The L.A.-based singer-songwriter's music can seem at once rustic and cosmopolitan, as she draws on everything from chamber music to murder ballads to artists such as Björk. Hear Hoop give an in-studio performance of "Enemy" from her album "Kismet."
Several years ago, influential bluegrass musician Del McCoury decided to do away with modern concert amplification and go back to the basics: three microphones. With his sons at his side, McCoury performs "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" in NPR's Studio 4A.
From a group of six photos and six words, Magnetic Fields guru Stephin Merritt picked "1974" — and an image of a man wearing a kind of suit covered with baby dolls. Two days later, the song they inspired was finished.
Pianist Lang Lang exploded onto the classical music scene when he was only 17. Today, the Chinese native is an international musical star known for his explosive showmanship and extraordinary technical skill. Here he performs Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 1, 1st Movement Cadenza" in NPR's Studio 4A.
The music of Lizz Wright offers a youthful yet seasoned mixture of jazz, folk, gospel, and R&B. The Georgia-based 28-year-old singer-songwriter is already a celebrated contributor to the jazz world, having recorded three albums.
A vibrant 30-year-old singer and pianist, Yamagata has evolved quite a bit since her days as a vocalist for the funk band Bumpus. After launching a solo career in 2001, Yamagata found her voice as a smart, powerful chronicler of love's dark underbelly.
Before pursuing a career in music, Lee was a Philadelphia schoolteacher. Then he started going to open-mic nights with a car stereo full of classic R&B records. He recently brought his folky, soulful style to NPR headquarters for a solo performance.
Witty singer-songwriter Nellie McKay had three days to write and record a song. The end result is an intricate three-part tune named after a London hotel.
Georgie James visits NPR's Studio 4A for the Project Song challenge: Write and record a song in two days. The duo makes smart, infectious pop with tight harmonies and jangling guitars.
It was a spectacularly beautiful day in Austin, TX when Lightspeed Champion's Dev Hynes and violinist Mike Siddell met with All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen for this exclusive outdoor performance. Hynes and Siddell offered up an intimate little set as they ran through four songs, opening with "Tell Me What It's Worth," followed by "Everyone I Know is Listening to Crunk," "Galaxy of the Lost" and an inspired cover of Olivia Newton John's "Xanadu."
Oregon-based folksinger Laura Gibson performs our very first Tiny Desk Concert.
Athens, Ga., songwriter Vic Chesnutt stops by the NPR offices to perform live at Bob Boilen's desk.
Hear and see an intimate concert with Sam Phillips, a master of three-minute, pop drams.
Watch a video of the singer-songwriter performing live at the NPR offices in Washington, D.C.
The singer-songwriter gives an intimate performance at the NPR offices in Washington, D.C.
Hear and see the singer perform live at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.
The often-chaotic rock group stops by the NPR Music offices for one of our Tiny Desk Concerts.
A former surfer, boxer, model and cab driver, Jim White gives a performance at the NPR Music office.
Hear and see the majestic rock band in an intimate performance, at the offices of NPR Music.
Watch Dondero perform his well-crafted songs at Bob Boilen's desk in the NPR Music offices.
David Eugene Edwards performs his fiery Americana and covers a rare Bob Dylan song.
Hear the singer give an intimate acoustic performance at the desk of NPR Music's Bob Boilen.
Hear the legendary singer perform at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.
St Vincent rehearses "An Actor Out of Work" at SXSW 2009.
Lots of artists mix digital and acoustic sounds, but Mirah does it with remarkable control and grace. Her songs are never overly produced or overly sentimental. They're just a little dark, with something bubbling quietly beneath humming electronics and gently strummed guitars.
Blind Pilot is the musical project of Portland, Ore. natives Ryan Dobrowski and Israel Nebeker. The two recorded their debut album, "3 Rounds and A Sound," after completing a tour that took them from Vancouver all the way to San Francisco — by bike. Nebeker says the group now plays as a nine-piece collective, but you would never know it from listening to "3 Rounds." The group offers a minimalist folk sound built on Nebeker's simple acoustic guitar and Dobrowski's sparse drumming.
Jason Lytle (of Grandaddy) and Rusty Miller (of Jackpot) perform at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX.
India.Arie played some of her new songs in NPR's Studio 4A, accompanied by reggae artist Gramps Morgan and singer/guitarist Blue Miller. In between performances, she spoke with host Liane Hansen.
PJ Harvey and John Parish
Before iPods (or even CDs) there were boomboxes. It's been 20 years since they disappeared from the streets, but the nostalgia they evoke is about more than stereo equipment. We've changed the way we listen to music — and to each other. Watch a video about the history of the boombox.
See the band perform live at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.
As a teenager, the singer-songwriter was already touring the world with his rock band. His new album takes him back to before then, when country music blasted out of Texas radio stations. He performs 'Fight' from his new album 'Changing Horses' in NPR's Studio 4A.
The Montreal-based musician performs "Beijing," "Big Bird In A Small World" and "Wooden Arms" at the WNYC studios in New York City. Watson's stunning, romantic voice soars above the guitars and highly orchestrated melodies amid a driving pulse of precise piano work. Meanwhile, Kuster's clattering percussion is crisply performed on snare drums, marimbas and household pots turned upside-down. It's an inspired sound from a great young artist.
Ferree has enough charisma to draw you into his odd world. Watch him perform in the NPR offices.
Singer Tony Dekker performs three songs at the desk of All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen.
The classical guitarist plays with a clear, lyrical technique in music from the baroque and beyond.
Hear the harmony-drenched roots-rock band perform a kinetic, frenetic set in the NPR Music offices.
Hear the singer-songwriter's tender, winsome music, performed live in the NPR Music offices.
Jazz pianist Eric Lewis has been wowing audiences since he was barely able to walk. During a recent performance in NPR's Studio 4A, Lewis spoke with host Michele Norris. Now 36, he's still the same dynamic performer, channeling the intensity of his music with energetic physicality. But as he's embraced popular music, he's also created a new musical identity: ELEW.
After a few restarts, the singer played a bare, stark, memorable solo set in the NPR Music offices.
Watch the artist formerly known as Smog play a three-song set that's almost eerily transfixing.
Or, the day a trumpet, trombone, French horn and tuba played us a soulful Rufus Wainwright cover.
In this video shot at the NPR Music offices, Siskind showcases a voice that's both honeyed and raw.
Hear Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, stars of the movie Once, playing six new songs and an encore.
Dark Meat has as many as 20 members. We fit as many as we could behind Bob Boilen's desk.
Back in February 2009, Leonard Cohen played his first U.S. concert in 15 years. Just a few weeks later, inspired by Cohen's resurgence, a group of artists at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, paid tribute to the legendary singer-songwriter by performing some of his work. The event functioned as an open mic of sorts, and took place at a store in Austin called Waterloo Records. NPR Music and Sony Music went to Waterloo and captured the event. We start with "Here It Is," from the album Ten New Songs, performed by the French folk duo Herman Dune. Like all of Cohen's work, the poetry is potent.
Back in February 2009, Leonard Cohen played his first U.S. concert in 15 years. Just a few weeks later, inspired by Cohen's resurgence, a group of artists at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, paid tribute to the legendary singer-songwriter by performing some of his work. The event functioned as an open mic of sorts, and took place at a store in Austin called Waterloo Records. NPR Music and Sony Music went to Waterloo and captured the event. David Garza chose one of the best-known songs from one of Leonard Cohen's lesser-known albums: "Dance Me to the End Of Love," from the 1985 album Various Positions. Garza nails the Spanish and Portuguese influences in Cohen's music, though he may be coming to it as a Texas-based musician influenced by Mexican musicians.
Guitarist Jeff Aug holds the world record for most concerts performed in different countries in 24 hours. Playing without a pick, he called it the Wounded Fingers Tour. In a session with Scott Simon, Aug recently demonstrated his three-finger guitar style.
The young Swedish folksinger is passionate, gruff, a great guitar picker and a damn good poet.
Reduced to a duo for this charming session in the NPR Music offices, Telekinesis is all heart.
The Grammy-nominated R&B artist performed three acoustic interpretations of his soul-inspired tunes.
Vanderslice shares acoustic versions of songs from his most recent album, Romanian Names.
The duo's new album pays tribute to the pair's heroes, such as Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana.
See and hear the legendary bluegrass and old-time gospel singer give an a cappella performance.
Not everyone can write and record a song in two days, but that's the Project Song challenge faced by Chris Walla (of Death Cab for Cutie), J. Robbins (of Jawbox and Burning Airlines) and Darren Zentek on drums. What made this project especially difficult was that the two had never even met before they stepped into NPR's performance studio. But it didn't take long for Robbins to pick up his bass guitar, for Walla to pick up a guitar, and for the two to begin their musical friendship.
At 10 members, this is the biggest band ever to play a Tiny Desk Concert in the NPR Music offices.
The Norwegian-born singer-songwriter performs three liltingly sweet songs in the NPR Music offices.
The rapper's set exuded shimmery grace while incorporating the sounds of soul, pop and reggae.
Bowerbirds' handcrafted songs creak and swell like wooden floorboards in an old house.
Alexis Puentes has been in the family business since he was 4. That's when he joined his dad and a group of 24 guitarists in a performance aired on Cuban national TV. Now Puentes records as Alex Cuba. In his music, you can hear how he's blended his father's musical influence — and stories from the Cuban countryside — with a touch of '70s soul.
Avi sings three hushed lullabies, including her signature cover of Morrissey's "First of the Gang."
The fearless party-rocker stands in NPR Music's offices and performs four songs alone at the piano.
Lightning Dust specializes in quiet moments, whether in a shared glance or a finely knit harmony.
The charming London indie-folk band performs a holiday-themed set in the NPR Music offices.
Members of the adventurous ensemble play music by Ravel and an original piece, Egyptian-style.
In a solo show at NPR Music, John Darnielle's twitchy energy serves his fearless songwriting well.
In a performance at NPR, the talented singer's voice is powerful without unnecessary melodrama.
The band's sullen, spacious music was a perfect fit for the intimacy of the NPR Music offices.
The string quartet showcases a small sample of its visceral fire at the offices of NPR Music.
A longtime session guitarist, Rawlings takes the lead, playing his own music at NPR Music's offices.
The harpist crafts a transporting mix of tradition and improvisation in this desk-side performance.
With roots in Greece, Turkey, Armenia and France, Abaji has a passion for music from many countries.
The singer-songwriter performs music from Mo' Beauty, accompanied only by two guitars.
The singer treated the NPR Music offices to three songs that invited us into her warm musical world.
The Cuban singer performs two boleros, which transport the listener to another time and place.
The Brooklyn-based trio strips down its wall of noise for an intimate performance at NPR Music.
CALLmeKAT performing an intimate version of "Bug In A Web" at the Driskell Hotel in Austin, Texas during South By Southwest.
Admiral Radley performing for NPR Music, at the Driskill in Austin, TX. March 2010.
Sharon Van Etten performing "Much More Than That" at the Driskell Hotel in Austin, Texas during South By Southwest.
Freelance Whales performing live for NPR Music, at SXSW 2010
Vadoinmessico performing at the Driskil Hotel in Austin, Texas during South By Southwest 2010.
Timber Timbre performs live for NPR Music at SXSW 2010.
I received a very large box. I had a feeling it would be worth videotaping the unboxing.
The talented Baltimore duo didn't have to travel far to liven up a day at the NPR Music offices.
Jazz pianist Hiromi performing 'Choux a la Creme' in NPR's Studio 4B.
Jakob Dylan, Neko Case and Kelly Hogan perform a mesmerizing set at the Tiny Desk.
The violinist plays traditional African melodies, re-imagined through her own jazz sensibilities.
The classical guitarist showcases his warm, lyrical tone in three staples of the repertoire.
The unusual jazz guitarist and his drummer perform at the NPR offices, literally with bells on.
Fredrik's lush harmonies are stripped to guitar, snare drum and maraca in this intimate performance.
Moby gives a live performance of his Project Song creation, "Gone to Sleep," at NPR's offices.
It takes weeks, even years, to write a song. NPR Music's Project Song challenges musicians to do it in just two days. Moby and collaborator Kelli Scarr finished so quickly, they wound up recording three different versions of their new song "Gone to Sleep."
The singer performs three harmony-drenched reggae songs with Dean Fraser and a guitarist.
Hear instantly recognizable hits such as "1901" and "Lisztomania," stripped down and reassembled.
The veteran soul singer blew into the NPR Music office and conquered it before she'd sung a note.
Seven authors (Roy Blount Jr., Scott Turow and others) perform with a big-time ringer.
Hear the acclaimed musician play Bach on his amazingly resonant cello, built in 1693.
Laura Burhenn's new band performs a soulful Tiny Desk Concert at the NPR Music offices.
The venerable, multimillion-selling pop parodist plays three acoustic originals in the NPR offices.
The frenetic gypsy punk band performs the most rollicking and insane Tiny Desk Concert of all time.
The whip-smart sometimes bawdy U.K. band performs a clamorous ruckus in this Tiny Desk Concert.
The reggae icon performs classics from the film The Harder They Come in this acoustic performance.
Villagers' Conor O'Brien performs a beautiful and memorable solo set in the NPR Music offices.
The three demonstrate the way musical mastery can become an exercise in wordless communication.
Hear the band play inspired soul from its latest album, Feed My Soul, at the NPR Music offices.
The soul icon performs songs from her latest album, You Are Not Alone, at the NPR Music offices.
The singer came to NPR Music with just her guitar to play four beautiful tunes from Obadiah.
Sometimes fandom for musicians comes with a badge of honor, or status in an unspoken aristocracy of taste. Then there are artists whose adoring followers are mocked and teased.
The Minneapolis duo performs songs from its stormy debut album, Inter-Be.
The New Zealand band plays four songs from its album Chant Darling at the NPR Music offices.
The gospel singer sounds like somebody you know — somebody you know with stage presence for days.
With these intimate songs, the French-born Chilean rapper proves that hip-hop has no boundaries.
The ever-adaptable guitarist creates challenging and expressive music in the NPR Music offices.
The singer and his band feed off the audience's live energy in a concert at the NPR Music offices.
The young cellist plays Bach with elegance and a new piece by Golijov with Technicolor brilliance.
Barzelay, maybe the most underrated songwriter in the business, performs at the NPR Music offices.
The band showcases its cinematic blend of storytelling and strings at the NPR Music offices.
The legendary group performs its pop hits in a rare acoustic set at the NPR Music offices.
Watch Jana Hunter bring her delicate, haunting voice and hypnotic sound to the Tiny Desk.
It doesn't take more than four minutes to fall in love with this utterly charming seven-piece band.
The 12-person ensemble performs from the NPR Music offices.
At 61, Lowe is part crooner, part country and a little crotchety, but with a heart of pure pop.
In honor of the Day of the Dead, Santacruz performs at the NPR offices in traditional mariachi garb.
In an intimate four-song set, Daniel Lanois and Trixie Whitley sound warm, vulnerable and ferocious.
This set from the NPR Music office has something new, something old and something to dance to.
In this lovely Tiny Desk performance, Van Etten plays beguiling songs from her latest album, Epic.
Listening to a piece by Hauschka can be deceiving: What sounds like an ensemble of musicians and instruments is just one man, performing at one piano. His real name is Volker Bertelmann, and he hails from Dusseldorf, Germany, where he works with his "prepared piano." He wrests disruptive sounds from the instrument's 88 keys by outfitting the strings or mallets with objects such as ping-pong balls, aluminum foil and leather. His new album is titled Foreign Landscapes, and he recently visited NPR's studios to demonstrate his craft.
Watch Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl perform songs from Acoustic Sessions in the NPR offices.
Watch the Icelandic singer perform a lovely, folk-flavored set from the NPR Music offices.
Watch Mali's queen of desert rock unveil her stunning vocal chops at the NPR Music offices.
Watch the inventive and unpredictable duo play a joyfully pummeling set from the NPR Music offices.
Watch the harpist give a powerful and intimate performance at the NPR Music offices.
Watch the 10-member band squeeze behind the Tiny Desk for an elegant, stripped-down performance.
What better way to celebrate our 100th Tiny Desk Concert than by discovering an artist worth loving?
Though heavy on puns, the extraordinary jazz drummer's merry band isn't light on musicianship.
The Brazilian singer floats and sprinkles notes onto just the right places at the NPR Music offices.
Watch the singer-songwriter mix American bluegrass and Chinese folk from the NPR Music offices.
The reggae star performs his hit "Hold You" and more from the NPR Music offices in Washington, D.C.
The band brings a frenetic, infectious blend of American and Mexican folk to the NPR Music offices.
The masterful kora-and-cello duo performs a transfixing set combining African and European strings.
Sam Beam gives a fresh side of his new songs at NPR, and tops it off with a devastating 2004 gem.
The Canadian singer-songwriter sings highlights from her two albums, plus a surprise from Poland.
Watch the folk-rock legend perform songs from his 20th solo album, Dream Attic, at NPR Music.
Watch Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell transform three of Stars' songs into spare, pretty folk music.
The band showcases its Beatles-esque pop harmonies and sweet melodies from the NPR Music offices.
The jazz bassist, singer and Best New Artist Grammy winner performs in the NPR Music offices.
With an eclectic palette of sounds and styles, the Turtle Island Quartet swings at NPR Music.
In a three-song set at the NPR Music offices, the U.K. pop star showcases her brilliant voice.
The L.A. band brings its euphoric choruses and clattering Afrobeat rhythms to the NPR Music offices.
Hear Jurado's raw, time-worn, authentically graceful music, performed in the NPR Music office.
Watch the Grammy-nominated Cajun band play an upbeat yet bittersweet set from the NPR Music offices.
In this two-song set at the NPR Music offices, Wright channels the gospel and soul of her past.
Watch White and Seasick Steve play an impromptu concert in front of the mobile record store/studio.
Emmylou Harris performs "Darlin' Kate" live at the Driskill Hotel, Austin, Texas on March 18, 2011.
Julianna Barwick performs "Bob In Your Gait" at the Driskill Hotel, Austin, Texas on March 18, 2011.
Typhoon performs a medley of "The Sickness Unto Death" and "The Honest Truth" at the Driskill Hotel, Austin, Texas on March 18, 2011.
Sea Of Bees performs "Gnomes" at the Driskill Hotel, Austin, Texas on March 19, 2011.
Austra performs "The Choke" at the Driskill Hotel, Austin, Texas on March 19, 2011.
Scala And Kolacny Brothers perform "Seashell" at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas on March 19, 2011.
McKay's bold, audacious personality shines in this set recorded at the NPR Music offices.
Hear the Refugee All Stars' upbeat reggae grooves, performed live at the NPR Music offices.
Ritter can't hide his enjoyment of a performance, even when his songs convey obsession or disaster.
Watch the banjo player perform his trademark trance-inducing blues at the NPR Music offices.
Watch the dubstep duo perform our first-ever electronic Tiny Desk Concert at the NPR offices.
Watch LaFarge play '20s- and '30s-inspired music with the help of his band, The South City Three.
A singer, author, actor and activist, Earle showcases many of his talents at the NPR Music offices.
