Carney, Ralph Serious Jass Project

Seriously

Label: SMOG VEIL Country: USA

"Ralph Carney was a founding member of the pre-Waitresses band, Tin Huey, but is best known for his long association with singer Tom Waits, and collaboration with his nephew, Patrick Carney, on the Black Keys album, Attack & Release, and occasionally joins them on stage. He has also recorded or performed with The B-52's, Elvis Costello, Jonathan Richman, Les Claypool, Marc Ribot, Stan Ridgway, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Dieselhed and Bill Laswell. He was a member of the Oranj Symphonette with fellow Waits alumni Joe Gore and Matt Brubeck. Ralph has guested with Yo La Tengo and Medeski, Martin and Wood for live shows and recorded on a T-Bone Burnett-produced project the, Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, with Marc Ribot and Elvis Costello (release date TBA). In 2009 he toured with They Might be Giants and in 2008 he recorded and performed with Black Francis in a score for the Silent film Der Golem. He performed on many Hal Willner-produced shows at UCLA's Royce Hall including a Tribute to Harry Smith in 2001, with a huge number of performers including Todd Rundgren, David Thomas, Phillip Glass, and David Johanson.

The album, Seriously, was recorded at Getreel Studios by Robert Preston and Rugbeaters Studio by Ralph Carney in January and February, 2011. Carney has four full lengths out, including 2009's Ralph Carney's Serious Jass Project (Akroncracker Records). Carney explains "I decided to do another record of tunes I loved, sticking close to the same styles as my first album. Basically a mix of "honkers and screamers" type saxophonists, mostly from the late 1940's through the early to mid 1950's, along side kinda obscure Ellington small band songs...I also did a couple of Coleman Hawkins tunes from his time in Europe in the 30's."

Tom Waits says "Ralph's great...he's guided by some other source of information. He's like a broken toy that works better than before it was broken." Entertainment Weekly rated his album A- "...a one-man musical universe..." NPR and Los Angeles Times editor, Ann Powers, enthuses "...supreme hipsters know that this sweet guy with the muttonchop sideburns is the king of the new wave horn." "-Smog Veil Records