-New Urban SOUNDS- New Music for Your Weekend: From the Sea Islands of the American South, RANKY TANKY Gifts "GULLAH" Music to The Masses Wrapped in Layers of Jazz

Get Funky. That's the translation of the phrase, "Ranky Tanky", and quite a fitting band name for today's NUY 40+ SOUNDS feature. Ranky Tanky is a southern band comprised of lead vocalist, Quiana Parler, Quentin Baxter, Kevin Hamilton, Clay Ross, and Charlton Singleton. Based in Charleston South Carolina, this funky ensemble specializes in jazz-arrangements of traditional Gullah music, the music of the Gullah community, a relatively obscure ethnic subculture of African American slave descendants based in the Sea Islands of the southern United States (barrier islands off of South Carolina & Georgia).  

The Gullah people and culture are a unique, distinctive culture of their own apart from mainland black Americans, in that they've experienced formative years in America in which they lived in complete isolation from mainlanders black and white. It was that isolation that allowed them to preserve more of the West African dialects, rhythms and musical traditions than the mainland US-  allowing them to develop and preserve a creole language known informally as "Gullah", or as "Sea Island Creole" by scholars, and their dialect is almost identical to the creole spoken in the Bahamas islands of the Caribbean.

The Gullah melodies and lyrics in Ranky Tanky's compositions range from dance music to spirituals, to children's rhymes. Heavily percussive African rhythms from typical of their island culture ate paired with jazz-influenced arrangements from the mainland to bring a fresh interpretation of Gullah music to America and the rest of the world. Not surprisingly, the band is critical darling on NPR, with their music being described as, "soulful honey to the ears...in a pop music milieu ever hungry for newness, this group proves that the right musicians can make the past new all over again."  

On their newly released single, "Freedom", the band explores the theme of the song by stating,  “The idea of ‘Freedom’ is at the heart of the American identity...freedom is a universal anthem. This song holds a universal truth, yet undoubtedly represents something different to every individual that hears it. We believe everyone in the world deserves the freedom to live in equality and prosperity.”

Ranky Tanky's new release, "Freedom", as well as their full album "Ranky Tanky", can be purchased on Amazon, Apple Music, GooglePlay, and wherever streaming music is sold.