Watch the world's reigning pipa virtuoso play ancient music from her Chinese homeland.
Jones' name is synonymous with the Hammond B3 organ. Watch him play one in the NPR Music offices.
After six albums, including last year's Otra Cosa, Venegas is still defying expectations.
Watch the Rutles alumnus play three of his classic satirical songs in the NPR Music offices.
Watch the band's short but intense and cathartic set, performed live in the NPR Music offices.
Singers Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker perform three songs from their gorgeous new album, C'mon.
Watch the 11-year-old perform Handel's "Ombra mai fu" at the NPR Music offices.
The Tennessee band's sweet, swollen folk-rock songs keep blooming into something irresistible.
Hear a bold and surprising mix of sensibilities — at once icy and rustic, cavernous and confined.
Watch Thile and Daves play traditional bluegrass with New York intensity at the NPR Music offices.
Watch the stylish young violinist pull out a bag of tricks in music by Paganini.
With Chris Funk and Sara Watkins, Colin Meloy plays three sparkling songs from The King Is Dead.
Watch the electro-pop band's striking and infectious performance at the NPR Music offices.
Watch Joy Williams and John Paul White's swooning chemistry and stirring harmonies at NPR Music.
Watch the newcomer from Montenegro play Spanish standards and a passionate ode to his homeland.
Hear the gospel greats' mix of polished blues, swinging soul and from-the-gut expressions of faith.
The guitarist, 23, was once called a prodigy. But he's maturing into a distinctive bandleader, too.
The genre-bending cellist and songwriter has created a unique take on folk music.
Boyd reads from White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s, while Hitchcock plays songs from the era.
Watch Luzelena Mendoza and Y La Bamba craft joyfully rich vocal harmonies in the NPR Music offices.
At the NPR offices, the band plays a sunny, exuberant set, suitable for dancing and bobbing along.
Watch the band perform two of its brand-new songs, as well as "Fingertips," a classic 1992 chestnut.
The singer plays a charming set featuring songs from Carrying Lightning at the Tiny Desk.
The London band plugs in its drum machine, but sweet simplicity still reigns in the NPR offices.
Watch the miraculous hands (and feet) of the Grammy-winning organist in an all-Bach performance.
Watch the Guatemalan singer's breathtaking and passionate set at the NPR Music offices.
The Oklahoma band brings its spacious minor-key hymns to the NPR Music offices.
The Irishman has one of the most arresting voices of any young singer you're likely to hear.
Watch the synth-pop musician perform a hauntingly beautiful set at the NPR Music offices.
Watch Matthew Houck play a stirring, road-ragged solo Tiny Desk Concert at the NPR Music offices.
Diamond Mine's unassuming creators lose little of their charm and mystique in the NPR Music office.
Armed with the summer song of 2011, the band brings "Pumped Up Kicks" and more to NPR Music.
Watch the former Elefant frontman perform songs from his album Laura at the NPR Music offices.
Rowe brings his booming voice and ever-louder acoustic-guitar set-ups to the NPR Music offices.
The Twin Cities singer is a pop genius, with creative ambition to match his considerable charm.
Beirut performs worldly, inspired songs from its new album The Rip Tide at the NPR Music offices.
The pianist usually plays eight-foot Steinways. See what she does on an electronic keyboard.
Ring in Rosh Hashanah with three globe-trotting tunes from one of the world's greatest Jewish bands.
The New Orleans native achieved stardom with his voice and his horn. But he just wants you to dance.
The band's performance in the NPR Music offices creates a vibe of ragged, awkward intimacy.
These songs showcase a band with tremendous narrative gifts and a flair for subtle beauty.
Of course, the power-punk duo took off their shirts at the NPR Music offices, because why not?
The upstart band brings youthful, infectious energy to the NPR Music offices.
The Michigan native's deliberately paced music is too rustic and pretty to be a true downer.
Armed with tiny amps and a ton of grace, Wilco plays new songs and an old favorite at the Tiny Desk.
The classical violinist blends Bach and Charles Ives with flair, then tops it off with a fedora.
The jazz star and his band perform two songs from their album State of Art at the NPR Music offices.
At (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City
Exuding both musical and personal warmth, the Irish singer mesmerized at the NPR Music offices.
Watch the charismatic Colombian superstar give an intimate performance at the NPR Music offices.
The Swedish singer shows off his humor and charm in this intimate set at the NPR Music offices.
At the NPR Music offices, Irglova mixes the exotic and the familiar; sweetness and longing.
The genre-bending cellist heads a dream team of string players who borrow from bluegrass.
Asking the fearless, easygoing singer to perform in a crowded office never felt like an imposition.
Hospital Ships' beautiful, crushing songs pack an emotional punch in this performance at NPR Music.
Hear the agile musician's rigorously crafted songs, which fall somewhere between classical and pop.
tUnE-yArDs sings of rage and inequality, but also celebrates the joy of letting out a wild sound.
As the cameras rolled, the reggae star came to life, showcasing his smooth voice and vibrant energy.
Maybe you couldn't hear a pin drop when Gem Club played, but you could hear the click of a keyboard.
The Elephant 6 alum plays a holiday set compete with bowed banjos, singing saws and tape machines.
The Argentine singer blends tango, Latin blues and the traditional music of Brazil and Peru.
Even in a stripped-down acoustic set, Tinariwen's trance-inducing desert music doesn't disappoint.
Watch singer Teri Gender Bender transform from a soft-spoken musician into a rock 'n' roll beast.
Few groups seem more game for tromping over thorny bushes and climbing through broken window frames — just to play a single song — than David Wax Museum. Complete with a rousing horn section and some spirited handclaps, the band performs a fun and infectious rendition of "Born With a Broken Heart" in the dilapidated ruins of Fort Adams during the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.
The band's keen sense of song prevails, especially in a new song called "It All Means Nothing."
Banjo master Schepps and friends create an intriguing goulash of Bartók, bluegrass and bebop.
There's something primeval about guys banging on wood. But the New York percussion group Mantra takes such primitive pounding to a surprisingly refined level. For composer Michael Gordon's mesmerizing new work — Timber, written for six two-by-fours — Mantra set up a public performance of the piece in the lumber department of a big-box hardware store in Alexandria, Va. Who knew 60 inches of processed pine could sound so good?
Watch the masterful folk guitarist perform a lovely instrumental set at the NPR Music offices.
Calvi plays songs from her self-titled debut in this powerful performance at the NPR Music offices.
As Gil Shaham wandered through the back offices of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., he said he felt "like Ben Stiller in Night at the Museum." For this impromptu Bach mini-recital, the violin superstar momentarily became part of the art, bathed in the modish lighting and projections of a multimedia installation during the performance. A crowd packed the exhibit room to watch as Shaham launched into Bach's third partita. After the performance, the violinist greeted fans in the museum, many of whom were headed to his concert at the Kennedy Center that night. He seemed surprised and delighted that the guerrilla concert, announced only on local classical station WETA and Twitter that day, drew so many people willing to hear Bach in the afternoon.
The San Antonio trio gets back to basics to explore its songs' forms and the soul of its lyrics.
As a gaggle of videographers, musicians, industry types and hangers-on stepped gingerly through tall brush to enter a dilapidated section of Fort Adams in Newport, R.I., you couldn't blame us for feeling like unwitting participants in a horror movie. Standing amid hundred-year-old rubble as the 2011 Newport Folk Festival clattered merrily in the distance, we were either going to capture two breathtaking minutes of music or get eviscerated by maniacs as part of The Newport Witch Project. Thankfully, we made it out with the footage you see above. Like a ray gun that shoots weaponized gorgeousness, the Vermont trio Mountain Man fit an awful lot of moony harmonies into this all-too-brief performance of "Sewee Sewee." As a self-explanatorily named group called The Seeger Clogging Allstars clomped away behind them, Mountain Man's three members — Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Amelia Randall Meath — sang and stared sweetly into each other's faces.
The brilliant and nimble guitarist reinvents the songs of John Lennon at the NPR Music offices.
The group has revitalized a long-lost culture through music performed entirely in Haitian Creole.
The Hold Steady singer's stark side is nicely conducive to barren arrangements at the NPR offices.
The dance-friendly, India-inspired funk group performs a high-energy set at the NPR Music offices.
Alisa Weilerstein, one of today's top cellists, is accustomed to playing in the world's finest concert halls. This season alone brings her to Seoul, Hamburg, Los Angeles, London and Sydney. But there was one other lofty venue on her travel schedule: the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Strategically positioned above a tank full of stingrays, Weilerstein unpacked her cello to serenade the sea creatures — and dozens of pleasantly surprised aquarium visitors — with music by Johann Sebastian Bach. She chose the Prelude from Bach's Suite No. 5 for unaccompanied cello. The music's tranquil power and meandering melodies became an extraordinary soundtrack to the majestic rays as they roamed through the water, rising occasionally to catch a note or two.
"The Duke of Bachata" gives a raw but beautiful interpretation of bachata at the NPR Music offices.
Hear the fresh-faced opera singers perform Puccini at the NPR Music offices.
In this performance at the NPR Music offices, the Irish pop band mixes new songs with early hits.
A band of selective minimalism, Milagres gets the most of simple sounds at the NPR Music offices.
Eric Harland is the sort of drummer who can conjure the music out of just about anything. And when you are this sort of drummer, you get asked to play with a lot of different musicians. When he joined us for this field recording, Harland was in the middle of playing three sets with three different bands in under five hours at the 2011 Newport Jazz Festival. One of those gigs was with the trumpeter Avishai Cohen and his band Triveni. Right after they finished with their set, we absconded with both trumpeter and drummer into an abandoned quadrant of Fort Adams State Park for a little experiment. Watch as Harland squats and annexes a rusty piece of scrap metal for a makeshift ride cymbal. The following improvisation seems to just fall into place.
Through her insightful lyrics, Sandra Velasquez conjures the sounds of the Mexican desert.
Her gorgeous, whispery voice inspired the Tiny Desk Concerts series in 2008. Now, Laura Gibson returns with her band to perform four songs from her new album, La Grande.
The saxophonist's new repertoire salutes electric funk, South Indian modes and swarming solos.
Real Estate wears placidity well: It's a band born and bred to convey and celebrate laconic comfort.
A soulful master musician from Iran, Kalhor performs a beautiful improvisation at the NPR offices.
There's so much to experience during South by Southwest at any given moment, it can be difficult to find peace amid Austin's frenetic pace and competing giant sounds. By the time we met up with Dry the River at Joe's Crab Shack's secluded patio overlooking the Colorado River, we were looking forward to giving our ears a break. Dry the River typically writes music with big, cathartic climaxes in mind: Songs on the band's first full-length album, Shallow Bed, tend to start with miniaturized melodies that eventually burst into thunderous rock anthems. But on this particular morning, Dry the River arrived in a more intimate formation, swapping electric guitars for acoustics and its full drum set for a single snare. While this performance of the gorgeous "Bible Belt" eases back on the loudness of the original, the band by no means lacks power.
Sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg make charming, folk-infused pop music that lulls and enchants.
The ensemble employs all kinds of toys, from an amplified cactus to a mug filled with spare change.
He'd say he was a radical before he'd say he was a musician — a laptop artist with a love of grit and noise. Grey Filastine, once based in Seattle but now a nomad loosely based in Barcelona, is a creative soul. He seems to also love a good party, a beat and a shopping cart wired for sound. With that in mind, we asked Filastine to perform at a junkyard in Austin — not just any junkyard, either, but a place called "The Cathedral of Junk." It's a home for more than 60 tons of unwanted consumer has-been items, transformed into art installations by Vince Hannemann. Here, Filastine brought his attitude, his electronics and a cellist friend to perform "Btalla" and an excerpt from "Dance of the Garbagemen."
The Canadian singer performs four sweet, warm, relatable songs that soothe as they nourish.
Caveman writes guitar-based pop songs full of space and melodies you can carry around in your head.
At the NPR offices, the band plays in a lean, funky configuration that gets the room grooving along.
There's not a lot in New York City that looks much like Bamako, the capital city of Mali, but there are pockets uptown where a West African might feel a little closer to home. With increasing numbers of immigrants to Harlem from countries like Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Gambia and beyond, jewelry shops sell the beautiful, bright gold twisted hoop earrings traditionally worn by Fulani women; men stride along the street wearing the elegant, flowing robes called grands boubous; and restaurants sell bissap, the sweet cold drink made from hibiscus flowers that's beloved across the region.
The group fuses the music of many Christian cultures, with nods to African songs of celebration.
Holland plays songs with an unadorned tone that makes the voice and lyrics all the more touching.
The venerable band sounds as poignant and tender as ever in this performance at the NPR offices.
The group doesn't overwhelm so much as it wears listeners down with a subtle charm offensive.
The Asian-American singer Jen Shyu speaks several languages, among them English, Spanish, Portuguese and various East Asian tongues from China, Taiwan and East Timor. But then she started performing with saxophonist Steve Coleman. None of her native tongues would serve for his knotty tunes; "doo-bop-a-da" scat singing wasn't going to cut it, either. So she had to devise her own sound and fury — perhaps signifying nothing formally, but full of intense personal feeling. Steve Coleman has long been known as an inventor of language — a composer who draws equally from rigorous examination of music theory, esoteric natural science and myth, and Charlie Parker. But you don't have to speak his language to be entranced by it. There's flow, and pulse, and delightful chord changes. And, yes, it's a little disorienting, which seems like part of the point. "What human energy could have inspired this sound?" you wonder. Exactly.
The guitarist displays intricate fingerpicking in two songs inspired by Kentucky Derby racehorses.
The jazz quartet draws from post-bop, 20th-century chromaticism and New Orleans funeral marches.
K Ishibashi is a master at building songs from live violin loops, layered singing and beatboxing.
The improvisational music of the father-son, guitar-cello duo functions as a beautiful conversation.
The Godfather of Go-Go died Wednesday. In 2010, he brought his full band to the NPR Music office.
Rooted in acoustic traditions, the music of Arborea stands out for its calm beauty and rough edges.
Tiersen's rich, liltingly eccentric pop music is constructed from lots of sweet, intricate pieces.
The venerable brass quintet sports virtuosic, fresh-faced players in tried-and-true repertoire.
Watson has a lovely voice and a gift for wringing evocative sounds out of everything he touches.
The unflappable singer performs three songs with seeming effortlessness and easygoing charm.
The drummer dedicates tunes to her friends, including her first teacher — a "sometimes great guy."
Watch three songs by a troubled soul with a talent for writing honest, disarmingly direct music.
Even before the gates had opened on the first day of the Sasquatch! Music Festival, we managed to get backstage of the Gorge Amphitheater early to capture a live session with one of the hottest new bands to hit the festival circuit, Of Monsters and Men. No strangers to natural beauty, the Icelanders were nevertheless stunned by the picturesque backdrop of the Gorge as they performed "Mountain Sound," one of the new songs added to the American release of their debut album. "We sleep until the sun goes down" they sang repeatedly as instead the sun broke through the clouds as if called out by their radiant optimism. The band will continue to thrill fans in larger and larger venues, but it's private moments like this when Of Monsters and Men best display their natural charm.
Hansard flexes his neck muscles a bit as he performs new songs and deep cuts at the NPR offices.
The band plays with just the right mixture of passion and pathos in a fun set at the NPR offices.
In a matter of minutes, Metric singer Emily Haines and guitarist James Shaw went from rocking in front of thousands of fans on the main stage of the Sasquatch Music Festival to hiking through a rumored thicket of rattlesnakes overlooking the Columbia River. The duo gamely made the trek for an acoustic performance of "Synthetica," the title track from Metric's new record. Stripped of an electric guitar and moody reverb, Haines and Shaw performed a version of the song pretty enough to challenge the sweeping sunset behind them. There couldn't have been a more appropriate backdrop for Haines' refrain, "Hey, I'm not synthetica."
In spite of the early hour and chilly air, Sauti Sol arrived at the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge in Austin, Texas, in good spirits — not to mention colorful jackets that provided a welcome contrast to the cloudy sky. There, the Afro-fusion quartet from Nairobi greeted the morning birds and joggers with a version of its recent single, "Love or Leave." The song amply demonstrates the group's signature acoustic sound, which is anchored by the guitar of Polycarp Otieno and vocal harmonies of Bien-Aime Baraza, Willis Chimano and Delvin Mudigi.
The comedian and musician performs spontaneous improvisations full of killer grooves and humor.
The way he was tearing it up during an impromptu set at the Sasquatch Music Festival, you'd barely notice that Jordan Cook, a.k.a. Reignwolf, broke a string midway through his fiery rendition of "In the Dark" — that is, until you saw the mangled remnants of his guitar, smoldering on the ground after he'd wrenched every wailing chord from its guts. The Saskatoon native and recent Seattle transplant never misses a beat — literally. When he's not with a band, he accompanies himself on kick drum and makes enough noise to match a dozen metalheads. In this video, recorded at the artist campground between sets at the festival, Reignwolf causes a ruckus beside his RV and rousts a crowd of sleepy campers into dancing and cheering.
The band plays a beautifully buzzing, nuanced set, marked by gorgeous grace and stirring melodies.
At the NPR offices, Carlile and her band sing from-the-gut songs about messy lives, loudly lived.
To honor Philip Glass' 75th birthday this year, we here at NPR Music commissioned Glass to create a short work that would be great fun for amateur and professional singers alike. A big part of what we do is to try to make all kinds of music engaging and accessible — and wouldn't it be great to invite anyone who wanted to come and sing in a world premiere by one of the most celebrated composers of our time? So Glass took a work he had first written for soprano and instruments as part of his 1997 3-D "digital opera" Monsters of Grace, and arranged it for soloist and eight-part chorus. And were very lucky indeed to team up with the Make Music NY Festival, member station WQXR and the Times Square Alliance to realize this project at one of the world's most iconic spots, the Crossroads of the World, Times Square.
Two songs from A Creature I Don't Know bookend a gorgeous new, unreleased song called "Once."
A soulful yet steely singer-songwriter from Algeria charts her own course in these four songs.
Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale sing sweet but intricate folk-pop songs in the NPR offices.
We were late getting set up. As Deer Tick's John McCauley stood on the picturesque hillside of the Columbia River Gorge, about to strum the first chord of a song, another band started to blast us from the main stage nearby. We had to leave. It was a relief, really, because the natural majesty of the surroundings didn't seem at home with Deer Tick's music — especially not the Replacements-esque party attitude of the band's new album, Divine Providence. So we drove as far away from the painted landscape as we could in the short time we had to capture this Field Recording. We landed at the opposite end of the spectrum aesthetically — all the way to the sanitation area of the artists' campground. There, in front of a row of Honey Buckets, the Deer Tick frontman performed "Main Street," appropriately one of Divine Providence's morning-after numbers; the song exudes regret and loss while remaining brash and defiant. For the minutes he played, it was the most beautiful spot around.
Feder marries classical and folk techniques with otherworldly guitar textures and sounds.
The band makes the Tiny Desk accommodate its booming sound rather than the other way around.
Known for mixing folk and electronics, Orton unveils three new songs with just an acoustic guitar.
