Alison Stewart: This is All Of It. I'm Alison Stewart. The Grammys saw a lot of love this week and it wasn't by accident. In 2019, the academy expanded. According to the organization, thousands of new members joined, including 3,000 women and 38% of voters were people of color. The New York Times reported that some inactive members were moved to non-voting status. The result was a Grammys that made sense. Some of the biggest names in music this year received well deserved recognition from their peers and there were also quite a few thoughtful speeches.

Doechii talked about the importance of showing young Black girls anything is possible after becoming the third woman to win Best Rap Album. Best New Artist, Chapell Roan celebrated her win by demanding a livable wage and health care for artists. And during her acceptance speech for Best Pop Duo, Lady Gaga said Trans people are not invisible. And Beyonce finally won Album of the Year.

We were lucky enough to have a few Grammy winners on All Of It. We had five-time Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Samara Joy, drummer and composer Dan Pugach and jazz vocalist Nicole Zuraitis, and the genre-bending New Orleans band Tank and the Bangas won their very first Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album.

Formed in 2011, they were the winners of the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Concert series. Their performance on Tiny Desk racked up more than 14 million views. After releasing two studio albums and collaborating with some big names like Robert Glasper and Big Freeda, Tank and the Bangas released their Grammy-winning three-part spoken word collection. It's titled The Heart, The Mind and The Soul.

Two members of Tank and the Bangas, vocalist Tarriona Tank Ball and guitarist and pianist, Norm Spence joined us back in August for a special live in-studio performance. I began our conversation asking about the song they performed, Enjoy the Ride. Let's take a listen.

Tarriona Tank Ball: Enjoy the Ride is basically about kind of the in-between guy. It's actually about two guys if people are really paying attention because it's about two guys that I had moments with and this is just me talking about how even though it was crazy, I sure enjoyed the ride.

Alison Stewart: Here's Tank and the Bangas.

[MUSIC - Tank and the Bangas: Enjoy the Ride]

Alison Stewart: Oh, yes, Enjoy the Ride by Tank and the Bangas. Tank, you've described poetry as a sort of a first love.

Tarriona Tank Ball: Oh, definitely.

Alison Stewart: Yeah, and first love brings intense emotion, it can bring heartache, it can bring infatuation.

Tarriona Tank Ball: Yes.

Alison Stewart: What about poetry brings that first love feeling?

Tarriona Tank Ball: Curious, being lost, finding yourself, being incredibly vulnerable, very honest. I think that first love, you are just no bars. You are just so honest about everything you're feeling and you're very emotional and you're very passionate about it. And because you've had no past lessons to teach you or mold you into what you think is right or presentable, you present yourself in the most messiest, and most awesome, and horrific, and most beautiful ways.

Alison Stewart: How does that differ from when you're writing lyrics for a song?

Tarriona Tank Ball: They both have their own one line of relationship because my poems can be my songs and my songs can be my poems. It just depends on that little voice that whispers in my ear and say, "You should speak it like this now or you should sing it like this." But yeah, because I write everything and then later on, I decide what it's going to be when I'm in a session with the guys.

Alison Stewart: Norman, can you grab the mic? Can you talk to us? There you go.

Norman Spence: Absolutely.

Alison Stewart: All right. Once the poetry is presented to you and the rest of the band, when do you start figuring out what the instrumentation should be?

Norman Spence: Wow. Well, it's interesting. Sometimes a lot of her elements have melody attached, so there may be some hint sometimes of a melody that should be present, but sometimes you just got to feel a vibe. Sometimes the vibe you feel might not be the vibe she feels, so you get familiar with what she's aspiring for. You ask questions and sometimes the wave just shows itself and it all comes together. This particular song we just performed was a beat I made prior and it worked and it came out beautiful. We had the privilege of working with Mr. James Poyser on this one and the next one we're going to do for you guys, but it's always just it varies.

Alison Stewart: It varies. So, Tank, when did you decide that you were going to split this into three parts, the heart, the mind and the soul?

Tarriona Tank Ball: I think I was on a train. I don't know exactly where we were, but I was just thinking about the different relationship that I had with my mind, and my body, and my soul and how those things, of course, they come together, but they're very separate. I also thought about just how the attention span of the new listener is so short. I thought of something that could be more of a slow brew and really keep them on their toes and excited to hear the next thing. Because it really hurts me that we can sit forever and make these projects and go through a million different arrangements and producers and have this moment where somebody just with a flick of a thumb, it's over. I want you to really soak this in. It's important.

Alison Stewart: Why is it important?

Tarriona Tank Ball: It's important because we put a lot of work into it, a lot of love and a lot of money. [laughs] We flew a lot of planes. You know what I'm saying? We just didn't create in New Orleans. We went places to create with people and sit up in a room and spend hours making this recipe just so you could truly savor it. I can't live with you just having it being over with the flick of your thumb and you on to the next thing to-- What's the word I'm looking for?

