Desire Develops an Edge was originally released as a two-LP set in 1983. It consists primarily of compositions by Hanrahan, who does not play any of the instruments but avails himself of a kaleidoscopic group of studio musicans that includes Americans (Teo Macero, Arto Lindsay, Steve Swallow), Cubans (Puntilla Orlando Rios, Milton Cardona), and Haitians (Elysee Pyronneau, Jean Claude Jean), as well as one very prominent Briton – former Cream singer and bassist Jack Bruce.

Tenderness is an album by Kip Hanrahan that originally was released in 1990. It includes guest work by Sting, Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros, and Giovanni Hidalgo. The Boston Globe said the album "blurs the lines between jazz, rock and Latin music with a raw, sensual complexity through this mysterious 16-song cycle". The Philadelphia Inquirer listed Tenderness as one of its "10 best pop albums of 1990".