The "Graffiti Park" in Austin, Texas, is stunning from any angle: Essentially a giant public canvas, the staggered façade on Baylor Street is constantly refreshed with new eye-popping murals by aerosol artists. When the members of Now, Now met us there, they were good enough sports to haul their guitars and amplifiers all the way to the top.
The blues may come in myriad shapes and sizes, but on the eve of 2012's South By Southwest music festival, it took the form of two sisters from Los Angeles: Jennifer and Jessica Clavin, who make up the core of Bleached. A rough-and-tumble garage-rock band, Bleached is one of many young punk-infused acts playing three-minute, three-chord bashers with sneering, unraveled immediacy. When played on stage, the band's music takes on a messy-but-fun live-wire buoyancy.
Two surviving members of the band still have the same chemistry here in a stripped-down performance.
By the middle of Wainwright's final song, "Montauk," few dry eyes remained in the NPR offices.
Seth and Scott Avett spend a good chunk of their lives on one tour bus or another, so asking them to perform in one isn't all that different from asking them to perform in one of their own living rooms. They may be far away from their native North Carolina — to be exact, they're captured here in a Camden, N.J., parking lot in conjunction with the XPoNential Music Festival — but the setting is cozy enough for Seth Avett to brew tea before performing.
Watch the renowned double bassist thump, strum and loop his way through three mesmerizing songs.
With the Sasquatch Music Festival booming overhead, the Brooklyn trio We Are Augustines dodges the wind — and the competing sound of Blind Pilot playing a set nearby — long enough to perform a stripped-down cover of Crooked Fingers' "New Drink for the Old Drunk." The Brooklyn band We Are Augustines wouldn't seem to lend itself to windblown acoustic sing-alongs: The songs on 2011's Rise Ye Sunken Ships songs bellow and soar in the electric, anthemic spirit of, say, Titus Andronicus. But for this Field Recording, captured during the closest thing to a quiet moment at the 2012 Sasquatch Music Festival, the trio strapped on acoustic guitars — and grabbed a box for percussion — long enough to perform a cover of Crooked Fingers' "New Drink for the Old Drunk."
Avital's mandolin sings with the sounds of Ernest Bloch and a raucous Bulgarian folk tune.
These songs' fervor is the product of a singer armed with intensity and musicians who can match it.
Experimental musician Mica Levi, a.k.a. Micachu, doesn't exactly fit comfortably into her surroundings: She cuts a vaguely otherworldly, not-so-vaguely androgynous figure, and sings strangely pretty, jagged little songs with the aid of odd tunings and a tiny guitar, which dangles from crudely tied twine. She identifies herself as a pop singer, but while her songs are catchy enough, they're no one's idea of pop-radio fodder. Micachu is a sore thumb in human form, but there's nothing inauthentic or performative about her outsider status. Taking Micachu on a hike into the sun-dappled woods of Washington, D.C.'s Rock Creek Park makes as much sense as it would to surround her with modern everyday life. So we sat her on a log in the open air, where she sang "Holiday" — from her new album Never — while flanked by Raisa Khan and Marc Pell from her band The Shapes. Together, the three musicians complement the majesty of their surroundings with everything that makes their music work.
Watch Las Vegass bring a punk aesthetic to Venezuelan folk music with a cuatro at the NPR offices.
Hearing the 29-year-old singer makes it virtually impossible to do anything but stop and listen.
It's one thing for 11 musicians to make a big sound, but what stands out is Antibalas' subtlety.
"Eres tan moderno, que mis caricias ya son anticuadas," Mexican singer Carla Morrison croons to an indifferent lover in "Falta De Respeto" ("Disrespect"). That beautiful line — which translates as "You are so modern that my caresses are antiquated" — captures Morrison's essence. Part tragic heroine, part bold feminist, she's always a pining romantic, yet she won't sit pretty in a corner and wait to be swept off her feet. She'll get in your face and tell you just how much she loves you.
The group plays fiddle, banjo, guitar and washboard, all gathered around a single microphone.
The band unleashes a gorgeous flurry of shambolic rumbling, prolific hairiness and dramatic yelling.
Like any great blues singer, Cray makes heartache and dysfunction sound engaging and relatable.
The band's rich harmonies are welcoming, its lyrics relatable and its live performances thrilling.
When I first heard that David Byrne and St. Vincent's Annie Clark would collaborate, I imagined a quirky, guitar-based dance band. I never expected an eight-piece brass ensemble or a theremin duet. What's brilliant about their album together, Love This Giant, is what makes collaboration exciting: the desire to explore and challenge. We find both artists outside their comfort zones, making music that couldn't have happened independently of each other. It's unlike anything out there today.
Michael Angelakos makes electro-pop with monster hooks. But his songs are sturdy, versatile things.
"I feel like Zeus," Allen Stone announces with a laugh as gusts of wind whip his long hair in dramatic fashion. With a mountainous vista behind him, he's found himself in the kind of majestic rock 'n' roll moment that requires a callout to Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" — is there ever a bad time to invoke The Log? — seeing as how it takes place during the 2012 Sasquatch! Music Festival in rural Washington state.
The longtime frontman for Grandaddy goes it alone with acoustic solo songs from his latest record.
Joy Williams and John Paul White call their Grammy-winning band The Civil Wars, but the two have built a gentle, harmony-rich folk-pop sound in which warm chemistry more than counteracts the tension under the music's surface. Though not a couple themselves — each is married, and Williams just had a baby — they convey many hallmarks of a loving union, particularly in the way she stares at him sweetly as they sing.
The conjunto icon spins magic, and stays true to tradition, with his trademark button accordion.
For Tiny Desk Concert No. 250, the Death Cab for Cutie and Postal Service singer performs solo.
Wainwright roughs up life's smooth spots, then digs her fingertips into the cracks that form.
Victoria Bergsman's songs seem to come from a place somewhere between a dream state and waking life.
The Seattle duo literally shakes the dust off the ceiling tiles at the NPR Music offices.
The singer-songwriter performs three of Young Man in America's most bracingly beautiful songs.
Once the acoustic guitarist zeroes in on the center of a song, it's easy to get lost in it yourself.
Lovett gives a loose, engaging performance that feels like both an introduction and a victory lap.
The Mercury Prize-winning band plays angular, poetic, inventive music that takes unexpected turns.
The sprawling group, 17 strong, squeezes behind Bob Boilen's desk for a special holiday performance.
Performing at the NPR Music offices, Miguel strips his highly produced hits down to their bones.
One minute, Lucius sounds like a '60s girl group; the next might conjure images of Emmylou Harris.
With members of The Decemberists, the band lends a snappy, lilting quality to songs of alienation.
"We just played an absurd concert to nobody," Mount Eerie's Phil Elverum says, as he faces a sea of empty red seats at the Folger Shakespeare Library's gorgeous Elizabethan-style theatre in Washington, D.C., just across the way from the Supreme Court. Serendipitously, a group of schoolchildren had toured the oak halls of the library just minutes before, and would take cover in each other's coats from the gray rain outside. We needed only to tape their gleeful yelps to match the recorded version of "Ocean Roar," heard on the album of the same name — just one of two stirring collections Mount Eerie released in 2012.
Frontman Kevin Barnes uses the intimacy of the NPR Music offices to try out some quiet new material.
The a cappella ensemble sings widely divergent songs from American, European and Sufi traditions.
In The xx's songs, all the calm chilliness in the world can't quite contain an exposed heart.
The Paris-based Quatuor Ebene — the "Ebony Quartet" — has risen fast in the musical world with two separate artistic identities. In recent years, audiences have gotten to know the "other" Ebenes — the sophisticated cover band that plays everything from "Miserlou" (the Pulp Fiction theme) to jazz to "Someday My Prince Will Come" (yes, the one from Disney's Snow White).
Winston Yellen's arresting voice propels a lighthearted but deeply affecting set at the NPR office.
The guitarist brings a decidedly non-standard approach to jazz's standard practices.
The fast-rising Brooklyn trio sings beautiful, heartfelt, impeccably harmonized folk-pop songs.
Watch one of the best fiddlers on the planet and a subtle guitar master work their magic.
The Danish band ransacks the NPR Music offices looking for sound-making material and new ideas.
To coincide with the release of the band's 13th album, Fade, Yo La Tengo performs an acoustic set.
The duo's quietly energetic performance hangs over the the NPR Music offices like a soft mist.
Zany, brainy and danceable, these guys' music mixes rock and jazz like King Crimson at its fiercest.
Watch the violinist spin out music by John Williams and Bach in sweet, soulful tendrils of sound.
If you've ever been poolside on a hot day, you know what it's like to have your senses bombarded with leisure; to feel the sun radiating and shimmering off everything around you. Watch the first few moments of this Field Recording, with its bobbing inner tubes and lounging vacationers, and you can practically smell the spots where chlorine meets concrete. We filmed the band late one morning at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs — a setting that also produced an eager dancer, assorted rubberneckers and one particularly agreeable dog. All in all, perfect surroundings in which to re-create the laconic pop-rock of the California band Cayucas.
The veteran country players mix corny humor, musical merrymaking and timeless vocal harmonies.
Subway entertainers are a mixed bag, but in the arts mecca of New York City, they're often overqualified — so much so that bands and other musical acts need to audition to even set up underground. And those are just the "official" performers.
The 73-year-old Iranian icon unleashes torrents of swooping, soaring sound that elicit goosebumps.
Imani Winds' members shrink Igor Stravinsky down to size in a quintet take on The Rite of Spring.
When most people think of Palm Springs, visions of softly baked desert landscapes come to mind. However, upon arriving at the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, we were warned that the temperature differential between the desert and the top cliff of the Chino Canyon was about 30 degrees — cold enough that it would require warm clothing and an adventurous spirit. But Wild Nothing singer-songwriter Jack Tatum and his tour players were game to load onto the rotating tram car and ascend to more than 8,500 feet above sea level.
OK Go helps us transport the Tiny Desk from NPR Music's old headquarters to our new facility.
Among the vestment racks, satchel purveyors and art galleries of New York's SoHo neighborhood lies a small merchant unlike its neighbors. It's called The Evolution Store, and it peddles, um, natural-history collectibles. You know, preserved insects, taxidermy, skulls and bones, remnants of marine creatures. It's as if a museum ran out of space and started putting its sloths and tarantulas in the gift shop. Naturally, our video producers saw it and thought: Obviously, we need to record there.
Watch the band perform acoustic arrangements of four songs from its new album, Trouble Will Find Me.
An 11-piece brass band turns up the funk and flies the flag high for its native Richmond, Va.
One of the world's finest folksingers channels the spirit of Woody Guthrie at the NPR Music offices.
Watch the singer-songwriter and her band perform three songs from her fine new album, American Kid.
At first, the inconspicuous facade of the El Segundo-based South Bay Customs motorcycle shop doesn't seem like the most compelling setting for one of our Field Recordings. But once we walked past the front doors, we quickly realized that this wasn't your everyday L.A. bike shop. South Bay's walls are lined with eccentric oddities, and the facility also houses an art gallery and a performance space for local musicians.
A brilliant cellist with a stunning command of her instrument, Beiser performs at the NPR offices.
The U.K. singer performs some of her most intimate material in a short set at the NPR Music offices.
The Malian musician and his band craft melodies and rhythms that cut across age and ethnicity.
We taped this Field Recording shortly after Hurricane Sandy devastated communities in and around New York and New Jersey. One of those affected was drummer Nasheet Waits, who had lost his kit in the storm's waters. Luckily, the Steve Maxwell drum store in midtown Manhattan was willing to lend a hand — and one gray morning, we found ourselves in a gem of a space, surrounded by an incredible array of instruments, including Elvin Jones' setup.
The rowdy English folk-punk band brings its barely controlled mayhem to the NPR Music offices.
Two men with unplugged instruments convey the bawdy rowdiness of a full band.
When the British singer performs, her emotionally fiery music just gets hotter and grittier.
There is magic in pure sound. And few know that truth as well as the quartet called So Percussion and the installation artist and drummer Eli Keszler — artists who, before this spring, had never met. We thought that they might find kindred spirits in each other.
The singer, instrumentalist and music therapist plays slinky, forceful songs at NPR Music.
Hear three sturdy pop songs from In Guards We Trust, performed live at the NPR Music offices.
Hear the "classically trained garage band" perform with staggering technique and contagious energy.
Watch Falconberry and five bandmates perform three delicate songs from her recent album Leelanau.
Hanni El Khatib and his band braved sharp desert succulents, chilly temperatures and an aggressive maraca for this performance of the appropriately titled "Save Me." The Los Angeles singer-songwriter, on a break from touring in support of his latest album In the Dirt, gamely stripped down his loud, bluesy garage-rock sound and let the stunning backdrop of Joshua Tree National Park provide the drama.
Henson's voice is so fragile and hushed, if you were 10 feet away from him you'd barely hear a peep.
Guthrie and his band drove 18 hours round-trip from Ontario to perform three songs for NPR Music.
The Australian sextet crafts busily impeccable, harmony-intensive pop music with a danceable sway.
The 17-member chamber-rock collective uses its size in the service of great, snappy, stirring songs.
The community that's formed around The Front Bottoms speaks to the band's passion and compassion.
When Daniel Hope was a boy, the only thing he loved as much as his violin was his telescope. Gazing into the night sky, he pondered the vastness of space. Now a grown man, Hope still has a penchant for wonder and discovery — especially when it comes to music.
Concha Buika's voice comes from Africa and the past. Watch her perform in the NPR Music offices.
Richter recorded his rejiggered Seasons with violin soloist Daniel Hope and together they brought the project to (Le) Poisson Rouge, the Greenwich Village music space, where we had our cameras set up and ready to roll.
Watch Gunn's trio perform a set of hypnotic long-form jams that are perfect for taking it easy.
One of my most surprising discoveries of 2013 is an artfully poppy pipe-organ record called Ceremony, by Swedish singer Anna von Hausswolff. Though she doesn't consider herself an accomplished pipe organist, von Hausswolff quickly learned the instrument's power, as well as some of its subtleties.
Watch Baths' Will Wiesenfeld perform mysterious, textured electronic music in the NPR offices.
For our 300th Tiny Desk Concert, we showcase a Tuareg guitarist's fierce, hypnotic, alluring jams.
Performing solo, singer Matthew Healy doesn't hesitate to transform both his songs and himself.
When we first approached Bill Callahan to do a Field Recording in New York City, we asked him if he had any special place in mind. His reply surprised me: "A community garden." I guess I'd stereotyped him in my head, because after all those years of dark, thoughtful songwriting — first as Smog and then on the pensive records he's made under his own name — I'd imagined a library, someplace quiet and dark. As it turned out, the brightly lit 6th & B Community Garden, with its lush greenery and mellow wildlife, provided just the right setting.
With an eye on both the past and the future, O'Farrill has jazz and Afro-Cuban music in his DNA.
The husband-and-wife duo mixes rowdy folk-rock and rootsy ballads, with the help of a canine friend.
A Galician bagpiper and her trio take Celtic sounds in an entirely wild and wonderful direction.
Hem makes a homey, fireside kind of music, with songs that feel as if they've always been there.
The Zimbabwean legend performs songs from the mournful but celebratory Sarawoga for NPR Music.
The operatic tenor, acclaimed for his Rossini, circles back to his roots as a singer of spirituals.
Watch the venerable band translate its electric sound to acoustic instruments in an intimate way.
Short of seeing her live and in person, this is the best way to encounter June's heartfelt sound.
The band performs three songs from a record inspired by the childhood of singer Will Sheff.
The bassist composes beautiful, unpretentious music for an unusual jazz band with accordion.
Pretty and melancholy, the Londoners' music conjures a perfect mix of gloom, desire and hostility.
The dozen members of this Portland, Ore. band crammed behind the Tiny Desk for a transcendent set.
The orchestral folk-pop band's little song-worlds burst with ambition, talent and extreme joy.
Watch a Halloween Tiny Desk Concert in which Case performs with Kelly Hogan and Eric Bachmann.
This three-song set in the NPR Music offices captures a nice cross-section of Monroe's appeal.
The jazz vibraphone pioneer is 70 now, but that hasn't slowed his flying four-mallet technique.
Bhattacharya draws on North Indian classical music, but blues also pours out of his stunning work.
The soul singer retains the easygoing grace of a performer fit for any stage — even a tiny one.
This is Katie Crutchfield as Waxahatchee, playing intimate music for an intimate setting.
The intrepid champions of new music bring a lullaby, rare blues and a work by Bryce Dessner to NPR.
The band exudes playfulness and wry charm throughout these three songs from Uncanney Valley.
Composer Benjamin Britten, whose 100th birth anniversary falls on Nov. 22nd, is so deeply associated with his native England that he's on a new 50-pence coin issued by the Royal Mint. This British cultural icon felt so strongly his music should be of a particular place that he set down roots in the seaside town of Aldeburgh, England and stayed there for nearly 30 years until his death in 1976. But he had a surprising two-year sojourn living far from home — in a boisterous, bohemian group house in Brooklyn.
Jarosz and her small backing band craft a careful mix of technical proficiency and poppy warmth.
The whip-smart rapper, singer, poet and songwriter performs three tracks from Parts of Speech.
John Mayer has made multi-platinum albums, won Grammys, dodged paparazzi, kind of self-destructed, escaped to Montana and spent more than a year without speaking or singing publicly to allow his damaged vocal chords to heal. Now he's mostly recovered and back on the road with an album called Paradise Valley, which he produced with Don Was. Mayer visited NPR's Studio 1 in Washington D.C. to perform "Waitin' On The Day" from the new album.
Salem sings work songs and chants from the maloya tradition on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean.
The video here provides just a hint of the L.A. band's dynamic live shows, albeit a spectacular one.
The hot and historic New Orleans band brings a tuba-wielding Santa and some original holiday cheer.
The musician unpacks an array of traditional Vietnamese instruments — and 1,000 years of culture.
The teenagers play a restrained, homespun mix of folk and pop with undeniably sweet harmonies.
The Howard University vocal jazz ensemble performs beautiful African-American spirituals.
Members of the Grammy-winning, organic R&B Experiment band jam with singer Marsha Ambrosius.
The expressive, powerful singer previews songs from her new album, Burn Your Fire for No Witness.
Hear the legendary band perform 1989's "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and two new songs — one unreleased.
The joyous Balkan brass band plays at a pace that would make the Ramones burst into a sweat.
The inventive folk-music veteran book-ends a four-song set with her hits "Luka" and "Tom's Diner."
The Welsh singer's set conveys loneliness and doubt with just two guitars and an inviting whisper.
Chinese-born pianist Yuja Wang isn't one to do anything in half measures. So when we invited her to record a performance in a room at the Steinway & Sons piano factory, she showed up in Queens that frigid morning with her A game.
For about 20 minutes one sunny afternoon, Rei turned a desk into a small Latin American folk club.
See the band re-create some of its stellar studio effects with a pedal steel and some novelty mics.
Avidan has an album and no U.S. record label to put it out. But he's on a solo tour that's stunning.
It's hard to convey the sound of two people in love, but Lowland Hum does that effortlessly.
