Ralph Carney
Encyclopedia
Ralph Carney is an American
musician. While his primary instruments are various saxophone
s and clarinet
s, Carney collects and plays many instruments, often unusual or obscure ones.
He was a founding member of Tin Huey
, and is perhaps best known for his long association with singer Tom Waits
. He has also recorded or performed with Dieselhed
, Marc Ribot
, The B-52's
, Elvis Costello
, Jonathan Richman
, Les Claypool
, Stan Ridgway
, Medeski, Martin & Wood and Bill Laswell
, among others. Carney has released several solo albums and was a member of the Oranj Symphonette
with fellow Waits alumni Joe Gore and Matt Brubeck. He also heads up San Francisco's Carneyball Johnson, playing on saxophone
s, Turkish clarinet, piccolo
, trumpet
, percussion
and vocals. The band also features Channel 23 alumnus Kimo Ball on guitar and vocals; Scott Johnson on drums and vocals; and Allen Whitman on bass and vocals.
Ralph is the uncle of The Black Keys
drummer Patrick Carney
and collaborated with them on their album Attack & Release
. He occasionally joined them on stage when they toured that record. He toured with They Might be Giants
, in the fall of 2009. He recorded and performed with Black Francis in 2008 a score for the Silent film Der Golem
, he guested with Yo La Tengo
and Medeski, Martin and Wood for live shows in 2010 and 2011. He recorded on a T-Bone Burnett
-produced project the Ghost Brothers of Darkland County
with Marc Ribot
and Elvis Costello
—it has yet to be released. 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, Phillip Glass, and David Johanson.
He composed music for 2 poetry records on Paris Records (both yet to be released). One is Robert Creeley
called Really! and he did music for an Ira Cohen
record called the Stauffenberg Cycle. In 1994 Ralph performed on the Kathy Acker
record Redoing Childhood (Paris Records). His old Band Tin Huey
put out a compilation c.d. of unreleased material in 2009 on Smog Veil Records
. He has a collaboration with David Greenberger
who puts out the Duplex Planet called Oh Pa due out in September, 2011. Since 2009 he has been recording and playing gigs with his Ralph Carney's Serious Jass Project. A new record "Seriously" will be coming out in July 2011 on Smog Veil Records
.
A documentary film
has been in the works for the past few years about him called This Is! Ralph Carney, which is named after his 2003 album
.
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/artist/Ralph+Carney/a/albums.htm
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician. While his primary instruments are various saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s and clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, Carney collects and plays many instruments, often unusual or obscure ones.
He was a founding member of Tin Huey
Tin Huey
Tin Huey is an experimental rock and New Wave band from Akron, Ohio that formed in the mid/late 1970s.-Original lineups:The band was originally known as Rags and started out with three members: Mark Price, Michael Aylward, and Stuart Austin. Later, the band decided to rename themselves after...
, and is perhaps best known for his long association with singer Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
. He has also recorded or performed with Dieselhed
Dieselhed
Dieselhed was a San Francisco-based band, originally from Arcata, California.-Early career:Dieselhed formed in 1989 in the San Francisco Bay Area playing a blend of country, punk, and pseudo-classic rock. Drummer Heifetz spread his time between Dieselhed and the genre-bending experimentalists Mr....
, Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.-Biography:Ribot was...
, The B-52's
The B-52's
The B-52's are an American rock band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. The original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider , Kate Pierson , Cindy Wilson , Ricky Wilson , and Keith Strickland . Following Ricky Wilson's death in 1985 Strickland switched to guitar...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Michael Richman is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970 he founded The Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key, generally acoustic backing...
, Les Claypool
Les Claypool
Leslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...
, Stan Ridgway
Stan Ridgway
Stanard 'Stan' Ridgway is an American multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter known for his distinctive voice, dramatic lyrical narratives, and eclectic solo albums and was the original lead singer of the band Wall of Voodoo...
