Tank & the Bangas join the Chicago Philharmonic for a night of uplifting vibes

It’s no easy feat to capture the energy of Tank & the Bangas’ live shows on vinyl, but the New Orleans-based band’s third studio album, last year’s Red Balloon (Verve), comes close. In contrast to the 2020 EP Friend Goals, where band members wrote the bulk of material separately during pandemic lockdowns, the songs on Red Balloon grew out of jam sessions—and the resultfeels like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. Red Balloon features the group’s core lineup—lead vocalist Tarriona “Tank” Ball, keyboardist Norman Spence, drummer Joshua Johnson, and alto saxophonist and flute player Albert Allenback—with guest appearances from the likes of New Orleans bounce legend Big Freedia, multi-instrumentalist Trombone Shorty, and singer-songwriter Lalah Hathaway.

Red Balloon opens with Let’s Make a Deal TV host Wayne Brady in the role of DJ, introducing the album’s concept: a radio station with the call letters “TATB.” But rather than focusing on one genre, the record seems to skip across the dial, offering a sampling of jazz, R&B, funk, soul, jazz, gospel, rap, and hip-hop—partly because Tank & the Bangas worked with different producers on different songs, capturing what the band created in that particular space at a specific point in time. 

Throughout the album’s 16 tracks, Ball moves between spoken word and melodic vocalizations, expressing a range of emotions. She doesn’t shy away from challenging topics such as anxiety and depression, but there’s joy despite the pain, warmth despite the cold—ultimately, she finds a way to embrace both the highs and lows. On “Stolen Fruit,” Allenback’s flute accompanies Ball’s vocals, which evoke Anita Baker on the verses; during the lush, breathy choruses, she sings, “I just might fly away,” conjuring an image of a butterfly flitting around a garden. On “Black Folk,” which features singer-producer Masego and singer-songwriter Alex Isley (the daughter of the Isley Brothers’ Ernie Isley), Ball uses the intro to deliver a mixed bag of imagery: “I love Black folk / Black look like revolution,” she says. “Black sound like old songs / Smell like good food / And it taste like heart disease / But it feel like Maze at Jazz Fest.”

The bass line and disco sensibility of “No ID” set the beat for Tank’s jaunty, teasing lyrics (“If you want to see inside of me / I’ma need to see your ID”),while “Communion in My Cup,” which features North Carolina soul trio the Hamiltones, exults in the capacity to overcome adversity. For this stop on their spring North American tour, Tank & the Bangas will team up with the Chicago Philharmonic and composer Jacomo Bairos, who’s collaborated with the band on arrangements and performances with Nu Deco Ensemble, a Miami-based chamber orchestra he cofounded in 2015. This collaboration will offer an immersive experience sure to brighten even the coldest February night.

Tank & the Bangas with the Chicago Philharmonic Sat 2/18, 7:30 PM, Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress, $46.75-$106.50, all ages

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