Watch the 20-year-old English singer-songwriter, who has worked with superproducer Rick Rubin.
On record, Cluck's elastic voice and fingerpicking are impressive. Live, they jam the senses.
All the world's top opera houses want the young tenor with the old-school approach.
When you're lucky enough to have cellist Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Silk Road Ensemble, some of the world's premiere instrumentalists and composers, gather for an afternoon of offstage music making, you've got to think long and hard about where to put them. And we decided that the perfect match would be ACME Studio, a theatrical props warehouse in Brooklyn.
We had so much fun taping cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble's Field Recording, we couldn't stop at just one selection, so we recorded the group's four talented percussionists in a deep groove.
The Wytches' furious, hair-flinging psych-rock isn't the stuff of back-porch acoustic sessions: Both live and on the English band's singles, the energy is so intense, it can barely be contained. But when NPR Music arranged a Wytches session during SXSW — held in the charming backyard setting of Friends & Neighbors in east Austin — singer-guitarist Kristian Bell stood in for the whole band, with just his voice and an acoustic guitar.
When the sisters cover classic country music together, the result is a treat and a trip in time.
Singer-songwriters Aimee Mann and Ted Leo unite from opposite ends of the volume knob.
The North Dakota singer-songwriter possesses one of the most arresting voices in folk music today.
Barnett tells stories like your best friend, provided your best friend is a funny Australian poet.
Merchandise got its start on the Tampa punk and hardcore scene, then got weirder as artier influences like krautrock took hold. As its sound became harder to pin down, the band inspired an 18-month bidding war between record labels: This year, Merchandise finally signed with 4AD, and adventurous new material has begun to trickle out.
A young Pakistani musician treats the guitar as percussion — with surprisingly shimmering results.
The Argentine singer uses his dark, husky voice to produce a specific effect in these three songs.
Interweaving harmonies and guitar lines set the tone for these soft, benevolent, dreamy songs.
Impossibly telegenic and charming, the band mixes booming intensity with polish and sparkle.
The Dublin guitarist runs through a ragtime jaunt, a basement-bar choogle and a sad-sack closer.
The duo's sample-laden instrumental music is entertainment as education for the head and feet alike.
For the first installment in the Mi Casa Es Tu Casa series with Fusion, a Mexican band invites Alt.Latino into its house for lively conversation and great music.
See the swamp-folk band play a characteristically eerie and mysterious set in the NPR Music offices.
As a teenager, I fell in love with two very different musical genres: punk rock and cumbia — that Caribbean-born music with a contagious two-beat shuffle. To purists of either, my musical promiscuity might have seemed blasphemous, but to me, it was a logical combination. Cumbia is more punk than punk itself. And many years later, when I discovered Mexican DJ Ali Gua Gua, and her group Kumbia Queers, I was elated with their unique brand of "tropi punk." They got it.
The Scottish synth-pop band turns up with a small arsenal of synthesizers to perform three songs.
Mystery seems to swirl around D.D Dumbo. We'd heard all sorts of crazy rumors about this solo musician; namely, that Dumbo is a modern-day nomad whose only worldly possessions are his guitar and some crazy customized pedals. But once he arrived for one of our SXSW Backyard Sessions, here's what we discovered: Dumbo was born outside of Melbourne, Australia (birth name: Oliver Hugh Perry). He performs with a 12-string electric guitar, a simple drum set-up and some loop pedals. And he prefers to let his eclectic, drone-filled music speak for itself — so, alas, no comment on the nomad rumors.
See the countertenor and lutenist Thomas Dunford perform John Dowland's melancholy songs.
I've loved Mexican singer Juan Cirerol's music since the first time I heard it. But I didn't fully understand it until I traveled to his native Mexicali on an assignment for NPR. Mexicali is an infernally hot town on the border. It's as traditionally northern Mexican as it gets, complete with white flour tortillas (typical of the north) and de nortena music blasting from the passing camiones. But it also is drenched with the cultural trickle-down of its upstairs neighbor: Calexico, Calif. You hear as much English-language country music on the radio as you do banda. Cirerol told me that, as a music-hungry kid growing up in Mexicali, he lapped up that American country music — particularly his grandfather's favorite, Johnny Cash.
The band makes the kind of music that can at least briefly restore your faith in humanity.
The Lebanese singer-songwriter is one of the most groundbreaking musicians in the Middle East.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne wraps his rich, vital, soulful voice around songs rooted in the blues.
Molina sounds as if she'd been raised by wolves and discovered the world of music on her own.
Watch the celebrated pianist make Bach's Two-part Inventions sing and zing.
While NPR Music was in Austin for SXSW this year, we coaxed Mendoza and his crew into a three-song backyard party after a little local coffee. But they didn't really need the caffeine to get everyone's blood pumping.
A quirky and wistful performer with a string section, McLaughlin makes music like few others.
Wanderlust invited a crew of intrepid New Yorkers to accompany the fabulous Moroccan musician Hassan Hakmoun and his band on a mysterious day trip. So we piled into a van with the musicians, and off we all went to points unknown. After a long morning being driven to our secret destination — with no one but the organizers knowing where we were heading — we arrived upstate at the stunning Widow Jane Mine.
A classical virtuoso and an equally captivating flamenco player combine for a set of duets.
The country singer-songwriter performs with the ease and swagger of a man comfortable in his ways.
The singer-songwriter and musician performs with unabashed positivity and an uplifting spirit.
The Bright Eyes singer performs songs from Upside Down Mountain with help from members of Dawes.
See the innovative player create waves of sound with a six-string violin.
The 23-year-old singer-guitarist performs gritty, countrified blues-rock in the NPR Music offices.
Watch the Tiny Desk turn into a church, comedy club and neo-soul spot.
They call what they make "cave music" — but it's just as powerful at the Tiny Desk.
We at NPR Music leave a lot of variables out in the wild when we make Field Recordings. That's especially true when we commission new music for the annual Make Music New York festival, as we have for three years.
Grant's songs don't mess around, with lyrics that function as darts of retort and thought.
The singer has a magnificent way with phrasing, not to mention a remarkable country-music lineage.
The guitarist kicks up some dirt with a Rev. Gary Davis deconstruction and a Stratocaster hoedown.
Throughout her career, punk icon Brody Dalle has embraced her aggressive side. Best known as the lead singer of The Distillers and Spinnerette, Dalle has a sandpaper- and velvet-tinged voice that speaks to rebellious young punks who are curious about the world yet vulnerable to its sharp edges. "I've never understood why there was such a fuss about aggressive women in music," Dalle says. "To me, aggression is a human instinct. ... I've felt provoked for most of my life, especially as a child. I guess I've carried those feelings into my songs."
In this three-song set, the Walkmen singer demonstrates that he's lost none of his vocal power.
Watch an atmospheric Norwegian band with a yearning sound. Also: See a flugabone!
In the NPR offices, the Ohio band plays three alternately brooding and stomping songs from Dark Arc.
The veteran East L.A. band's music penetrates the intellect even as it makes your hips sway.
The band's seven players are trained in classical and jazz, led by Liam McCormick's powerful voice.
As its name suggests, Tweedy is a new band featuring Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and his 18-year-old son and drummer Spencer. Tweedy recently recorded an album together, out Sept. 23, titled Sukierae. (It's pronounced sue-key-ray.)At the Newport Folk Festival a couple weeks ago, Tweedy and some of the players on that 20-song record — including Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig from Lucius — were at Fort Adams State Park to perform. We asked them to come backstage, into the tunnels under the fort, to get out of the rain and play one of the songs from Sukierae. Spencer Tweedy's drums are made from found trash and objects lying around the fort, including a cardboard box and some boxes of gum. Still, magic happened.
With Carolyn Cardoza, Diaz conjures a place where emotions run deep and beauty is unmistakable.
The former Hüsker Dü and Sugar frontman plugs in for a characteristically loud four-song set.
Watch a talented, charming guitar legend make magic as his band Avila holds down the beat.
A few blocks from New Orleans' Superdome, just off Canal Street, there's a barber shop called Clear-Vue, which has been in business since 1948. While we were in the city for the Essence Music Festival, we asked Jazmine Sullivan to meet us there.When she walked in, patrons and barbers alike were wary. But they knew who she was, from hit songs like "Bust Your Windows" and "Holding You Down (Goin' in Circles)." And when she began to sing, wearing her powerhouse instrument lightly, everyone ceded her a floor that had been previously occupied by a heated debate about college football. To a roomful of captivated men, she sang a brand new song, "Stupid Girls," that warns women to be careful with their hearts.
Watch the group play selections from Shostakovich's cycle of introspective string quartets.
A veteran of Little Joy and Los Hermanos, Amarante makes warm, tender music as a solo artist.
The band was made to sing and play around one microphone, so a Tiny Desk Concert seemed inevitable.
There's too much happening in New Orleans' French Quarter — especially on a holiday weekend, especially when hundreds of thousands of people are in town for the annual Essence Music Festival. There are living statues and five-piece bands and drinks a foot-and-a-half tall and people from all over the world ambling in the middle of the street. But Ledisi, singing on a balcony in her hometown, stopped the whole thing dead. For a few minutes, with a song about the complications of being a woman, she held an unsuspecting, audibly appreciative crowd in the palm of her hand.
I've seen many magical collaborations at the Newport Folk Festival over the years, as artists band together and create in the Newport spirit. This particular venture was epic, featuring the strongest anthem of the year — by the Portland band Ages and Ages — and the voices of the Berklee Gospel and Roots Choir. Recorded here in the ruins within Newport's Fort Adams State Park, "Divisionary (Do The Right Thing)" has a message and a chorus that everyone can enjoy. Get ready to beam — and feel free to join in.
The Kentucky native writes country songs about loneliness, failed dreams, drinking and drugs.
Known for the speed of their playing, the Minnesotans are about more than just blistering bluegrass.
With a borrowed acoustic guitar, Booker joined us outside one of the secluded secret tunnels in the heart of Fort Adams State Park after his set at this year's Newport Folk Festival. While we were setting up for this Field Recording, Booker offhandedly mentioned that a few years prior, he'd applied to become an NPR Music intern. He didn't get that gig, but he told us that missing out spurred his desire to explore another side of his passion for music.
Mayfield's music has gotten more beguiling as she explores the many contrasts in her hypnotic sound.
In advance of his new album Single Mothers, the singer performs two new songs and an old favorite.
Graceful singing and storytelling meet guitars and textures that help create an unforgettable aura.
Everyone involved was in New Orleans to play the Essence Music Festival, which Prince headlined. But away from the hustle and bustle of downtown, out of the shadow of the Superdome, KING put on a different type of show. While customers quietly thumbed through LPs — then stopped to stare — the singers gently and precisely intertwined their three voices in service of a love song.
With his drummer son Spencer, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy performs songs from their new album, Sukierae.
There's a joke that says the biggest town in Puerto Rico is called New York. Several waves of diaspora have created a deep and complex relationship between Puerto Ricans and the city. Boricuas have had an immense influence on the Big Apple — its music, its literature, its landscape, and even its cuisine.
The 10-piece salsa band built its career on dance floors, where it never fails to make people move.
The trombonist's working band established some nifty swing, assisted in absentia by Sufjan Stevens.
Browne still writes songs with conviction, craftsmanship and careful attention to detail.
Sofia has spent most of her career 20 feet from stardom as a backup singer for Juanes and Shakira.
The band plays with a great rock-duo punch that recalls The White Stripes or JEFF The Brotherhood.
The Icelandic singer's voice is angelic and yearning, his songs simple and universal.
D'Amato's music can feel Motown-y, garage-y and Springsteen-y, but he sounds sparer here.
Watch the young, versatile ensemble play folk music from around Denmark and beyond.
We asked the King of Auto-Tune to grace the Tiny Desk without any embellishment or effects.
Known for lavish electronic productions, Banks serves notice as a powerful singer in her own right.
With costumes inspired by Egyptian symbolism and sci-fi, Ra's band plays a special Halloween set.
The day after playing a set at the Superdome during the Essence Music Festival this summer, eclectic R&B singer Jesse Boykins III wandered into Mardi Gras World — an expansive, airy warehouse packed wall to wall with floats used in New Orleans' infamous parades. The floats are built from the ground up in-house, so Boykins found himself surrounded by unfinished works and spare parts.
We had hoped to get the great drummer Brian Blade to give us a little private exhibition after his set at the Newport Jazz Festival this year. The weather, however, was proving much less generous than he and his band were. Early that morning, a steady all-day rain settled in over coastal Rhode Island, making it difficult to transport dry instruments anywhere. On top of that, a last-minute change to travel plans meant that Blade needed to get out of town quickly — to an airport over four hours away.
After playing a set at Newport, he and the Stay Human band kept walking. They walked past the backstage trailers, through the quad stage, and up onto an overgrown rampart of Fort Adams — the 190-year-old edifice which houses the festival. After a long day of travel, interviews and a headlining performance, they were there to give us a special and private encore.
You can be 10 feet from The Campbell Apartment, a bar tucked into the corner of New York's Grand Central Station, and not have any idea it's there. The office of a member of the New York Central Railroad's Board Of Directors in the 1920s (and later a storage closet and a jail), the room is intimate in spite of its 25-foot ceilings and the enormous leaded-glass window that faces Vanderbilt Avenue.
Every year for the last decade and a half, select groups of hot swing musicians have come from Europe to tour the U.S. The exact lineups change, but they all feature masters of the "gypsy jazz" — or jazz manouche — style pioneered by guitarist Django Reinhardt. In fact, they're billed under the banner of New York's Django Reinhardt Festival.
A rousing band from Kansas City, Making Movies mixes languages and eras with infectious energy.
Watch the group sing new music with yelps, yodels and a few fine harmonies.
The Austin singer-songwriter joins his stunning voice with that of touring partner Gaby Moreno.
The Dinosaur Jr. frontman, one of the world's loudest musicians, performs unplugged and acoustic.
People in jazz circles often talk about complexity, and often as an accusation. That guy's music is too complex! It's too far removed from the blues! It sounds like math! Bah! If you went under the hood, you could probably level some of those charges at alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón. His compositions and arrangements are filled with overlapping or juxtaposed rhythmic dimensions — it's not easy even for the fellow pros with whom he works. But he does it with such purpose, and with such seeming ease, that you wouldn't necessarily sense anything weird unless he actually explains it to you. That's one thing that sets him apart: Zenón might make complex music, but it doesn't hinder him from communicating something deep.
Benatar and Giraldo play three classics: "We Live For Love," "We Belong" and "Promises In The Dark."
Amidon weaves his compositions into traditional music, while Frisell adds atmospheric guitar.
Hear the Irish ensemble's fresh take on Philip Glass' propulsive yet intimate string quartets.
The band's got heart and soul and flair, with a well-worn sound buoyed by strong, fresh songwriting.
The singer performs two new songs, as well as "The First Cut Is the Deepest" and "Father and Son."
She came to the desk a little unsure, and left singing "West Memphis" with intensity and passion.
Watch our favorite hamsters play their twee-as-all-get-out holiday pop-punk song, "Snow Day."
The Phish star was in town to put on a huge show, but the songs here feel more personal than that.
The producer presides over an all-instrumental, free-form trio with Brian Blade and Jim Wilson.
Even without its confetti cannon, the band brings a fun mix of brass and brash to the NPR offices.
The Nashville singer writes with acidic wit in lines worthy of his old mentor, Shel Silverstein.
Reilly sings and plays guitar alongside Tom Brosseau and Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark.
On June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village. A riot broke out, sparking successive nights of protest and, many say, the emergence of the modern gay rights movement.LGBT rights have come a long way since that summer night 46 years ago, when there were still laws criminalizing homosexuality. But mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato believes there's still work to be done, so she chose the Stonewall to gather a few friends, talk about equality and sing a centuries-old song that still resonates.
With 23 members, the performance-art marching band is the biggest ever to play the Tiny Desk.
The band strips down its electronic sound with the aid of a spaghetti strainer and a paint bucket.
With her huge voice and an assist on trombone, Nika Roza Danilova offers up a curious combination.
The Tiny Desk becomes a DJ booth for an office space dance party.
The Wisconsin band performs three of its warm, accessible songs in the NPR Music offices.
Aurelio weaves intricate layers of acoustic guitar to capture the feel of African and the Caribbean.
The singer beat out nearly 7,000 other submissions to win NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert Contest.
The duo plays visionary Beethoven, heartbreaking Janáček and Glass that unfolds like a lullaby.
Before the wide-ranging band plays, the audience sings "Happy Birthday" to mandolinist Chris Thile.
After midnight in Austin, Texas, during the SXSW Music Festival, we asked folk singer Tom Brosseau to sing us a lullaby in a church courtyard. Brosseau chose an unrecorded song, a murder ballad called "Will Henry."
The a cappella quartet, with banjo and fiddle, offers popular songs from the Civil War era.
After midnight at the SXSW Music Festival, when venues sweep up beer bottles and kick out the revelers, we're asking musicians for a song to end the night. Luluc's quiet folk songs are particularly made for these moments of calm, especially "Star" from last year's Passerby. It's a lullaby, albeit a disquiet one that questions the star's light in the dark: "Are you truly a stranger living up so high in the night? / Why do I look upon you with tears in my eyes?"
Waller Creek runs through downtown Austin, Texas, into Lady Bird Lake. It bustles with critters both furry and humanoid on a sunny day, but we took The Mynabirds' Laura Burhenn to the banks after midnight to sing us a lullaby. Looking like a mermaid with a Casio keyboard, she plays "All My Heart," a new song sure to be lushly arranged with a Motown beat on an album due out this summer, but here it's a lover's hymn: "I'd walk through hell for just one kiss / I'd give everything I have for a minute more of this."
Late night on Friday at the SXSW music festival is usually when the delirium sets in. After three consecutive 16-hour days of live music, even the sharpest brains begin to lose it (so you can imagine what state ours were in). In other words, it was an opportune time to meet up with British songwriter Laura Marling, who owns a voice as clear as the bells at the top of nearby St. David's Episcopal Church. Marling performed an acoustic version of "Walk Alone," a late-night longing for peace of mind from her new album 'Short Movie.'
In the final installment of our South X Lullaby series, rising songwriter Torres met us at 2:30 a.m. outside Central Presbyterian Church in Austin, where she had just blown away a large portion of our contingent in SXSW.Torres, known to the IRS as Mackenzie Scott, performed a plugged-in, but still very intimate version of "A Proper Polish Welcome," one of the early peeks of her upcoming album Sprinter. Considering how much our All Songs Considered crew raved about Scott's performances in Austin, it was the perfect way to end the festival.
Performed softly in the light of day, these three songs feel fresh and lovable.
In a beautifully stark performance, the band plays two songs from Kintsugi and two older favorites.
James Snyder's euphoric punk anthems become raw and uplifting confessionals in this acoustic set.
Stokes' songs feel familiar; they're old friends before you're done hearing them for the first time.
The singer's lyrics reflect deeply felt emotions in this performance with cellist Daniel de Jesus.
The young English singer brings warmth to electronic music and a swooning quality to her own pop.
The Ukrainian acoustic quartet's music encompasses sounds and rhythms from around the world.