, Medeski, Martin & Wood and Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
, among others. Carney has released several solo albums and was a member of the Oranj Symphonette
Oranj Symphonette
The Oranj Symphonette is an experimental jazz-rock quintet from San Francisco, USA, formed from members of Tom Waits' band. They have released two albums.-The Oranj Symphonette:...
with fellow Waits alumni Joe Gore and Matt Brubeck. He also heads up San Francisco's Carneyball Johnson, playing on saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s, Turkish clarinet, piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
and vocals. The band also features Channel 23 alumnus Kimo Ball on guitar and vocals; Scott Johnson on drums and vocals; and Allen Whitman on bass and vocals.
Ralph is the uncle of The Black Keys
The Black Keys
The Black Keys are an American rock duo consisting of vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. The band was formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. As of October 2011, the band has sold over 2 million albums in the U.S....
drummer Patrick Carney
Patrick Carney
Patrick J. Carney is a multi-instrumentalist best known as the drummer for The Black Keys, a blues-rock band from Akron, Ohio...
and collaborated with them on their album Attack & Release
Attack & Release
- Notes :* "Things Ain't Like They Used to Be" features a duet between Dan Auerbach and then 17-year-old bluegrass/country singer Jessica Lea Mayfield.* "Strange Times" is featured in the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV as well as NASCAR 09....
. He occasionally joined them on stage when they toured that record. He toured with They Might be Giants
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...
, in the fall of 2009. He recorded and performed with Black Francis in 2008 a score for the Silent film Der Golem
The Golem: How He Came Into the World
The Golem: How He Came Into the World is a 1920 silent horror film by Paul Wegener. It was directed by Carl Boese and Wegener, written by Wegener and Henrik Galeen, and starred Wegener as the golem. The script was adapted from the 1915 novel The Golem by Gustav Meyrink...
, he guested with Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
and Medeski, Martin and Wood for live shows in 2010 and 2011. He recorded on a T-Bone Burnett
T-Bone Burnett
Joseph Henry Burnett , widely known as T-Bone Burnett, is an American musician, songwriter, and soundtrack and record producer.He was a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band on the Rolling Thunder Revue...
-produced project the Ghost Brothers of Darkland County
Ghost Brothers of Darkland County
-Album release:The plan is to release a three-CD/book package featuring major artists performing Mellencamp's songs, and the book will contain the play's dialogue. According to Rolling Stone, two of those artists will be Elvis Costello and Neko Case. It was later announced that Kris Kristofferson,...
with Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.-Biography:Ribot was...
and Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
—it has yet to be released. He performed on many Hal Willner
Hal Willner
Hal Willner is an American music producer working in recording, films, TV and live events. He is best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical styles...
-produced shows at UCLA's Royce Hall including a Tribute to Harry Smith in 2001, with a huge number of performers including Todd Rundgren, Phillip Glass, and David Johanson.
He composed music for 2 poetry records on Paris Records (both yet to be released). One is Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school's. He was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn. He served as the Samuel P...
called Really! and he did music for an Ira Cohen
Ira Cohen
Ira Cohen was an American poet, publisher, photographer and filmmaker.Cohen lived in Morocco and in New York City in the 1960s, he was in Kathmandu in the 1970s and traveled the world in the 1980s, before returning to New York, where he spent the rest of his life...
record called the Stauffenberg Cycle. In 1994 Ralph performed on the Kathy Acker
Kathy Acker
Kathy Acker was an American experimental novelist, punk poet, playwright, essayist, postmodernist and sex-positive feminist writer. She was strongly influenced by the Black Mountain School, William S...
record Redoing Childhood (Paris Records). His old Band Tin Huey
Tin Huey
Tin Huey is an experimental rock and New Wave band from Akron, Ohio that formed in the mid/late 1970s.-Original lineups:The band was originally known as Rags and started out with three members: Mark Price, Michael Aylward, and Stuart Austin. Later, the band decided to rename themselves after...
put out a compilation c.d. of unreleased material in 2009 on Smog Veil Records
Smog Veil Records
Smog Veil Records is a Chicago, IL based independent record label. In addition to standard CD, DVD, and vinyl distribution, Smog Veil all distributes its media via the digital channels, including Napster and iTunes.-Label Information:...
