for the music of the Gullah community. The five-piece also reached #1 on each of the Billboard, Amazon and iTunes jazz charts, brought their songs and stories to national television on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the TODAY Show and PBS Newshour - and even performed during President Joe Biden's 2020 inauguration festivities.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
2033 6th Ave, Seattle, WA, United States, Washington 98121
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