This soft-spoken Swedish singer left an imprint at the Tiny Desk that was gentle and long lasting.
The singer has been called "the Sinatra of flamenco." His expressive style draws on jazz.
Iyer's working band transforms selections from throughout the pianist's deep and varied catalog.
Found objects are percussion instruments in the hands of a man who's part musician, part magician.
These are enchanting songs, with the power to drift in your head for days.
A star in his native Portugal, Camané evokes melancholy with a silky baritone and elegant phrasing.
Uruguay belongs high up any list of locations for musical discovery. Nestled between Argentina and Brazil way down on the southern tip of the Americas, it spends way too much time in the shadows of its better-known neighbors. But a closer listen reveals something for just about everyone: rockeros, sure, but also fans of hip-hop, folk-influenced downtempo music and singer-songwriters with distinct voices and stories to tell.
Intense, hip-hop-infused poetry is reduced to just the essentials in this two-song, four-minute set.
Daniel Bachman calls Durham, N.C., home now, but he grew up around the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg. It's a quiet town in Northern Virginia that still has a pharmacy with cheap sandwiches and milkshakes; but, as Bachman pointed out to us, it has more tattoo parlors than music stores these days. That's not a judgment, just the way things are.The 25-year-old has been at the solo-guitar game since he was a teenager, befriending folks like the since-departed Jack Rose and slowly finding his own way into the music. That's why it felt right to bring Bachman back to the area that inspired River, a record surrounded by history, but guided by hands and a heart that know its bends and bumps.In early March, we met Bachman in Fredericksburg to drive an hour east to Stratford Hall, home to four generations of the Lee family, which includes two signers of the Declaration of Independence; it's also the birthplace of Robert E. Lee.
Watch the Grammy-winning guitarist and acclaimed harpist play music influenced by Africa and Asia.
The mother-son duo's songs are memorable and singable even days after you hear them.
One of the most musical countries on the planet, Brazil is awash in folk-music traditions, as well as a rich history in jazz and bossa nova. It seems as if Brazilian musicians can make beautiful sounds with everything and anything they touch.
A young man with an old musical soul has a spellbinding voice and fluid fiddle playing.
See a singer with a powerful voice and extremely encouraging message.
If you've never thought your tastes would lean to mountain music, breathe deep and soak it all in.
At around midday Monday at High Tech High School in North Bergen, N.J., about 40 students are crammed into a small classroom, anxiously waiting for Kendrick Lamar to walk into the room. He glides in with crisp white kicks, a grey long-sleeve shirt, and hair twisting every which way. The 27-year-old rapper has a broad smile on his face. He seems almost as excited as the students, who just might be having their best day of school ... ever.
The clever trio shares its love of everything from Law & Order to old-school girl groups.
Timothy Showalter's music is filled with bite and sometimes regret, but also a good deal of warmth.
Frances Quinlan's raspy voice whispers one moment, then lets loose a gut-punching howl the next.
The charismatic Brooklyn-via-D.C.-area rapper creates just the right amount of space in his music.
The trio's music is full of life, with dissonant sounds that still feel suited for singalongs.
Each June 21, the one-day Make Music New York festival (MMNY) celebrates not just sound but community. It's a summer solstice gathering of the tribes for music makers and music lovers alike, with more than 1200 outdoor concerts across the five boroughs running from morning till night.
Best witnessed live, Stelling's music is steeped in tradition yet filled with vitality and soul.
The charming duo performs three of the simple, direct songs from Before The World Was Big.
See a Malian band that fuses African music with Western rock.
A celebrated English playwright and rapper deploys storytelling and poetry.
See the beloved Britpop veteran perform songs from his new album, Saturns Pattern.
The singer's disco-infused funk and soul gets stripped down to a lone voice with a guitar.
Irish singer-songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson makes the most of a single voice and an acoustic guitar.
The New Orleans trumpeter's funky new band creates dance music to ward off despair.
Mackenzie Scott's music channels Patti Smith and PJ Harvey while hinting at further growth.
The Philly rock band's big-hearted songs are stripped down to a few guitars and a MiniKorg.
The country singer plays four songs from Pageant Material, plus the set-closing "Follow Your Arrow."
The trio blows up its sound by adding off-duty, civilian horn players from the U.S. Marine Band.
Rose plays music as if she's just met her new best friend: It's fresh, fun and enthusiastic.
There's lighthearted, almost childlike beauty in the way Gabrielle Smith puts words to song.
Mitski's music is dark and even scary, but glimmers of beauty peek through.
If you're a fan of dark, incredibly dry, wry humor, you've just found Happyness.
Bridges is easy to love and hard to resist, with purity in his voice that's untouched by modern pop.
The singer found his voice by finding and preserving old British, Irish and Scottish folk songs.
With help from Fiona Apple, two Nickel Creek alums gather a band to perform old and new songs.
The Austin singer-songwriter performs with intense openness, directness and warmth.
As technology rules the day, here's a reminder that a single voice can carry deep emotion.
The R&B band might just be the oddest thing to come from the hip-hop collective Odd Future.
The singer is soulful yet playful, raw and vulnerable in a commanding kind of way.
She came so close to winning NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert Contest, we just had to see her play.
The trumpeter presents his emotionally charged, jazz-hybridized "stretch music" in performance.
Day's songs feel candid and vulnerable, but not understated.
The band's clever, thoughtful music fits in everywhere from Nashville to its hometown of Melbourne.
The Sardinian guitarist has a whole toy shop aboard his instrument.
In Beauty Pill, life whirs with plunderphonic glee and riffs are funky from the inside out.
The 10-piece band can barely fit all its horns, guitars, percussion and energy behind one desk.
Conjuring David Bowie, Diane Coffee's Shaun Fleming swaggered and shimmied behind the Tiny Desk.
With his wife Morgane, the country singer-songwriter sings patient, detailed songs of devotion.
My bubba is a duo of women whose quirky, delicate, sweetly sung folk songs are a delight.
At 19 and on the cusp of her first album, the Norwegian singer performs with a sense of discovery.
The oud player's wordless music tells powerful stories about life's blessedness and fragility.
At the Tiny Desk, Rateliff's body-shaking Southern-style soul takes on a more laid-back sound.
Great singers aren't easy to come by, so finding three in one band is something special.
Trevor Powers' new songs are expansive and self-assured, a transition reflected in this performance.
Hear a young conductor, composer and pianist play Beethoven and his own jazzy pieces.
The Detroit band's loud, screeching, grousing rock can be profound, poetic and bewildering.
The nine-piece band bursts with anthemic joy, even as its songs convey darkness and loneliness.
The moment Brooklyn soul singer Sharon Jones sang the line, "We're cooking up the brisket the kosher butcher sold my uncle Saul," I knew the world had a new Hanukkah classic. This week, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings played a special, holiday-themed Tiny Desk Concert that included this new song, "8 Days (Of Hanukkah)."
The Denver band's mysteriously swirling music is singular, new and adventurous.
When the singer breaks out his guitar and suitcase drum, a rush of adrenaline hits the room.
A modernistic bluesman with a taste for electronics appears with just his acoustic guitar.
Watch the soul star perform "Silent Night" and two originals — one for Christmas, one for Hanukkah.
Watch the rapper perform three songs from Beauty And The Beast live at the NPR Music offices.
While on tour with The Arcs, the powerhouse mariachi band performs live in the NPR Music offices.
The singer-songwriter gives a warmhearted performance of two new songs, an old favorite and a hymn.
The Dutch singer layers R&B, jazz and pop over hip-hop beats in his first-ever U.S. appearance.
The North Carolina band fills its rootsy music with unexpected instruments and clever ideas.
The band's music can be noisy and primal, but at the Tiny Desk it showed a different side.
It's our 500th show at the Tiny Desk, featuring The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach and his new band.
"I never would have thought anything that I did at 4 o'clock in the morning would ever affect my career as much as it has — but it has."
The National's Matt Berninger and Menomena's Brent Knopf team up in an intimate setting.
Will Toledo is a wordsmith with a vision, as well as a DIY sound that's still finely crafted.
Wolfe takes three songs from the metallic Abyss and makes them howl by their lonesome.
Performing solo, Folds performs three songs from his new album and two old favorites.
Opera singer Lawrence Brownlee is known for portraying kings and princes. But lately he's been thinking about real people: Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Freddie Gray, to name a few. He's been thinking about the Black Lives Matter movement and an old spiritual called "There's a Man Going 'Round Taking Names." Decades ago, singers like Paul Robeson and Lead Belly recorded it. Brownlee, with jazz pianist Jason Moran, revives the old song to tell a new story for the 21st century.
Bands don't typically get to play the Tiny Desk more than once, but Wilco is a natural exception.
Since we started making Tiny Desk Concerts almost eight years ago, we've had more than 500 artists play the Tiny Desk, our own little makeshift concert venue right in the middle of NPR's offices in DC. From huge stars like Adele to T-Pain to up-and-comers like Car Seat Headrest and actual big bands like Mucca Pazza, all these musicians actually play behind MY desk — but I move out of the way when they set up. This is one of the things that always surprises people when they visit NPR — that the Tiny Desk isn't a set. So we decided to give everyone a peek behind the scenes on a Monday afternoon earlier this month, when Wilco just happened to be stopping by.
The word-of-mouth star's sound is made by one big fat E-string and a rich, powerful voice.
Performed live at the Tiny Desk, the band's songs often tilt toward soul or rock danceably.
The Colombian band channels an unlikely inspiration: 1920s-era, guitar-driven jazz from the U.S.
The young Tennessee singer performs three of her spare, sad, simple songs at the NPR Music offices.
Watch the singer and violinist who stood out from 6,000-plus entries in NPR's Tiny Desk Contest.
In a short set that spans 50 years, the CSNY veteran's voice resonates and cuts to the core.
Singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi and guitarist Derek Trucks celebrate the blues, jazz and much more.
On Sunday, March 13, Holly Macve played her first show in the United States. Two nights later, behind the bustling Austin event space Palm Door on Sabine, the 20-year-old songwriter from County Galway in Ireland sang us a lullaby. Her song "Sycamore Tree" ponders the future while longing for the past: "One day when I'm old with my past behind me / I want to lay down in the shade of the same old sycamore tree," she sings. With the sound of a restaurant fan wheeling in the background, she drove us gently through the humid night toward whatever big things may await her.
We first fell in love with A-WA in a badass video for their party song "Habib Galbi," complete with tasseled snapbacks on track-suited dancers. But at midnight during the SXSW music festival, the Israeli sister trio sang us a quiet lullaby in All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen's hotel room. Accompanied by an electric guitarist and seated on the side of the bed, "Ya Shaifin Al Malih" is a Yemeni folk song about a love that hurts. The sisters, who pull from their Yemeni Jewish roots, told us that it wasn't originally written as a ballad, but after explaining its meaning, how could it not be? "There's an enjoyable love and there's a love that gives you heartache," they said. "There's a strong love that no doctor can cure." You can hear that heartache in the gorgeous and haunting three-part harmony that ties a yearning soul in knots, as they sing.
Hear the soul star and his band perform "Amen," plus three songs that have defined his career.
At 10:00 p.m. on a wooden bridge over Waller Creek in Austin, Texas, two shocks of orange hair lit up the night. The musicians in Lucius gathered to perform our first South X Lullaby. Clad in matching blue onesies and jackets, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig sang "Dusty Trails," the closing song off their brand new record Good Grief, backed by Dan Molad, Andrew Burri and Peter Lalish.
It's been a remarkable 12 months for James Alex. A year full of contradictions and firsts. The lead singer and songwriter for the band Beach Slang, Alex and his wife Rachel gave birth to their first child, Oliver, to start 2015. His band also released its debut album in October, The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us, which has meant nonstop touring.
In the 1970s and '80s, Timmy Thomas was the heart and soul of Miami's rhythm and blues wing. Not only was he a musical cornerstone of the local TK Records (KC & the Sunshine Band, George McRae) and a songwriter/producer for singers like Betty Wright and Gwen McRae; he was also a hit-maker, most importantly with the iconic 1973 soul No. 1, "Why Can't We Live Together," a song written at the height of the Vietnam War protests that today's music fans might identify as the "Hotline Bling" music. And one thing about the 71-year-old Thomas: he never stopped caring, remaining unabashedly emo, even when being emo isn't cool. (Maybe Drake is onto something after all?)
At 1:00 a.m. on the final night of SXSW 2016, 17-year-old Declan McKenna was about to perform for one last time in Austin. Only hours later, the plane that would carry him on his first trip to New York City was schedule to take off. It's been a whirlwind year for Declan, one that began with a song he uploaded to his Bandcamp and Soundcloud page. Shortly after, he won the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition and was quickly signed to Columbia Records, one of dozens of labels with interest in his talents.
Watch Brun play three new songs, each of which speaks to newfound freedom and fresh opportunities.
The duo has a keen sense of mischief and a gift for honest, punk-infused, tongue-in-cheek pop gems.
On a flight of mottled concrete steps by Waller Creek in Austin, Maren Morris flipped the break-up song on its head. Born in Texas, she moved to Nashville to be a songwriter, and her southern roots and songwriter's sensibility shone brightly, even in the dimming Austin night. "I Wish I Was" holds within it a pop songwriting trifecta — a powerful, identity-based thematic hook, a catchy chorus and an easy, soulful voice to deliver it all. Morris sings as the heartbreaker, letting her lover down as easily as she can and feeling regret not of a missing love but of missed expectations. For a singer who is primed to make it big in popular country radio, Morris' music strips down awfully nicely. Songs like "I Wish I Was" already make it amply clear that she's far more than her first hit, "My Church." Whether compressed through your car radio speakers or drifting over Waller Creek, Morris' voice rings true.
"I like living by the water. It's new and crazy for me," says Mac DeMarco, smoking and peering out at the bay in Far Rockaway, Queens. All around, nature blends with reminders of civilization: Behind him, sun-dappled waves are chopped up by freighter boats and the occasional jet ski passing by. Across the water sits JFK airport, with its distant engine hum of planes taking off and landing at a steady, rhythmic clip. The crisp, salty sea breeze mingles with wafts of stagnant water, decaying debris and dead horseshoe crabs that wash ashore. For the charismatic 26-year-old songwriter who grew up in the landlocked plains of Canada, the water still holds an exotic appeal. Plus, the area's laid-back feel is a perfect match for his laconic delivery and perpetually chill personality.
"I don't really know how this song goes yet," Miya Folick said of her song "Anyway." "Nobody's heard it." With a heavy orange light reflected off the creek behind her, Folick was silhouetted as she sang her ramshackle love song with characteristic grace.
At midnight on Friday night, Mt. Wolf brought us a legitimate lullaby for our South X Lullaby series. Singing its single "Hex" while sprawled across the bed in Bob Boilen's hotel room, the British band made the otherwise anonymous space intimately personal. Sebastian Fox's delicate falsetto rests on a lush and light arrangement of chiming 12-string guitar, harmonies and brushwork. It's emotionally intense — but, as with any lullaby, never past the threshold where the neighbors come knocking
Mothers' members chose a few of their slowest, most languid songs to perform in the NPR offices.
Ellen Kempner and her band perform tense and evocative songs amid the silence of a rapt crowd.
The Louisiana band takes gospel into the garage, and what comes out is fiery rock 'n' roll.
There are intimate moments of revelation in Clementine's immersive, breathtaking performance.
The most minute details become a grandiose spectacle in Holter's cosmic cabaret.
The band's punchy horn section, bluesy vocals and harmonica solos instantly demand attention.
Frampton brought some classic songs to the Tiny Desk. We couldn't help but sing along.
Emily Sprague performs three delicate songs with help from members of New York's Epoch collective.
Watch the sextet perform new music by David Lang, Bryce Dessner and Robert Honstein.
When you hear Monika, life feels good: The singer's performances and presence are simply winning.
With her intrepid pianist in tow, the violinist performs rowdy tunes that will leave you breathless.
Arocena's voice combines Aretha Franklin's soul and the sabor of Cuban music queen Celia Cruz.
The veteran jam-rock guitarist's dedication to his instrument is matched only by his imagination.
The Saskatchewan singer-songwriter performs three quietly affecting songs in the NPR Music offices.
Ellis plays thoughtfully stripped-down arrangements from his ambitious country record.
Watch the singer, guitarist and fiddler play three songs that reflect her many cultural influences.
For this performance of three new songs, Bird comes with a stripped-down acoustic band.
Watch the award-winning Irish pianist play traditional songs from the homeland.
Iron & Wine's singer performs three songs with the charming, inventive singer Jesca Hoop.
The band's music is playful and quirky — sometimes loud, sometimes gentle and always a trip.
The two highly decorated jazz legends could barely fit their instruments behind the Tiny Desk.
Monday morning, as we were all absorbing the horrors of the Pulse attack in Orlando — the deadliest mass public shooting in modern U.S. history — Mashrou' Leila arrived to play a Tiny Desk concert. For this band from Beirut, Lebanon, the full weight of the tragedy hung heavily, and its members wanted to begin their set by addressing the Pulse shootings. We'll have their full performance available soon, but this was so timely, we wanted to share it right away.
For Father's Day, watch the pianist play lullabies to his daughter, who nearly steals the show.
The country singer-songwriter has a rare gift for making any room feel warmly human.
A rock band from Beirut performs songs that mix hedonism and hyper-literate lyrics.
The saxophonist and pianist play three tunes that draw from their past while looking to the future.
Performing at the NPR Music offices, Adia Victoria's voice is powerful and direct, with no artifice.
Los Hacheros' members tap into the deep groove of Afro-Caribbean music that inspires modern salsa.
Valley Queen plays with nuance and depth, rooted in a California country sound.
The Canadian jazz multi-instrumentalist performs with some of the top young women musicians in Cuba.
There's a point when a jam is just a jam, but when a jam becomes a journey... man.
Porter's music can be serious and heartwarming, but it never loses its sense of wonder and delight.
The decorated producer seizes the spotlight with songs about how extraordinary it is to be ordinary.
Rubinos uses her Afro-Caribbean roots as a jumping-off point for inventive, provocative songs.
The Virginia musician writes songs that can be thoughtful, playful and powerful.
The singer, known for Woods and The Babies, performs carefully crafted songs with powerful lyrics.
Watch the genial violinist commune with nearly 300-year-old music for solo violin by J.S. Bach.
The beloved band displays its signature country-tinged rock and close harmonies in four new songs.
Joined by her Experiment In Truth band, the jazz singer performs songs from Sound Of Red.
Watch the invigorating, genre-busting bandleader, drummer, singer and rapper perform four songs.
An icon for modern and Latin jazz, the veteran performer continues to break tradition and innovate.
No overplaying, no frills, just great music and an artist who sounds thrilled to be playing it.
As a solo artist on leave from Girl In A Coma, the singer finds new ways to sound ferocious.
The band's songs exude muscular warmth, with lyrics that are both memorable and meaningful.
The 77-year-old blues and soul hitmaker returns to the spotlight with the aid of a 12-piece band.
The Alabama sibling duo's music can be hymn-like: plain but powerful, heartsick and hopeful.
