Ranky Tanky
with very special guest
Ms. Lisa Fischer
Friday, January 17, 2025 | 8pm
Jo Long Theatre | $42
Lively, soulful honey to the ears.
This special concert brings together two amazing Grammy winning artists, the legendary vocalist Lisa Fischer and Gullah groovemasters Ranky Tanky.
With a remarkable range and vocabulary, Grammy-winning vocalist Lisa Fischer can sing soul, jazz, rock, gospel, pop, folk, and classical with equal facility and authority. She sang for two decades with the legendary Luther Vandross and spent 26 years performing with the Rolling Stones after joining the band for its 1989 Steel Wheels tour. In 1991, Fischer released So Intense; the album featured the hit single “How Can I Ease the Pain,” which earned Fischer the first of her two Grammy Awards. Fischer’s passion for constant growth and experimentation with different styles has led to collaborations with musical legends Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Michael McDonald, YoYo Ma, and more. Fischer was one of the musicians featured in the Oscar-winning 2013 documentary 20 Feet from Stardom.
The soulful songs of the Gullah culture are brought to life by 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.
“The musical stylings of both Ranky Tanky and Ms. Lisa Fischer individually provide something intangibly magical, each possessing a rarity of musical talent”
– Frances Egler – Kimmel Cultural Campus