I love this record! Terry has some really good originals here, the arrangements are cool and the performances great. —Tommy Castro
One of the most formidable saxophonists in the blues and soul business. —Lee Hildebrand, San Francisco Chronicle and Living Blues contributor
“Terry Hanck is the funkiest, sexiest, most prolific and talented singer/songwriter/musician on the earth. He has to be Jr. Walker's bastard child." —Tracy Nelson
Jump back, Jack! Soul and blues hipster, singer/sax man, Terry Hanck and his new 2008 CD, Always is coming out this week. This is his 5th CD and first as partners with the Vizztone label group/Redeye USA.
As a saxophonist, singer, bandleader, and songwriter, Terry Hanck is a rare breed these days. Anyone whos followed the tall, tan tenor man over the years around the San Francisco Bay Area with Grayson Street and the Rat Band, on the road for a decade with Elvin Bishop, and at clubs, festivals, and county and state fairs for the past 20 with his own hard-sockin band knows that hes one of the most formidable saxophonists in the blues and soul business. He has a virile tone and attack and an uncanny command of upper-register notes never meant to be played on the Selmer Mark VI hes long favored. Unlike many early R&B honkers who hit squealing notes of indefinite pitch by biting down on their reeds, Hanck can climb to true pitches an octave above the instruments intended register through the use of tricky fingering, much as his main tenor hero, the late, great Jr. Walker, once had. And Hancks big tone and ability to sustain notes can be traced in part to the breath control he developed during his lifelong passion for free-diving. For most of his adult life, Hanck has lived near water: First, Chicago, his hometown, and beginning in the 1960s, southern California, and most recently, Florida.
Blowing the horn has contributed to making Hanck a commanding singer. It helps the diaphragm and control and everything, he says. Listen to the way he so effortlessly and soulfully navigates the gospel-derived melismas on such songs as the swamp-tinged My Last Teardrop and the Memphis-styled Good Kind of Lovin.
Hancks current rhythm section consists of guitarist Johnny Cat Soubrand, bassist Michael Fly Brooks, and drummer Butch Cousins.
Hanck has long been writing songs, but Always is the first CD on which he penned every one of them. Stylistically, he says of his songs, my time frame goes from, like, the early 50s to the early 70s. From the instrumental title track, inspired in part by Ben Websters 1951 recordings with Johnny Otis, to the Motor City sounds of Stingy, the Twist-imbued Deep Fried Twinkies, the Rolling Stones-like treatment of Quicksand, and, of course, the blues, Hanck cuts a wide stylistic swath.
So pull back the furniture and cut a rug with Terrys tunes. In times like these, a little boogaloo is necessary.
One of the most formidable saxophonists in the blues and soul business. —Lee Hildebrand, San Francisco Chronicle and Living Blues contributor
“Terry Hanck is the funkiest, sexiest, most prolific and talented singer/songwriter/musician on the earth. He has to be Jr. Walker's bastard child." —Tracy Nelson
Jump back, Jack! Soul and blues hipster, singer/sax man, Terry Hanck and his new 2008 CD, Always is coming out this week. This is his 5th CD and first as partners with the Vizztone label group/Redeye USA.
As a saxophonist, singer, bandleader, and songwriter, Terry Hanck is a rare breed these days. Anyone whos followed the tall, tan tenor man over the years around the San Francisco Bay Area with Grayson Street and the Rat Band, on the road for a decade with Elvin Bishop, and at clubs, festivals, and county and state fairs for the past 20 with his own hard-sockin band knows that hes one of the most formidable saxophonists in the blues and soul business. He has a virile tone and attack and an uncanny command of upper-register notes never meant to be played on the Selmer Mark VI hes long favored. Unlike many early R&B honkers who hit squealing notes of indefinite pitch by biting down on their reeds, Hanck can climb to true pitches an octave above the instruments intended register through the use of tricky fingering, much as his main tenor hero, the late, great Jr. Walker, once had. And Hancks big tone and ability to sustain notes can be traced in part to the breath control he developed during his lifelong passion for free-diving. For most of his adult life, Hanck has lived near water: First, Chicago, his hometown, and beginning in the 1960s, southern California, and most recently, Florida.
Blowing the horn has contributed to making Hanck a commanding singer. It helps the diaphragm and control and everything, he says. Listen to the way he so effortlessly and soulfully navigates the gospel-derived melismas on such songs as the swamp-tinged My Last Teardrop and the Memphis-styled Good Kind of Lovin.
Hancks current rhythm section consists of guitarist Johnny Cat Soubrand, bassist Michael Fly Brooks, and drummer Butch Cousins.
About the CD:
Hanck's former guitarist, Chris “Kid" Andersen (Charlie Musselwhite, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats), solos on many selections, plays rhythm & bass, and contributed his all-around wizardry in producing the disc. Elvin Bishop lends his signature touch to two numbers, and Los Lobos Steve Berlin blows baritone sax on two others. Also making guest appearances are keyboardists Jimmy Pugh and Bob Welsh. Tracy Nelson adds harmony vocals to “Good Kind of Loving", an original Hanck tune performed years earlier with her. Nelson had sung the Hanck composition Quicksand (with Hanck himself on tenor) for the soundtrack of the 2005 motion picture Forty Shades of Blue starring Rip Torn.Hanck has long been writing songs, but Always is the first CD on which he penned every one of them. Stylistically, he says of his songs, my time frame goes from, like, the early 50s to the early 70s. From the instrumental title track, inspired in part by Ben Websters 1951 recordings with Johnny Otis, to the Motor City sounds of Stingy, the Twist-imbued Deep Fried Twinkies, the Rolling Stones-like treatment of Quicksand, and, of course, the blues, Hanck cuts a wide stylistic swath.
So pull back the furniture and cut a rug with Terrys tunes. In times like these, a little boogaloo is necessary.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