Young musicians from a Paraguayan slum have toured the world with instruments made of garbage. The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura has played with Stevie Wonder, Metallica, and Megadeth -- and for Pope Francis. We asked the group to play for us on a rooftop in midtown Manhattan, and show us what these homemade instruments could do.
You can feel the singer and poet's passion in every sharp, thoughtful, powerful, provocative word.
The genre-defying English singer-songwriter performs material from her first album in six years.
September 22, 2016 by BOB BOILEN • They came, they measured, they built and they plotted. But first, they had to borrow a few things from the NPR office. Blue Man Group designed new instruments and a small-scale show solely for a one-time performance at the Tiny Desk.
The world-famous entertainers retrofitted their instruments and confetti cannons to fit the desk.
Two A-list classical artists work up a sweat as they revel in the turbulent, tender music of Brahms.
The veteran rapper fronts an all-star band at the White House.
The Minnesota singer-songwriter achieves a nifty balance of intimacy and impeccable polish.
Tinier than a Tiny Desk Concert: Watch musicians Tom Brosseau and Sean Watkins, veterans of NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series, as they squeeze into a tiny house called The Matchbox in downtown Washington, D.C. and share some of their intimate tunes from their record North Dakota Impressions.
A striking mix of rock, hip-hop, funk, go-go and Brazilian sounds, fused with energy and humor.
The two songwriters celebrate the romance and vitality of the modern railroad.
The folk-pop band performs four songs from its shimmery new album, And Then Like Lions.
The long-running rock band holds a mirror to the hard realities of America right now.
The trio strips anthemic songs down to the essentials: just sisterly harmonies and acoustic guitar.
The self-described "accidental brass quartet" swims comfortably in jazz, classical and pop music.
The East River Ferry is one of the more whimsical ways for New Yorkers to commute, but it retains its claim to practicality with one key characteristic: It is a very fast boat. So it was that Local Natives came hurtling toward our crew up the river one overcast evening this summer, shouting three-part harmonies over roaring engines for a surprised clutch of fans. When the ferry docked, three of the band's members hurried over to our pier off WNYC Transmitter Park to play this Field Recording.
The two Australians' chemistry is apparent the instant you hear their voices intertwined in song.
The Austin singer-songwriter showcases his high, lonesome voice and atmospheric storytelling.
Formerly half of The Civil Wars, White returns to perform three songs from his solo debut, Beulah.
In Forest Park, Queens, N.Y., an old relic suits Steve Gunn's sound. The Long Island Railroad's Rockaway Beach Branch used to run through the park. It's been abandoned for over a half-century, and trees have grown between the ties, skewing the rails and jarring the lines. Late this past summer, Gunn stood on the tracks of this worn American symbol and sang three songs off his latest album — songs about meandering, home and the crooked paths that take us wherever we're meant to be.
In Forest Park, Queens, N.Y., an old relic suits Steve Gunn's sound. The Long Island Railroad's Rockaway Beach Branch used to run through the park. It's been abandoned for over a half-century, and trees have grown between the ties, skewing the rails and jarring the lines. Late this past summer, Gunn stood on the tracks of this worn American symbol and sang three songs off his latest album — songs about meandering, home and the crooked paths that take us wherever we're meant to be.
In Forest Park, Queens, N.Y., an old relic suits Steve Gunn's sound. The Long Island Railroad's Rockaway Beach Branch used to run through the park. It's been abandoned for over a half-century, and trees have grown between the ties, skewing the rails and jarring the lines. Late this past summer, Gunn stood on the tracks of this worn American symbol and sang three songs off his latest album — songs about meandering, home and the crooked paths that take us wherever we're meant to be.
The young quartet navigates smoke rings, alligators and the stormy fluctuations of the 18th century.
The Canadian pop duo crafts acoustic versions of pop anthems like "Closer and "Boyfriend."
On the morning after Election Day, Price sang three cathartic country songs loaded with new meaning.
Like Sam Cooke, Donny Hathaway and Marvin Gaye, Anthony Hamilton began his path to soul stardom in the front of a church. Before his gold and platinum albums, before songs like "Charlene" and "The Point of it All" and this year's "Amen," Hamilton first sang in the choir of Charlotte, N.C.'s New Shiloh Baptist Church.
The London-based singer Dua Lipa has released just five singles, all within the last 12 months. She won't put out her debut album until February 2017. But the 21-year-old artist has already begun to take shape as a creative force with a sound she calls "dark pop," melding sparse hip-hop beats with an ear for melody and interpretation. She might be a natural-born pop star: When she'd released just two songs, the BBC picked her for its Sound of 2016 list.
Watch the New Jersey band squeeze four songs into a scrappy, warmhearted 13-minute set.
The R&B singer performs three funky, sexy, stripped-down songs from his debut album, Eldorado.
In the band's hands, East African music comes alive in a mix of tradition and contemporary sounds.
The rapper has spent the year on an extended victory tour. Here are the spoils.
The classically trained guitarist performs songs originally written for the kora.
The nine-piece band returns to the Tiny Desk to fill the air with fake snow and real joy.
There are a few elements that reliably form the basis for an Alicia Keys song: heartache or infatuation, an essential tenderness and emotion made heavy with wisdom, a patiently unfurling melody and, of course, that voice, yearning and ready to break, even as it remains in control. Even though these building blocks have helped her stand apart from pop trends while forging a remarkable career, Keys says the making of a classic song is still a mystery to her.
Since his 1996 album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, launched him to stardom and helped define the 1990s school known as "neo soul," Maxwell has spent two decades faithfully crafting his own unique brand of R&B that explores emotional and spiritual needs alongside sensual ones. Followers have come to depend on his flawless falsetto, his skill for draping a song in perfectly-fitted production and that velvet voice's ability to sound so intimate it makes everything else drop away.
Hear the spirited young singer-songwriter take on religion, poverty and politics, armed with just a guitar and some unrelenting hooks.
It was raining in New York on Nov. 9, 2016, and New Yorkers, tired as the rest of the country from a late night after a long election season, walked about in a fog of their own. The sky was still overcast when we met Angel Olsen at the Fordham University Church, an 1845 New York City landmark whose carillon is said to have inspired Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Bells." There, wearing a green raincoat and accompanying herself on electric guitar, she sang "Give It Up," from her excellent 2016 release My Woman.
Hear McCaslin, the saxophonist and bandleader whose group backed David Bowie on Blackstar, near the anniversary of that album's release. Selections include an instrumental take on Bowie's "Lazarus."
With a voice that borrows heavily from opera, Downs performs the kind of full-throated mariachi singing that would fit right in at Mexico City's Garibaldi Square — ground zero for mariachi.
Cobb's words shimmer like a tall glass of sweet tea in the late-morning sun. Watch the country singer-songwriter perform four songs from his debut album.
The jazz band, known for its soulful interpretations of songs by Nas and Ol' Dirty Bastard, plays its own new material live in the NPR Music offices.
Watch the Virginia band sweep the NPR crowd off its feet with a collection of exquisite boleros by Puerto Rican composer Sylvia Rexach.
In honor of all the entrants to our 2017 Tiny Desk Contest, we made a little video about how our audio whiz Josh Rogosin records the Tiny Desk concerts. Remember: This Contest is about a great performance, not great audio quality. Check out what everybody made for the Contest at npr.org/tinydeskcontest and stay tuned for the winner announcement! The Contest winner will play a Tiny Desk and go on a tour of the U.S. fueled by Lagunitas.
The rising R&B star performs three falsetto-drenched highlights from his 2016 debut, Ology — including "Bourbon," which features a guest rap from Chance The Rapper collaborator Saba.
The rapper/singer storms the NPR Music offices, activating his signature smile and bouncing through five highlights from his catalog — including the smash single "Broccoli."
Killer Mike and El-P continue to out-muse each other in a supergroup that somehow seems to get better, louder, and more pertinent since their start in 2013.
Esmé Patterson has dropped the banjos and folk from her previous project Paper Bird, and in their place are electric guitars and a backing band worth getting behind.
Agnes Obel manipulated the Tiny Desk to better suit the deeply alluring and powerful music she brought to us.
Little Simz has been compared to Lauryn Hill for her self-reflective wordplay. And though the British lyricist is a relative new-comer, her Tiny Desk performance was poised and confident.
To celebrate Fat Tuesday, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band brought their euphoric horns to the Tiny Desk for a raucous, joyous set.
One of Israel's very popular artists may be walking a similar path to early-career Joan Jett — she brought that same intensity to the Tiny Desk.
One of the newest Grammy winners stops by the Tiny Desk to share her winking, sometimes tongue-in-cheek songs.
Tank And The Bangas' victory lap around the Tiny Desk was momentous, celebratory and deeply touching, with a flair and alchemy of styles that could come from New Orleans.
The Brooklyn bhangra band come to the Tiny Desk in celebration of Holi, the Hindu festival of color that welcomes the coming of spring.
We started a tradition a couple years back where we invite musicians in Austin, Texas, during the SXSW music festival to sing us a lullaby. The performances often take place late at night, or in the wee hours of the morning. We begin this year and week with a whistle from Naomi Hamilton, a singer from Northern Ireland who goes by the name Jealous Of The Birds.
Valerie June's "Astral Plane" was already made to be a lullaby, a softly swaying, country-tinged soul song that scrapes the stratosphere. On the studio version from The Order Of Time, it's dipped in gauzy guitar and keys. We've filmed both the songwriter Laura Marling and soul singer Timmy Thomas in the courtyard of St. David's Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas — it's become a favorite spot in the late hours during SXSW to seek sanctuary in a location just off the tumult. Against a wall of green vines and stringed lights, it's just June and an acoustic guitar, taking us to the stars in our dreams.
Nursery rhymes can be nightmares, too. Or, at the very least, a reminder that fantasy can be just as gloomy as reality. Under the weirdly mischievous name Let's Eat Grandma, Jenny Hollingworth and Rosa Walton make music that runs around the notions of pop — it is, at turns, unsettling, joyous and experimental. So, of course, we asked them to sing us to sleep.
Standing on the smoking balcony of a hotel overlooking Austin's downtown skyline, L.A. Salami plays "Day To Day (For 6 Days A Week)" for a small crowd just before midnight. It's a fidgety folk song that works through boredom on public transportation and gruesome deaths on the news, sometimes wrapped up in a love interest that doesn't seem to notice. "Six days a week, can't find my bearings / But to be fair I might of cared / Might of cared if you were there." At the end of the night, a long exhale of the day.
Nina Diaz and Y La Bamba's Luz Elena Mendoza have never played together, but after NPR Music paired them in the courtyard of St. David's Episcopal Church for a late evening performance, we're beginning to wonder why not. They've both played the Tiny Desk (Diaz twice, once with Girl In A Coma) and both navigate complex emotions and notions of identity in their music. Also, they just sing beautifully together, Mendoza's yodel swirling in Diaz's gritty croon.
Late at night, we asked DakhaBrakha to bring its cello, keyboard, accordion – and tall, wool hats! — to the balcony of a hotel overlooking Austin, Texas. They played "Kolyskova" from 2010's Light, but the band only ever calls it "Lullaby." It's a quiet, contemplative song that the band says is a "connecting of several lullabies" with "philosophical lyrics that [say] we have time for everything — time to laugh and cry, time to live and die."
A Tiny Desk Concert as intimate as it gets (that's saying something). Just Sampha, a piano and three heart-wrenching songs that seem to double as coping mechanisms.
In a hotel room near midnight, Bridgers shares a lullaby for the lost. You can't help but hang on for dear life.
Lydia Ainsworth doesn't so much subvert pop music, but skates around its edges. You can hear that all over Darling Of The Afterglow, a surreal album that blurs melodies and rote formats with a sense of mystery.
In the Optic Obscura installation at SXSW, Hakim sings some psychedelic soul music for outer-space performed in a room that looks like outer-space.
This fierce and lyrical guitar player writes playful instrumental music led by hooky vocals — but there is no voice, just the human-like twang of a glass slide on a guitar.
See the moment Tank and the Bangas found out they won the Tiny Desk Contest — and the moment they arrived at the Tiny Desk itself.
Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell's vibrant vocal harmonies are set against an electronic backdrop that feels spacious and refreshing.
The power of language to penetrate a difficult subject, and the power of performance to share that language, are the gifts Noname brought to the Tiny Desk.
It's astonishing to watch Sultana's fluidity on her instrument, like a natural extension of her body. She also plays bass, saxophone, trumpet, flute and more, but kept it "simple" for the Tiny Desk.
You can hear a great New York jazz band in the rhythms of Sinkane, but you can also hear the influence of Bob Marley and the hypnotic repetition of Sudanese desert sounds.
Composer, arranger and viola player Ljova lead his Kontraband to the Tiny Desk for an eclectic swirl of Western classical, jazz, tango and Eastern European and Balkan folk music.
Chicano Batman comes with a sound that perfectly captures dark lounges, quinceñera dances, car shows and backyard parties.
There's a self-imposed rule for Tiny Desk Concerts: No artist can visit twice unless there's something wholly different about what they're doing. alt-J was happy to oblige.
The 42-year-old rapper Killer Mike, of Run The Jewels, and the 75-year-old funk legend George Clinton, founder of Parliament and Funkadelic, may be from different generations, but it turns out they have a few things in common: They've both created music that seemed commercially risky at first, yet ended up transcending genres and creating a new audience. And they both embrace music as a force for social change. It also turns out they've both owned barbershops — and that's no coincidence. Both men say the businesses allowed them the financial freedom to take creative risks.
The traditions of flamenco and jazz are disparate, but in the hands of a few Spanish jazz musicians, these two worlds commingle and find common ground.
The gospel-trained singer showcased why she counts Aretha Franklin and Smokey Robinson as fans.
The 42-year-old rapper Killer Mike, of Run The Jewels, and the 75-year-old funk legend George Clinton, founder of Parliament and Funkadelic, may be from different generations, but it turns out they have a few things in common: They've both created music that seemed commercially risky at first, yet ended up transcending genres and creating a new audience. And they both embrace music as a force for social change. It also turns out they've both owned barbershops — and that's no coincidence. Both men say the businesses allowed them the financial freedom to take creative risks.
A strange condition hushed the life of Peter Silberman, resulting in what may be the quietest Tiny Desk Concert ever.
"This song is called 'You Never Loved Me' — it's another cheery, optimistic number," says Aimee Mann, introducing the second of four songs in this Tiny Desk Concert.
Jazz Night asked Korwar to perform a track from Day To Day for NPR's "Night Owl" series. This all went down in mid-March, during the 2017 South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. He played "Indefinite Leave To Remain," a song whose themes bear direct relevance to the issue of cultural exchange in an era of high geopolitical tension. On the street below, revelers and traffic made a distant racket — but Korwar, sitting on an open-air hotel balcony, created a zone of quiet focus and meditative intent.
Danilo Brito and his band brought their dextrous expression of choro music to the Tiny Desk, a long-established musical style that has its roots in the streets and backyards of Brito's native Brazil.
Tim Darcy of Montreal band Ought brings his mysterious solo work, from the album Saturday Night, to the Tiny Desk. The record he says, was his chance to “get back to my roots, in my own voice.”
Mexico may not be known for its jazz, but the young lions of Troker are a promising hope to make the country and its capital city a destination.
A restrained, whisper-soft Tiny Desk concert from Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin with songs taken from her debut album Don't Let The Kids Win.
Gabriel Garzón-Montano spent three years writing and recording his beautiful, dense album Jardin -- but for his Tiny Desk visit, he stripped it all down to two elements, the piano and his voice.
What happens when you ask a hard-rock band to unplug its thunder? It draws power from a raw, desperate vulnerability.
The Atlanta-based MC came through with the flu and coolly earned our praise. How sick is that?
While her band was on hiatus, Monica Martin joined Jeremy Larson's project Violents, yielding a lush record of electronic pop, translated into a quieted set at the Tiny Desk.
The trio talk about the grand mysteries of the universe that helped inspire their celestial collaboration, Planetarium.
Early on a spring morning in Manhattan, Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly and Nadia Sirota gathered at Reservoir Studios in Manhattan to play a song first performed five years ago and an ocean away.
The band's long-awaited performance at the Tiny Desk was both beautiful and, at times, intense, featuring three deeply personal songs by frontman Mike Hadreas.
Before a month-and-change ago, Slowdive hadn't released an album in 22 years. So you'd be forgiven for watching the band perform "Sugar For The Pill" and struggling to pin down what era you're in — especially since NPR Music plopped the group in a playfully retro Brooklyn shuffleboard parlor for the occasion.
Penguin Cafe folds in sounds from around the world and throughout music history — Africa, Kraftwerk, Brazil and Franz Schubert.
The duo strips down to acoustic guitar and keyboard for a strikingly intimate set, illuminating their close harmonies that tangle like garlands.
Backed by a suitably low-key band, Macve would sound subtly radiant just about anywhere, from your nearest country bar to the most dreamily lit stage in Twin Peaks.
Artistic legacy, evolution and studied ease coalesced at this Tiny Desk Concert, with Coltrane offering four interpretations of his and others' works.
Helado Negro ditches his bank of electronics for alto and tenor saxophones, bringing his utterly unique style to a intense, perfectly balanced Tiny Desk Concert.
Chance The Rapper, fresh from a 23,000-strong, sold-out show the night before, brought a thoughtful and fresh take to his Tiny Desk concert.
Melina Duterte may have played all the instruments on Jay Som's newest record, Everybody Works, but her touring band brought a rougher edge to those silky recordings.
Fragile Rock is a band that relies on the boogie of The B-52s, the melancholy of The Smiths and the humor of Kermit the Frog. Oh, and they're all puppets.
Tuxedo, the unlikely-on-paper funk-soul duo of Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One, brought a left-of-center sonic approach and a sharp sense of style to their Tiny Desk Concert.
Rare Essence has been bringing go-go to the world since 1976 — the group brought that pedigree, and the genre's massive meld of funk, rhythm and blues and soul, to this raucous hometown Tiny Desk.
Albin Lee Meldau possesses a thunderous, deeply affecting voice, which he uses to tell some utterly dark, but demonstrably cathartic, tales.
James Mercer, the emotional and creative heart of The Shins, gives a moving performance at the Tiny Desk, with two new songs and a classic from the band's 2003 album Chutes Too Narrow.
Intensity in songs often expresses itself as volume – a loud guitar, a scream, a piercing synth line. But in the case of Aldous Harding it's in the spaces, the pauses, and her unique delivery.
Diet Cig's songs crackle like Pop Rocks, but with a confrontational honesty and striking gravity — and on top of Bob Boilen's desk.
The rising pop star performs three of her best-known songs, including a sweet solo take on her career-making “Alaska.”
ALA.NI captures and conveys a reverent love of early-20th-century music, while injecting those sounds with charisma and charm well suited for any era.
One of hip-hop's most revered producers brings his songs to life behind the Tiny Desk, with the help of a four-piece band.
The Alabama singer-songwriter and his band perform three songs from The Nashville Sound, but their set includes a few surprises, too.
The Nigerian-American MC and his band perform three reworked selections from Jidenna's impeccable debut album, The Chief.
