Ranky Tanky

A musical ensemble based in Charleston, South Carolina, Ranky Tanky specializes in jazz-influenced arrangements of traditional Gullah music, a culture that originated among descendants of enslaved Africans along the coast of South Carolina and nearby islands. Apart from lead vocalist Quiana Parler, four of the group’s members—Quentin Baxter, Kevin Hamilton, Clay Ross, and Charlton Singleton—previously played together in a Charleston jazz quartet. Ranky Tanky comes from a Gullah expression that can be translated as “get funky” and the two-time Grammy winners can do just exactly that.