. He has a collaboration with David Greenberger
David Greenberger
David Greenberger is an American artist, writer and radio commentator best known for his Duplex Planet series of zines, comic books, CDs, and spoken word performances and radio plays...
who puts out the Duplex Planet called Oh Pa due out in September, 2011. Since 2009 he has been recording and playing gigs with his Ralph Carney's Serious Jass Project. A new record "Seriously" will be coming out in July 2011 on Smog Veil Records
Smog Veil Records
Smog Veil Records is a Chicago, IL based independent record label. In addition to standard CD, DVD, and vinyl distribution, Smog Veil all distributes its media via the digital channels, including Napster and iTunes.-Label Information:...
.
A documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
has been in the works for the past few years about him called This Is! Ralph Carney, which is named after his 2003 album
This Is! Ralph Carney (album)
This Is! Ralph Carney is an avant-garde/experimental music album released by reedman/multi-instrumentalist/singer Ralph Carney and Black Beauty Records in 2003.- Track listing :# Jug Gland Band 2:32# Get Yur Bargain 4:52# Swamp Horse 2:22...
.
Discography
- Ralph Sounds (19971997 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...
) (Birdman RecordsBirdman RecordsBirdman Records is an independent record label based in South San Francisco, founded by former Warner Bros. Records A&R vice-president David Katznelson.-History:...
) - I Like You (A Lot)I Like You (A Lot)I Like You is an avant-garde/experimental music album released by reedman/multi-instrumentalist/singer Ralph Carney and Birdman Records in 1999...
(19991999 in music-Events:*January 7**After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation.**Paul McCartney attends the first of his stepdaughter Heather's first housewares collection in Georgia....
) (Birdman RecordsBirdman RecordsBirdman Records is an independent record label based in South San Francisco, founded by former Warner Bros. Records A&R vice-president David Katznelson.-History:...
) - This Is! Ralph CarneyThis Is! Ralph Carney (album)This Is! Ralph Carney is an avant-garde/experimental music album released by reedman/multi-instrumentalist/singer Ralph Carney and Black Beauty Records in 2003.- Track listing :# Jug Gland Band 2:32# Get Yur Bargain 4:52# Swamp Horse 2:22...
(20032003 in music-January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested...
) (Black Beauty Records) - Ralph Carney's Serious Jass Project (20092009 in musicThe following is a list of notable events and releases in 2009 in music. Susan Boyle's album I Dreamed a Dream became the biggest selling album in the world for 2009, selling 8.3 million copies in five weeks; more than any other artist's in the whole year...
) (Akroncracker Records)
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/artist/Ralph+Carney/a/albums.htm
Bands that involved Ralph Carney
- Tin HueyTin HueyTin Huey is an experimental rock and New Wave band from Akron, Ohio that formed in the mid/late 1970s.-Original lineups:The band was originally known as Rags and started out with three members: Mark Price, Michael Aylward, and Stuart Austin. Later, the band decided to rename themselves after...
- The WaitressesThe WaitressesThe Waitresses were an experimental new wave band from Akron, Ohio. The group was led by guitarist/songwriter Chris Butler with lead vocals performed by Patty Donahue.-Career:...
- Swollen Monkeys
- Oranj SymphonetteOranj SymphonetteThe Oranj Symphonette is an experimental jazz-rock quintet from San Francisco, USA, formed from members of Tom Waits' band. They have released two albums.-The Oranj Symphonette:...
- Carneyball Johnson
- The Black KeysThe Black KeysThe Black Keys are an American rock duo consisting of vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. The band was formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. As of October 2011, the band has sold over 2 million albums in the U.S....
- They Might be GiantsThey Might Be GiantsThey Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...
- Preacher Boy and the Natural Blues