The Brooklyn-based band crafts infectious pop music that builds dramatically before giving way to a quiet calm.
Jack Antonoff re-arranged three songs from his band's latest album, Gone Now, for the Tiny Desk.
The story songs and poetry of Lookman Adekunle Salami, who writes and records as L.A. Salami, recall the brilliant and epic ramblings of Bob Dylan.
Snail Mail's sleepy songs have a way of waking you up. Watch the band perform music from its quietly stunning Habit EP, plus a new song played solo by Lindsey Jordan.
It's safe to say this Korean, cross-dressing rock band looks and sounds like no one who's ever performed at the Tiny Desk.
At first glance, Devonté Hynes and Philip Glass might appear like musical opposites. Hynes, the 31-year-old British producer and songwriter who performs under the name Blood Orange, makes hit records with Solange and Carly Rae Jepson. Glass, the 80-year-old Baltimore-born New Yorker who writes operas and film scores, is one of classical music's legendary artists.
Bomba Estereo is not known as a hushed band. Member Simon Mejia said this Tiny Desk performance was the group's quietest, a stripped-down treatment that illustrates the inherent quality of the music.
It's hard to think of an artist who's brought more joy to more people, across more generations — and in more ways — than Steve Martin.
The Jamaican reggae star proudly carries the torch of his country's roots reggae legends.
Welcome the world of Dawg Yawp, the musical concoction of Rob Keenan and Tyler Randall, where drones and toy pianos are likely to collide with heavy metal electronics and a well-placed melody.
Paramore captures the moment between rapture and its comedown. Watch the band rearrange songs from its sparkling pop album After Laughter.
Landlady's music is more than sonic exploration, it's an adventure. The songs can feel a bit drugged-out – a bit high and full of curiosity – but never overly intoxicated or out-of-touch.
Watch the six-time Grammy winner go solo behind the Tiny Desk.
Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson just celebrated their 25th anniversary as a band. To celebrate, watch them perform three of their post-“MMMBop” career highlights.
Thundercat is willing and able to shape-shift to fit into just about any box you show him, but he won't stay in there for long.
Watch hip-hop veterans Mr. Lif and Akrobatik team up behind the Tiny Desk.
Hip-hop's otherworldly lot touches down on Bob Boilen's desk for some Afrofuturistic mind travel.
For this Tiny Desk concert, Japanese Breakfast's Michelle Zauner replaced her gauzy synths with a string quartet. The result is something to behold.
The Grammy-nominated singer's Tiny Desk is an ode to a magical time in Mexican popular music.
Yes, it happened. Black Thought, Questlove and the entire crew packed in behind the Tiny Desk to perform a new song called “It Ain't Fair.”
Gracie And Rachel mix piano pop with darker, classic violin arrangements to make songs full of mystery and tension. They're joined in this Tiny Desk performance by percussionist Richard Watts.
The drums take center stage at this Tiny Desk. Watch veteran jazz percussionist Nate Smith dazzle the NPR audience in a transfixing performance.
The hip-hop statesman walked through our doors greeting and charming anyone within arm's reach. Once in front of an audience, he was in attack mode, including a unique rendition of his signature hit.
With the help of a backing band that includes Ivan Neville and Jenny Scheinman, the iconic singer-songwriter plays three songs from across her tough and uncompromising career.
Singer Laura Burhenn is joined by Jessica Lea Mayfield and the Umoja Choir for songs inspired by the political and cultural upheaval of 2016.
The Portland artist with the most mispronounced name in hip-hop puts on an unforgettable performance.
The band has new tools in its arsenal, but even in a stripped-down Tiny Desk performance, its focus on tiny moments between people just outside of love is as sharp as ever.
Benjamin Booker has a deeply tender voice that, at times, can feel like a whisper But it always cuts to the heart.
Billy Corgan, complicated frontman of The Smashing Pumpkins, has had a tumultuous decade-and-a-half. His visit to the Tiny Desk, with a string quartet backing him, was anything but.
In person, the master R&B vocalist impresses not just with her exquisite artistry, but with her radiant spirit of contentment and grace. Just ask her makeup artist.
With a knack for cunning juxtapositions, the adventurous pianist stitches together a baroque sonata, a slice of French serenity and a quirky portrait of a mysterious barn owl.
Her songs come laden with finely detailed observations about hypnotherapy, Jeffrey Dahmer and everything in between. They receive a languid, impeccably-phrased performance at the Tiny Desk.
The Los-Angeles-based force of nature, one of the most inspired talents of today, shows off a spontaneous side at (and around) the Tiny Desk.
Best known for his role with The Walkmen, as a solo artist he makes unabashedly joyful, sweetly innocent and playful music. And only he would arrive with a barbershop quartet.
Leo's work has, more often than not through the decades, addressed an anxious world, growing and shifting with it and with its listeners. Seven years after his last solo album, he's turned inwards.
King Krule, the musical project of English singer, songwriter and rapper, Archy Marshall, brings its twisted, woozy tones to the Tiny Desk.
The two singers, songwriters and guitarists bring out the adolescence in each other, poking jabs, goofing around and having fun at the Tiny Desk.
Tyler, The Creator performs three songs from his latest album Flower Boy -- and pulls off (at least) two Tiny Desk firsts in the process, while maturing beyond his class-clown image (mostly).
This comes close to the quietest Tiny Desk Concert we've ever had. The music Cigarettes After Sex makes is incredibly hushed. It's a sound so minimal it barely exists.
Effortless storytelling is at the heart of This Is The Kit. And the stories the band's only permanent member, Kate Stables, weaves are profound but sweet with a tone that quietly reels you in.
Frantic time-lapse set decoration. An intrusive snow machine. Ugly holiday sweaters. It's time to hunker down and soak up a raucous and reverent Christmas party, courtesy of Hanson.
I see and photograph a lot of shows each year. I love making connections between fashion and music and in particular shoes. Shoes can tell us a lot about the person and their music. Are they simply comfortable or outlandish, practical or a statement. Next time you see live music make note of the footwear and the connections between fashion, attitude and sound and witness the "sole of a band." It's fun. (music and photography by Bob Boilen)
The indie rap denizen behind one of 2017's most inventive albums came to the nation's capital to represent all the Brick Body Kids who Still Daydream.
The LA band's signature sound is intimate and demonstrative, haunting yet uplifting, an old-fashioned rock beat under glimmering guitar and keys. And at the Tiny Desk, it was at ease.
One of the joys of listening to The Weather station is the tension and release in the group's enchanting music. It's what made the band's most recent album one of Bob Boilen's favorite of 2017.
Julien Baker's Turn Out The Lights brought her much-deserved critical acclaim and wider attention in 2017. Before its release we asked her to make a rare return to the Tiny Desk for something special.
Watch the young Russian musician, who The Times of London calls “the most astounding pianist of our age,” play a smart, Chopin-focused concert on a grand piano, precisely wedged behind the Tiny Desk.
More than a dozen artists gather behind the Tiny Desk to celebrate Memphis soul in a joyful, triumphant performance.
The Ontario-based singer has a gruff but sweet voice with openly honest words behind soulful tunes of hope.
Brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario seem like they beamed into the Tiny Desk from the year 1971, untouched by the 21st century.
The Malian musicians, who've been playing together for nearly 40 years, bring some of the most lyrical melodies and joyful sounds we've ever had at the Tiny Desk.
The singer performed at the Tiny Desk without a warmup or soundcheck, with just her acoustic guitar and un-amplified voice, letting the wordplay in her songs shine through.
George Clinton brought his family, both immediate and extended, to the Tiny Desk for a set of classic cosmic slop.
Eavesdrop on a beautiful recital of German songs from fin de siècle Vienna, when music was transitioning from the swells of romanticism to the uncharted waters of modernism.
In three songs celebrating black ancestry and self-love, Woods demonstrated just how adept she is at creating songs rich with philosophical meaning that also move and groove.
The beloved singer-songwriter premiered three new songs while turning NPR's headquarters into a Harlem speakeasy.
This under-the-radar singer from the Dominican Republic is starting to turn some heads. You'll see why in this Tiny Desk performance.
The music of Hurray For The Riff Raff builds bridges, unites people and forms communities. It's a spirit singer Alynda Segarra and the rest of the band bring to this memorable Tiny Desk performance.
Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Díaz never fail to mesmerize. Watch the twin sisters perform a four-song set at the Tiny Desk.
The Crossrhodes showed up to the Tiny Desk with game faces on, bringing with it a locally cultivated, globally appreciated energy.
Marlon Williams has a heart-stopping voice, is in love with a good, traditional blues or country tune, and writes songs about vampires and horror films.
The music of Nick Hakim occupies a space and time that feels out of this world, with songs that explore the quietude of inner thoughts.
The Afro-Venezuelan collective brings the boisterous parranda sound to the Tiny Desk.
One of the greatest to ever bless the mic treated the Tiny Desk audience to an office block party.
August Greene, Common's new trio with Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins, brought some special guest vocalists to the Tiny Desk.
Laetitia Tamko, the artist known as Vagabon, is a 25-year-old, Cameroon-born musician with a big, tenor voice just bursting with new musical ideas.
The Nashville star brought some good old country music stories to the Tiny Desk.
Watch the 77-year-old jazz-funk icon perform “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” (and more) at the Tiny Desk.
Out of nearly 700 performances at the Tiny Desk over the past decade, this one by British composer Anna Meredith is one of the most exhilarating.
The Mississippi rapper paid homage to his grandmother and performed songs from his new album 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time.
Clare's songs ask listeners to probe their own emotions through the lens of life’s bigger pictures. His visit to Bob Boilen’s desk is the perfect setting to bask in the power of his voice.
Each year we get thousands of submissions for our annual Tiny Desk contest. Seattle's Kuinka was one of last year's entrants. While they didn't win, we loved them so much we invited them to come play.
For more than 45 years, the legendary John Prine has written some of the most powerful lyrics in the American music canon. He brings some of his best to this unforgettable Tiny Desk performance.
In front of a SXSW art installation about secrets, Mal Blum had the perfect song to play — an unreleased track about how one sees oneself versus how others see us.
Raul Midón brought nothing but a guitar and his voice to an extended Tiny Desk set of dense, breathtaking jazz and soul textures.
Surrounded by an art installation featuring wires and woolen yarns, the Australian singer-songwriter's sharp wit stands out in a sweetly quiet song that rages loudly.
The audience slept, dreamed and sometimes snored — it's okay, that's what it's for — through this trance-inducing experience.
Natalie Prass turns the laid-back groove of "Short Court Style" into the soft murmurs of late-night devotion.
In an art installation full of faces, Becca Mancari can't face herself. This performance of the introspective centerpiece to her album Good Woman underlines the song's lonely atmospherics.
Cornelius' Keigo Oyamada deconstructs and reassembles music like it's a neon cubist-pop sculpture. On a rare U.S. tour, the Japanese band brought its complex cool to the Tiny Desk.
The setting for this performance, by Lucy Dacus and guitarist Jacob Blizard, is an interactive art installation by the multidisciplinary Israeli artist Ronene Sharabani that's part of the SXSW Art Program. This work, titled "Conductors and Resistance," explores human-machine interaction in our ever-evolving technological world. The images projected behind Lucy and Jacob are two coffee cups, one empty and one that's been almost drained, both tangled in and tugged at by a complex series of wires, representing what I think is human communication and miscommunication.
In the midst of all the chaos that is Austin, Texas during the SXSW Music Festival, we seek moments of calm. And so one night, as the week was nearing its end, we made our way to the courtyard of St. David's Episcopal Church, just a few blocks from the thousands of festival participants and onlookers. There we found a trickling garden-side waterfall, where Katie Crutchfield and Kevin Morby performed "Downtown's Lights," from Kevin Morby's recent album, City Music.
The Swedish trio brought a 30-string sonic blast to the Tiny Desk, performing on 12-string guitar, viola and the nyckelharpa (a fiddle with keys — think 15th century keytar).
In honor of the fourth-ever Tiny Desk Contest, our intrepid Tiny Desk audio engineer Josh Rogosin goes deep on recording drums. The Contest closes at 11:59 p.m. ET on March 25, 2018, so get those last-minute submissions in to npr.org/tinydeskcontest!
Sometimes frenetic, sometimes slow and luxurious, the grooves the band creates are the perfect cushion for Jenny Ball's impassioned singing and engaging stage presence.
Aoife O'Donovan, Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins are bound by a love for bluegrass, chamber music, jazz, storytelling and singing.
Our South X Lullaby with Soccer Mommy took us away from the frenetic world of the South by Southwest music festival and into the past. We ventured to my favorite store in all of Austin, Texas: Uncommon Objects, a self-described "one-of-a-kind emporium of transcendent junk" or "your eccentric uncle's attic on steroids."
One of the best spots for new, independent music at SXSW — and year around in Austin, Texas — is Cheer Up Charlie's. During the festival you can see an artist like the British folk singer Jade Bird in the dark, unassuming indoor space, and walk out into the bright sunlight for Andrew W.K. or Hop Along. In fact, not long after Hop Along played the Brooklyn Vegan party at Cheer Up Charlie's, Katie Von Schleicher and her guitarist Adam Brisbin stepped away from the frenetic energy of the festival, walked into the makeshift Spire Studio Tour Bus (basically a camper trailer, parked on Cheer Up Charlie's lot, with brilliant recording gear, amps guitars) and performed "Mary." It's the quietest song from Katie Von Schleicher's magnificent 2017 album, S***** Hits.
The Juice Crew legend brought his biggest hit, “Born To Roll,” and a heartfelt recollection of his personal journey to the Tiny Desk.
Hear the elusive avant-garde pianist debut a new piece, etched in shimmering chords and dark, lamenting octaves.
Bridgewater connects with her roots, her birthplace and the town she's loved all her life, with a set of songs from Memphis.
The guitarist and singer for The Black Keys and The Arcs brings his Easy Eye Sound Revue to the Tiny Desk, recalling a time and sound from the '60s when southern R&B, including Nashville, was a force.
See the band perform a rare evening Tiny Desk concert, illuminated by flickering lights
Flamenco, jazz and classical share the stage in this Tiny Desk from one of our favorite Spanish composers.
Tyler Childers writes songs about hard lives and hard love with direct heart and a soulful Kentucky drawl.
The Uruguayan singer-songwriter is one of the finest lyricists operating today. Watch his stunning performance behind the Tiny Desk.
The Breeders' dreamy scuzz sounds wiser and more frazzled at the Tiny Desk, featuring the same lineup behind the band's breakout, 1993 album Last Splash.
The veteran Brooklyn rapper was an underground star during hip-hop's golden era. At the Tiny Desk, O.C. made it clear that he hasn't lost his edge.
When you hear John Moreland's sweet voice, it's hard to believe he spent years singing in punk, metal-core and hardcore bands. He plays acoustic guitar now, but his songs are still full of passion.
Hear a triumphant fusion of jazz, rock and blues that moves with momentum and fresh anticipation. Logan Richardson plays with a lyrical intensity that is both focused and free.
The multinational band of theatrically fun and talented musicians in Superorganism mix melody and mischievous with almost Seussian folly.
ÌFÉ isn't playing anything new. In fact, the band takes on something quite old: ritual Afro-Caribbean music that takes a lifetime to absorb and master.
Bedouine is Azniv Korkejian, a singer and guitarist who echoes sounds from the 1960's North American folk songwriters, but with vocal inflections closer to Leonard Cohen than to Joni Mitchell.
Most rap fans would name RZA as the head of the Wu-Tang Clan. But Wu purists know that GZA, or The Genius, is the crew's unspoken elder statesman.
Even if the world came to an end, there's still beauty and hope in all of us and in song. That about sums up the wistful mystery that is the music of Darlingside.
In three songs from Reservoir, Gordi keeps her voice both unadorned and centered within warm, cool arrangements that include piano, guitar, pedal steel, a harmonium named Barbara, and more.
In the spring of 2013, songwriter and R&B singer Sevyn Streeter released a song called "It Won't Stop," which she's called her "baby." Over the year and change that's followed, the song has sunk into our collective consciousness through commercial radio play and a music video viewed more than 35 million times, and on the recommendation of a growing group of critics and fans. The lyrics are vernacular, warm, unpretentious, while the performance demanded by the music is not for the meek. Away from a studio — and air conditioning — in a New Orleans boxing gym, Streeter executed with muscle and grace.
Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn are two American musical treasures. This husband-and-wife banjo duo write original tunes steeped in the roots of folk music.
The winner of this year's Tiny Desk Contest makes his official debut behind the desk.
This trio from Houston, Texas makes trance-inducing music heavily inspired by 1960s and '70s funk and soul from, of all places, Thailand.
The dream of the '90s is alive in this Canadian rock band.
Tony Shalhoub, Katrina Lenk and the cast of the Tony-nominated play The Band's Visit marked the first Broadway performance at the Tiny Desk.
The Colombian pop star and Chilean rising star brought their duet tour to the Tiny Desk.
The Los Angeles rapper and Kendrick Lamar collaborator performed four songs from her excellent album, Heirloom.
Watch the Chicago-based ensemble conjure otherworldly sounds from steel pipes, tuned cowbells and a bowl that sings.
We squeezed 12 go-go musicians behind the Tiny Desk. Watch what ensued.
This 22-year-old Brit has soul for days.
Watch the R&B star-in-the-making perform three songs, including a guest appearance by H.E.R.
The 14-year-old singer who signed to Columbia after winning America's Got Talent, dazzles the Tiny Desk with her breathtaking voice.
The one-woman riot who made headlines during the inaugural Women's March On Washington visits the Tiny Desk.
Watch the rising U.K. star perform intimate renditions of "Blue Lights," "On My Mind" and "Teenage Fantasy" with a full band.
The D.C. rapper brought quite the crew to his Tiny Desk performance.
Come for one of Havana's most talented acts. Stay for García's incredible mohawk.
Watch the 20-year-old star perform acoustic versions of "Location," "Saved" and "Young Dumb & Broke."
The bassist and drummer from D.C.'s pioneering punk band Fugazi join guitarist Anthony Pirog for a set of thrilling, sometimes loud and frenetic instrumentals.
A handful of teenagers, and a 12-year-old violinist, from the radio show From the Top, give sparkling performances, proving there's a bright future for classical music.
Watch the New York rap icon perform "Paid In Full" and "Know The Ledge," as well as a new song for Marvel's Luke Cage, at the Tiny Desk.
The star sheds his band for a warm, winning, utterly game, happily overstuffed five-song performance of songs from across his long career.
Join the "Children of the Sun" - or sit back and enjoy the spectacle - in this Tiny Desk experience.
New Orleans' native son brought his musical Gumbo — and a 10-piece orchestra — to the Tiny Desk for some well-seasoned soul and a lesson in creative freedom.
Yonnet is a magician on the harmonica. You'll see why he's performed with Stevie Wonder, Prince and Ed Sheeran.
Rev. Sekou and the Seal Breakers gave one of the most rousing Tiny Desks we've ever had, opening with one question: "Do you want to get free?"
Occasionally a new voice emerges so rich in experience that the only way to describe it is old soul.
