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Radio & Podcasts

Ramsey Lewis, Duke Ellington & Charlton Singleton

by Joe Dimino
October 2, 2022

We begin the 771st Episode of Neon Jazz with South Carolina-based trumpeter Charlton Singleton with a song off his album Crossroads. From there, we hear from a legend and the headliner at Charlton's first jazz concert in Dizzy Gillespie. We also hear from some local Kansas City talent in veteran drummer Arnold Young, guitarist Alex Frank and singer Jenna Bauer. In between, we hear new music from Todd Herbert and Johnny Steele. Finally, we say good-bye to a jazz saint ...

Live Review

Charlton Singleton At The Jazz Corner

by Martin McFie
October 29, 2019

The Charlton Singleton Quartet The Jazz Corner Hilton Head Island, SC October 27th, 2019 It was Sunday. Charlton Singleton played the organ for the morning congregation at his church in Charleston, South Carolina. Then he drove with his quartet a hundred miles south through the Carolina Lowcountry to play trumpet on the sea island of Hilton Head. His day was a parody of the musical journey of Soul, which started from church ...

Album Review

Ranky Tanky: Good Time

Read "Good Time" reviewed by Chris Mosey

by Chris Mosey
August 30, 2019

Why change a winning formula? Ranky Tanky's follow-up to their hit debut album takes things further in the same vein: a heady mix of gospel and traditional Gullah songs from the Sea Islands of South Carolina, laced with original music and lyrics. The emphasis this time is on a pounding beat generated by the electric guitar of lone white man Clay Ross and the drumming of Quentin Baxter. Much of the music, especially “Pay Me My Money ...

Album Review

Ranky Tanky: Good Time

Read "Good Time" reviewed by John Bricker

by John Bricker
August 10, 2019

The West African phrase Ranky Tanky roughly translates to “get funky" or “work it," according to the band's website. The band earns this title with danceable blends of gospel and jazz, celebrating the Gullah culture found in their home state of South Carolina. Although Good Time delivers more infectious energy than their self-titled debut, Ranky Tanky fails to leave a lasting impression due to weak arrangements and lackluster lyrics. In 2017, Ranky Tanky's first album introduced their unique ...

Album Review

Ranky Tanky: Ranky Tanky

Read "Ranky Tanky" reviewed by Chris Mosey

by Chris Mosey
November 5, 2018

Ranky Tanky are based in Charleston, South Carolina. They specialize in jazz-and blues-influenced arrangements of the traditional music of the Gullah people, who came from West Africa as slaves in the 19th century. They were brought to South Carolina's Low Country and Sea Islands to work on plantations where their knowledge of rice cultivation could be put to good use and where high humidity and mosquitoes made life unbearable for whites and blacks from elsewhere in Africa. Best-known descendant of ...

Album Review

Ranky Tanky: Ranky Tanky

Read "Ranky Tanky" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
August 13, 2017

Against all odds, the Gullah tradition prevails on the Sea Islands of South Carolina's Low Country. Maintaining their West African traditions and singular way of life for generations, their direct impact on African-American music is undeniable, and continues to be a vital source of inspiration. Combining revered Gullah kinship with a jazz sensibility, Ranky Tanky accentuates the spirituality connected to the ring shouts and praise houses, proposing a modern rendition of their ancestral music. Ranky Tanky loosely translates ...