Norman Spence: You can get a dopamine release.

Tarriona Tank Ball: Yeah, I just can't. You've got to live in it just a little bit more for me. I need you to do that.

Norman Spence: We all need to do that with everything. Just we overlook so much. We just need to take some time and soak it in sometimes. It's a lot of great art, great, relevant things that heal, and we should just take the time to-- Forget the microwave, use the oven.

[laughter]

Alison Stewart: Norman Spank and Tank Ball. We're talking about--.

Norman Spence: Spence.

Tarriona Tank Ball: Spence.

Alison Stewart: Excuse me, Norman Spence.

Tarriona Tank Ball: I'm going to start calling you Norman Spank.

[laughter]

Alison Stewart: So funny. The album is called The Heart, The Mind and The Soul. You've worked with a whole bunch of people on this project. Which one-- Well, I won't say which one. Which one was the one where you had, Tank, you had to dig the deepest?

Tarriona Tank Ball: Oh, I think I had to dig the deepest maybe with Robert Glasper, because he's a very freeform artist in a certain type of way. When you go in there, and I'm the same way, just let the musicians play and let's just do our thing. That means that if we're just playing and just having fun, that means that I'm also creating right on the spot. That means I have to go through my poetry and I have to make it make sense, so I had to-- the sessions with Robert weren't premeditated. It was like let's go with the flow. It was very natural. Even when it's natural, you still have to dig, because I have to make it make sense and I had to make it make sense later on in a studio.

Alison Stewart: Norman, tell me about the other two producers on the projects.

Norman Spence: Oh, man, it was an honor to work with James Poyser, teenage hero. He made so much of the music that raised us in the '99, 2000s and so on, even prior and after with the Erykah Badu's, the Common, Like Water for Chocolate, Jill Scott. It was just banger after banger after banger. Then to be able to work with such a hero, to go for a specific type of sound, that Philly soul vibe, and to be able to get some of those elements on our record, it was an honor. Aman, on the other side of the world, Tank knew Aman and we got out there. I mean, I got the energy and the vibe over the phone, but this great guy, great minds, on the fly, excellence and it was an honor.

Alison Stewart: Your next song you're going to play for us is Ghetto Earth. This is from The Heart.

Norman Spence: Poyser.

Alison Stewart: Norman Spence, you want to tell me a little bit about it?

Norman Spence: Oh, yeah. Another James Poyser off the cuff. Beautiful. Oh, Chris Davis is actually playing drums on here. The key bass or the bass is James Poyser on key bass, I'm on actually guitar, first take. No, jokes, but we just another beautiful one. Enjoy.

Alison Stewart: All right. This is Tank and the Bangas.

[MUSIC - Tank and the Bangas: Ghetto Earth]

Alison Stewart: That's Tank and the Bangas. When you think about music, how do you bring your New Orleansness to your music?

Tarriona Tank Ball: Just spiritwise, for sure. Definitely not in sound because the sound is a bit unusual. It's not traditional New Orleans, but it has its elements, sometimes a bounce, I feel like, "Come on, come on," we do our bounce music. Every now and then, of course, it get a little jazzy. Of course, we have to bring in our brass instruments like the saxophone and the trumpet. But as far as the traditional sound, it steers away from that because we molded this sound with people that were from New Orleans and not from New Orleans as well. And just the open mic scene, where freedom was just so free and we could do anything we wanted. I love that about it, honestly.

Alison Stewart: Norman, you grew up in the church?

Norman Spence: In Baltimore.

Alison Stewart: When your dad was a pianist who played in a church growing up, what did you bring from that to this to this performance?

Norman Spence: Who told you about my daddy?

[laughter]

Norman Spence: No joking, but seriously, growing up in Baltimore, watching my dad play for churches, the drummer didn't show up when I was eight. One time he threw me on the drums, and then I was always-- the pastor's son was a drummer, so I was always looking at some other thing to do. The keyboard, my dad would help me.

Alison Stewart: Yeah.

Norman Spence: Just make me play the bass line while he was playing the rest of it, but all those little influences and then sneaking and listening to everything but gospel. It's just kind of like, "Okay, I want to do this sound, this Philly soundish." It was like The Roots. The whole soul crayons thing was like, "Yeah, let me attach myself to that vibe," and that was inspiring. It made me chase bass and like Pino and bass and Keyes, D'Angelo and all the Kamal and James Boys, blah, blah, blah. When I moved to Louisiana when I was like 25, whatever I picked up there is what I brought there.

Alison Stewart: Obviously, Tank and the Bangas is a much bigger group, but you're here as a duo. What do you like, Tank, being part of a duo? What do you get creatively out of just the two of you playing?

