Bringing a distinctive New Orleans sound
At the emotional climax of the triumphant Tiny Desk concert that helped catapult Tank and the Bangas into national prominence last February, Tarriona “Tank” Ball describes falling in love with the vertiginous rush of riding roller coasters, “so excited to be so damned scared,” she recites, her hands aflutter.
Tank and the Bangas, who make their San Francisco debut Tuesday, Oct. 3, at the Chapel, have thrived by fearlessly plunging into highstakes musical challenges. But Ball isn’t speaking metaphorically about the roller coaster, at least not entirely. Growing up in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, she lived in the shadow of Jazzland, a vast amusement park that’s been shuttered since 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.
She’s a force of nature herself — a rapper, poet, sultry R&B crooner, full-throated gospel belter and protean storyteller who can summon a disparate cast of characters with her voice. Since beating out some 6,000 other contenders to win NPR’s third Tiny Desk
contest with a casually virtuosic performance of the harrowing song “Quick,” Tank and the Bangas have been busy expanding expectations surrounding music from New Orleans.
The band was still finding its sound when the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival booked it for its first high-profile gig in 2012. Veteran Los Angeles music writer Steve Hochman, a longtime chronicler of the New Orleans scene, caught the set and was immediately impressed as much by the band’s ambitious presentation as by the seamless integration of spoken word, funk, jazz, hip-hop and soul.
“A lot of the local acts playing Jazz Fest will do the same thing that they’re playing in clubs, or bring up some guests,” Hochman says. “Tank and the Bangas approached it like, ‘We don’t know if we’re going to have this chance again. Let’s try to blow people away.’ They constructed a whole show and approached the set with a powerful sense of occasion.”
Largely sheltered from the Ninth Ward’s gritty street life by a large family stocked with ministers, Ball grew up “a real church girl,” she says. Within her familial cocoon, she nurtured a vivid inner life that she channeled through poetry.
Ball mastered the art of seizing the moment as a high school slam poet who performed on Russell Simmons’ HBO series “Brave New Voices.” While studying psychology at Southern University at New Orleans, she was part of the Team SNO that won consecutive National Poetry Slam Championships in 2012 and 2013.
Onstage with the Bangas, she presides with the welcoming air of a preacher, often turning to vocalist Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph for calland-response testimony. The sibling rhythm-section tandem of Jonathan and Joshua Johnson (on bass and stripped-down trap set, respectively) and bassist Norman Spence move seamlessly from New Orleans funk to jazz to hip-hop grooves, while keyboardist Merell Burkett and alto saxophonist/ flutist Albert Allenback provide texture and commentary as Ball’s tales unfold.
What’s riveting is the sense that she can take a left turn whenever the spirit moves her and the Bangas can handle it. The band’s uncommon communion flows from “knowing each other so well,” Ball says. “If I know the poem, I can recite it any way I want. The confidence comes from that they’re church boys, so if I have a pastor moment and go someplace new, they know how to go there with me.”
Ball wouldn’t go into specifics, but winning the Tiny Desk contest has sparked interest from several labels, and the band is looking at recording a follow-up to 2013’s self-produced debut release, “Think Tank.” They seem ripe to break out of a scene where expectations can creatively handcuff bands, but for Ball, the goal is to expand the possibilities for Crescent City music, not conform to well-worn grooves.
“We love New Orleans music and the rich history,” she says, “but we’re trying to carve our own lane in the highway. We want to show people New Orleans has so many other layers than what we’re known for. There are so many different parts of it, and we’re so proud to be part of what people need.”
“If I have a pastor moment and go someplace new, (the Bangas) know how to go there with me.” Tarriona “Tank” Ball