Tarriona Tank Ball: Well, Norman always been there from the beginning, from my creation when I first actually made a studio album with the guys. He just was really instrumental in just really allowing the spirit to flow and allowing me to be free, and not trying to really change who I was, and change my sound. Now, one thing he definitely wanted me to do was make sense because he loves to make sense, and I don't always make sense, and I like not making sense, but that's men.

Norman Spence: Logical.

Tarriona Tank Ball: He was like, "Well, what you mean? What's a bird tree?" "It's a bird tree because I said it's a bird tree." And he could go anywhere I want, and he also has his own vibe that I can't touch. I'll tell him these days a lot, I say, "I need you and you need me." Before we ever bring our ideas back to the group, we always get alone together first, and then we bring them back to everybody else.

Alison Stewart: When you present the songs, there's a certain amount of, I think it's improvised, but I thought, "Wait a minute, she knows what she's doing. This has all been practiced before." Which way does it go? Does it go improvisation or does it all planned, all your vocals, all your ticks? I'm just curious.

Tarriona Tank Ball: It's both, definitely. The ticks are that, you know how I say that something whispers in my ear and tells me what to do? That's like the little moments like that, but to me, you can't have the spontaneity unless you literally practice first. We're not just going up there just winging it. We practice first and then once you practice enough, to me, that leaves room for creativity to go off the cuff and come right on back home. You can't just go out exploring the neighborhood. You need to know where your house at first. You know?

Norman Spence: You know what? That's real and I tell you too, I'm no surfer at all, but this was popping in my head. I was like, "You could practice surfing on your carpet at the House, stand on that surfboard and keep your balance, but you cannot predict the way the wave's going to go when you get out there. It's like you get your balance and be prepared to ride a wave in whatever way it goes. Somebody made a saying like you make your plans and God ball them up and show your head, or something like that.

Tarriona Tank Ball: It's if you want to make God laugh, show him your plans.

Norman Spence: Yeah, there you go. So we come up here without planning, and a wave be like, "Yeah, let's go ahead right quick."

Tarriona Tank Ball: Definitely.

Alison Stewart: What do you enjoy about performing the spoken word elements of your act live? What do you like about that?

Tarriona Tank Ball: What I love about that, I just could take my time. I feel like I'm being who I really am. I feel like I'm being Tarriona. I feel like I'm the girl that read my sister's poetry notebook at 12, which I had no business doing and learning all her poems by heart and my cousin giving me that first poem by Adrienne Hardesty, A Great Somebody, and memorizing it to do it at my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary, messing it up, and my grandmother making me do it before my grandfather would speak, so I would get it just right till I became a confident speaker.

I just remember the first thing that loved me back. I couldn't always-- my tone wasn't always amazing in singing. I couldn't always riff like my older sisters, but this poetry came to me so easy and it loved me back and it didn't judge me. I just feel just like myself. I always wanted to lead with it, but a mentor of mine told me, "I think you should do the music first and let the poetry accompany it because people tend to love music more than poetry."

Alison Stewart: How do we get people to love poetry more?

Tarriona Tank Ball: Listen to this album.

Norman Spence: And keep putting music behind it. Shoot, look at Jill Scott's first album and the fact she said, "I'm a poet first."

Alison Stewart: She is.

Tarriona Tank Ball: Yeah.

Norman Spence: She certainly is but the melody is what drew us. Just like a musician, I think the reverse happens when you are a musician. Like you mentioned Robert Glasper, but he had albums before Black Radio. Only musicians and jazz heads knew about their albums like that. It was the Roy Hargrove formula in my mind. Once you put all the artists on there, like RH Factor, it was full of artists like Common and Erykah Badu, so many other greats. It was like, "All right, now we can listen to this jazz album." You Know what I mean? It's the same with the poetry world. Shout out to like J. Ivy and all.

Alison Stewart: Oh, yeah, he's good.

Norman Spence: Absolutely. Absolutely, but music is the glue.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk about the last song, Little Things. Tell us a little bit about it.

Tarriona Tank Ball: Little Things is doing its thing right now on the charts. I didn't think it was going to do all that, so it's very exciting. I just was-

Norman Spence: Iman.

Tarriona Tank Ball: -talking with Iman Omari, helped us produce this one. I've always wanted to work with Iman. I think he's just so gifted and so cool. I love the way-

Norman Spence: Absolutely.

Tarriona Tank Ball: -he puts sounds together. He makes me want to write, so this is a dream collab to sit down and write three songs with him and just about being in the studio. I just remember a bug was flying by and he just smacked it. He killed it. I went, "Damn,' and for some reason, it made me think about the way that people are killed, especially little Black boys, so quickly without a second thought. A lot of people may not know what I'm talking about, but I'm letting you know Little Fly is about our boys.

Alison Stewart: Tank and the Bangas. Let's hear it.

 

Alison Stewart: That was Tank and the Bangas performing from their Grammy-winning three-part spoken word collection, The Heart, The Mind and The Soul.