See the moment Naia Izumi found out he won the Tiny Desk Contest -- and watch his journey to the Tiny Desk itself.
A Tribe Called Quest's Ali Shaheed Muhammad and composer Adrian Younge brought their Luke Cage-inspired collaboration to the Tiny Desk.
The Icelandic composer is joined by two "ghost" pianists, making mysterious and memorable music at the Tiny Desk.
The storied vocal ensemble brings close harmony singing to a diverse set list that includes a Beatles tune and a bawdy madrigal from the 1500s.
The veteran singer showcases her soaring powerfully expressive voice in a performance that bridges several generations of classic soul.
The precise serrations of Washington, D.C. band Flasher get softened for a visit to the Tiny Desk — their vocals, normally side-by-side rushing electric instruments, get the center stage treatment.
Del McCoury has been performing, and updating, his take on bluegrass for some 60 years. At the Tiny Desk, he brought three traveling songs and some good yarns to share from his ample time on the road.
One of our favorite new artists of 2018 visits the Tiny Desk.
Mac Miller reflects on his journey's peaks and valleys in a boisterous set of songs from Swimming, featuring special guest Thundercat on "What's the Use?"
DAWN has a breathless enthusiasm for shape-shifting pop music. She strips three songs to just the essentials, illuminating the impeccable songwriting behind her wild combination of sounds.
Even from its beginnings in late-'60s Oakland, the band has always stood out. Fifty years later, its devotion to classic horn-driven soul remains unmatched, its passion and precision unchanged.
The singer's performance at the Tiny Desk was an almost spiritual experience, leaving many at the NPR Music offices in awe.
Watch the 19-time Grammy winner return to his lifelong passion for J.S. Bach, playing music from the Cello Suites and offering advice on the art of incremental learning.
The Australian band uses tiny moments of introspection to illuminate life's bewildering, terrifying, isolating aspects — especially as they apply to women.
Backed for the first time ever by members of the Howard Gospel Choir, the Irish singer-songwriter shows off a voice built to fill stadiums in more ways than one.
In the fifteen years since he released Trap Muzik, Tip Harris has reinvented himself a thousand times over. But the stories he recounts from that era make his Tiny Desk a memorable one.
During a career nearly three decades in the making, Tech N9ne has dodged the fickle rap industry while surfing his own wave, stylistically and professionally. The Kansas City native has been a beast for years now, a musical misfit who laid a track record of underground success and struggle before building his own independent empire with Strange Music. "This is how we laugh at all the other rappers," Strange Music comrade Krizz Kaliko says, letting out a belly laugh near the end of duo's Tiny Desk set. Kaliko is another K.C. native and kindred spirit of Tech N9ne's. Together, they've carved out an unorthodox niche: chopper-style speed rap that often plumbs dark, emotional depths. Their playful banter between songs personifies that creative connection, as Krizz delivers backing vocals and guest verses from the soul. Backed by a guitar, drums and bass for their Tiny Desk, the trio brought out the rock-tinged hues of such definitive Tech N9ne songs as "Dysfunctional," "Aw Yeah? (interVENTion)" – dedicated to his mother who died from lupus in 2014 – and "Fragile," originally assisted by Kendrick Lamar, Mayday and Kendall Morgan. To close the set, Tech and Krizz performed "Speedom (Worldwide Choppers 2)," a song inspired by folk rocker Richie Havens' original classic "Freedom." After years traveling his own path, it's a fitting way to define Tech N9ne's wildly independent approach. SET LIST "Dysfunctional" "Aw Yeah? (interVENTion)" "Fragile" "Speedom (Worldwide Choppers 2)"
When George Li, the 23-year-old American pianist, revealed his Tiny Desk setlist, one thought came to mind: How will these powerhouse showstoppers sound on an upright piano? The music he intended to play, by Franz Liszt and Vladimir Horowitz, was designed for a real, 7-foot concert grand piano – the kind they used to call "a symphony orchestra in a box." Turns out, there was nothing to worry about. Li's technique is so comprehensive, so agile, so solid, that instead of making our trusty Yamaha U1 quake in fear, he made the instrument sound several sizes larger, producing glorious, full-bodied colors and textures. Li comes by his achievements honestly. He began lessons at age 4, and at 10 gave his first public concert. Five years later, he snagged the silver medal at the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Last fall, he released his debut album on a major label and these days he's playing with many of the world's major orchestras while touring the globe. He just graduated from Harvard where he studied English literature and piano, in a hybrid program with the New England Conservatory. Li is still young, but in some ways he's an old soul. Forget streaming services; he still listens to CDs. And his "idol" is the old-school, swashbuckling virtuoso Vladimir Horowitz, a pianist who died nearly 30 years ago. To honor Horowitz, Li begins his Tiny Desk recital with the master pianist's electrifying reboot of a theme from Bizet's opera Carmen. Li describes it as an "insane knuckle-buster." Just watch his hands blur during the fiendish interlocking octaves at the explosive climax. Then it's two pieces by the ultimate monster pianist, Franz Liszt. The Consolation No. 3, with its gently flowing, long-lined melody and diaphanous ornaments, reveals the poetic side of the composer, while the rip-roaring La campanella begins with a single tinkling bell that multiplies into a wild cacophony of trills and scales, ending in what Li calls "a big bang." George
About a year ago, Ten Flowers, the debut album from Kalbells, came out and brought me a great deal of joy. At the Tiny Desk, the solo project morphed into a full-fledged band, where they debuted the tune "Droolerz." That song opens with camaraderie - "I want a house / where everybody comes" – and continues with a line that epitomizes the carefree humor of singer Kalmia Traver: "We could play drums and eat lobster at the opera." The band makes life-affirming music that Kalmia created over the past few years, filled with the triumph of being cancer free. The joie de vivre is palpable. This isn't the first time Kalmia has performed a Tiny Desk concert. Her other band, Rubblebucket, brought their circus of contagious fun here more than three years ago. But for Kalbells and for Kalmia, Ten Flowers was about healing through expression, exploring uncharted musical landscapes and finding her voice outside of her tight partnership with Rubblebucket's Alex Toth. She used a tiny little synthesizer called the Critter & Guitari Pocket Piano to create random patterns that she improvised lyrics over before tearing it apart and pulling it back together, tightening the melody and lyrics. She then was joined by drummer Ian Chang, and though not in the band that came to NPR, he certainly helped shaped the rhythms of these songs. Her own saxophone playing at the Tiny Desk demonstrates the width of her musical palette adding harshness and deep character to these somewhat airy songs, and her talented minimalist band let her shine. SET LIST "Craving Art Droplets" "123456/Bodyriders" "Droolerz"
Stop. Watch. Listen! You might be unfamiliar with Congolese rhythms, likely won't understand the language and won't know the vibe of Kinshasa street musicians, but trust me... Jupiter & Okwess are astonishing. Their fierce energy here at the Tiny Desk translates through familiar instruments of drums, bass and guitars in an astonishing performance. Jupiter Bokondji comes from the troubled capital of Democratic Republic of the Congo. Jupiter and his band Okwess play music that feels both African and American, with Jupiter's early musical tastes inspired by The Jackson 5, James Brown and Kool and the Gang, plus the sounds of Motown. It's music he heard while shuttling back and forth with his family between Tanzania , Dar es Salaam and East Berlin. His father was an attaché at the Congolese embassy there. Then of course there's Congolese rumba, the popular dance music from as early as the 1940s, not too dissimilar from some Cuban music of the day. And the message of the music has been steeped in the complicated politics of the region, stumbling between chaos, anarchy and oppression. This is urgent music. Much of it can be heard on their vibrant album Kin Sonic, released in June of this year. It's music that stems from the gut but has thought and theatrics to flesh out the feelings. It's music to be experienced. This is your entry point. SET LIST "Ofakombolo" "Pondjo Pondjo" "Ekombe"
Hobo Johnson and the Lovemakers accomplished something remarkable this year with their Tiny Desk Contest entry. They made a simple backyard video - a single camera shoot - that's now been seen almost 10 million times on YouTube. And the song they played, "Peach Scone," has unlocked a door to a dream - to play a Tiny Desk Concert and be heard. The song is a tale of one-sided love - a tale of kindness in the face of loneliness and depression. Now, "a couple of kids - five I guess" as its lyrics go, get to bring their creative, urgent and somewhat nervous energy from Sacramento, Calif. to play "Peach Scone" and more to millions of other listeners. This is a band always on the verge of emotional explosions, all while Frank Lopes, aka Hobo Johnson, is quoting Shakespeare and making references to Jay-Z, The Front Bottoms song "Twin Size Mattress" and so much more. The directness in their music, with its chorus shouts ("Damn I love those sandwiches!") and the little asides ("I got a duvet the other day - how do you wash a blanket? In a washer? That's what I found out") make for a remarkably personal performance. At times it's as much a storytelling session or personal confession than a musical performance, and for me it conjures feelings of empathy and understanding and compassion. SET LIST "Romeo & Juliet" "Sex in the City" "Peach Scone" "Creve Coeur 1"
During his setup, GoGo Penguin's pianist Chris Illingworth asked if he could remove our piano cover to "access the inside" and, after a few rotations of a screwdriver, he soon handed me a long plank of black painted maple, which has no convenient place to rest in the NPR Music office. If you look closely at the piano innards during "Bardo," you can see a strip of black tape stretched over a few strings, opposite Illingworth's bobbing head. It mutes a group of strings, turning them into percussive jabs and dividing the instrument into more explicit rhythmic and melodic sections. What you can't see: GoGo Penguin's audio engineer a few feet to the left of frame, dialing-in reverb effects on the piano, which we heard in the room. These two elements, in tandem with bassist Nick Blacka's precise canvasing and drummer Rob Turner's charged and delicate pulse, have heavily contributed to the sonic identity of this trio - a signal to jazz jukebox listeners that, "Ah yes, that's a GoGo Penguin tune." GoGo Penguin models closely the leaderless jazz power trio set in motion by forbearers in The Bad Plus, but you can also hear the drippings of electronica groups like Bonobo, and drum-and-bass foundations akin to Roni Size with a bit more acoustic rattle (Turner even fashions his own prepared drum accessories from rope, duct tape, and metal rings, which you can see resting atop his ride cymbal and snare. He tells me he usually has more, but he hasn't made new ones in a while). But dissecting this music belabors what's certain: this trio has become a reference point of their own for new school instrumentalists, a coveted achievement for any jazz group, though their appeal stretches far outside the jazz ecosystem. In fact, in 2018 alone, the band played some of the world's most notable pop festivals like Bonnaroo and Outside Lands and top-tier international jazz festivals: Montreal and North Sea. This trio found a way to wedge themselves in the middle of the Venn diagram that
Brooklyn-bred hip-hop duo Smif-N-Wessun – consisting of partners in rhyme, Steele and Tek – illuminated the Tiny Desk with their signature, 80-proof poetry: straight, no chaser. Their music, inspired by their gritty and pre-gentrified Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville neighborhoods, offers the vocabulary of veterans who survived the grimy streets. These original members of the Duck Down Records group Boot Camp Clik represent quintessential '90s true-school hip-hop from the bedrock, when Timberland boots were standard issue. Backing Steele and Tek for the first time is D.C.'s own Black Alley band. Smif-N-Wessun set things off with their classic debut single "Bucktown," an ode to their native Brooklyn, which uses their love for lyrical clapbacks as an allegory for overcoming the violence-ridden reality of their wonder years. Their undeniable Gemini chemistry - clearly the byproduct of a 20-plus year friendship - is on full display. Throughout the performance, the two emcees dance, share easy banter and express their spiritual connection to the music they've created over the years. Things climax when the two perform "Stand Strong," another favorite from their debut album Dah Shinin'. Anchored by the mantra, "I never ran / never will," the tune receives a refreshing update, courtesy of Black Alley. Driven by the live interpolation of their Beatminerz-produced tracks, the music decries the struggles of late-stage capitalism and the plight of the disenfranchised. It's a revelation of love, life, and brotherhood in an era when the antiheroes were really just the ones cunning enough to avoid becoming victims. That survivor's drive is personified when Steele lets his guard down during the performance and gifts the audience a little boogie, while referring to the "holy ghost" that has come over him. The set concludes with an exclusive premier of their new single, "One Time," from their forthcoming album, The All, produced by 9th Wonder & The Soul Council. SET
Even in an office in broad daylight, Julie Byrne sings with both a husk and a whisper as if she's gone a long time without speaking - as if she's been alone, as if she's been traveling. Her opening number at the Tiny Desk, "Sleepwalker," sings of the road as a source of freedom. I lived my life alone before you And with those that I'd never succeeded to love And I grew so accustomed to that kind of solitude I fought you, I did not know how to give it up Julie Byrne's hypnotic fingerstyle picking conjures a sense of wandering, a style she adapted from her father and a sound she grew up with until multiple sclerosis robbed him of that companionship and comfort. She now plays her dad's guitar. For me, the mark of a great artist is transformation - the ability to take me far from my everyday thoughts - to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, or at least to see it in a different way. After performing "Sleepwalker" alone, Julie Byrne was joined by her musical companions, Marilu Donovan on harp and Eric Littmann on electronics. Together they conjure an ethereal compliment to Julie's love of the open landscape – I'm transported. SET LIST "Sleepwalker" "Follow My Voice" "I Live Now as a Singer"
Anthony Roth Costanzo is a feisty performer who knows a thing or two about busting down barriers in classical music. After all, opera singers don't normally belt out arias behind office desks, and they don't insist on lugging harpsichords with them. They also don't routinely sing in Bronx middle school classrooms and get students talking about emotions. But Costanzo is fearless. (And after seeing this amazing Tiny Desk performance, watch him melt the hearts of distracted sixth-graders.) A word about Costanzo's voice. He is a countertenor, a man who sings in the range of a female alto. The roots of the tradition date way back to the 1500s, when young male singers, called "castrati," were castrated in order to preserve their high, flexible voices. "I've managed to do it without castration," Costanzo joked to the audience of NPR staffers. These days, countertenors sing in falsetto, and while as recently as 30 years ago it was considered something of an androgynous novelty, now countertenors are part and parcel of the opera world. (We've even hosted a countertenor before at the Tiny Desk.) Costanzo performs songs from his new album, which pairs music by George Frideric Handel with Philip Glass. Strange bedfellows perhaps, and born more than 250 years apart, but somehow Glass' repetitive, staccato beats and Handel's long, flowing melodies manage to shake hands across the centuries. One obvious common thread is the arrangements, by Nicholas DeMaison, that Costanzo commissioned expressly for this performance, featuring harpsichordist Bryan Wagorn (playing a beautiful double-manual French-styled instrument built by Thomas and Barbara Wolf), along with flutist Alice Teyssier and bassoonist Rebekah Heller. Glass' "Liquid Days," begins with a recitative introduction, similar to a Handel aria. But the lyrics, by David Byrne, depict love, in all its quotidian splendor, as a character who "could use a shave" and "watches TV." "Pena tiranna," from Handel's undervalu
Standing behind the Tiny Desk with only pianist Sullivan Fortner by her side, jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant remarked that she hadn't been this nervous in a while. But it was hard to tell: She embraced the discomfort with ease, taking command of the space with a calm demeanor and spiritual presence that felt both humble and persuasive. From listening to McLorin Salvant's exquisite performance here, I also couldn't tell that when she was 15, she was listening to Alice in Chains, sported a Mohawk and was into what she calls "radical feminist punk stuff," as she told NPR after the performance. "Sometimes I still really like Bikini Kill, and I still have my little Pearl Jam grunge moments." What can be heard in each song is a seasoned jazz singer with a vast vocal range, meticulous technical execution and a superb classical vocal foundation, which actually began when she was just 8. Her background in classical piano is evident in the inventive harmonic and melodic construction of the first three songs heard here; all are romantically themed McLorin Salvant compositions from her third album, For One to Love, recorded in 2015. The record won her a 2016 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album. McLorin Salvant closes with "Omie Wise," an American folk song that tells the tragic story of murder victim Naomi Wise and her husband and killer, John Lewis: Then pushed her in deep waters where he knew that she would drown He jumped on his pony and away he did ride The screams of little Omie went down by his side. Feminist themes are common in McLorin Salvant's music, and while "Omie Wise" addresses gender-based violence, she says she sings difficult songs like this to address an important historical legacy. "We don't sing to our kids and we don't know any of our folk music anymore," McLorin Salvant says. "But like all of the history of race songs, coon songs, minstrel music, music from Vaudeville, all of that is like, 'No, we're not going to address that — tha
Every Tiny Desk is special, but sometimes the stars align and we're treated to an artist just as he's coming into his own. Six months after releasing Care For Me — a sophomore studio LP on which Saba transforms his survivor's guilt into something equal parts traumatic and transcendent — the Chicago native paid a visit to Tiny Desk. His performance at NPR's Washington, D.C. headquarters came just two days after he announced his first tour of Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Korea, scheduled to begin in November. It's an incredible achievement for an independent artist who released one of 2018's best hip-hop albums without the benefit, or creative constraints, that come with major-label backing. To help translate Care For Me live, Saba brought along a band consisting of the same musicians who helped bring his album to life in the studio — including Daoud Anthony and daedaePivot, who produced the entire LP with him; instrumentalists Cheflee and Brandon Farmer; theMIND and Kaina, who contributed vocals on the record; and another featured vocalist and special guest that Saba took extra pride in introducing. "You're not gonna believe me when I say it," he prepped the crowd, turning to the tall man wearing the Saba tee and Panama hat. "This is Chandlar, my father." Fans of the album may be familiar with Saba's references to his dad on the songs "Life" and "Prom / King" — the epic seven-and-a-half minute eulogy to Saba's cousin and Pivot Gang rap collective founding member, John Walt, whose 2017 murder serves as the impetus for Care For Me. But Chandlar is also an accomplished soul singer, songwriter and producer in his own right, as well as one of Saba's earliest musical influences. In a live set that proved to be as resonant as Care, Saba and his band showcased the album's emotional depth and range with stark juxtaposition, like the sound of the bright hook on album closer, "Heaven All Around Me," set against a particularly haunting version of "Life." It
There's so much joy in the sound of the Hammond organ, especially for those of us of a certain age. Hearing it can transport you to the early '70s, when every rock band seemed to have one in its arsenal: The Allman Brothers, Santana, Deep Purple. In the hands of true masters — like the late Billy Preston and the very-much-alive Booker T. Jones — the organ can be a melodic, funky rhythm machine. Cory Henry's name belongs in the same breath as the Hammond organ masters of the past. The instrument creates the central sound of his dynamic, neo-soul- and funk-infused musical identity, and he opens his turn behind the Tiny Desk with what feels like an encore: the full-on soul assault of "Love Will Find a Way." The song twists and turns, then winds up as a full-on celebration — and it's only the first song in his set. Henry's keyboard skills are on full display during a synth solo in "Trade It All," which also spotlights his entire band. To my mind, they'd have sounded right at home on Stax Records in the '70s — no small accomplishment. "Send Me a Sign" then showcases some of the roots of Henry's songwriting; it's inspired by church sermons that bloom into group sing-alongs. Just another way Cory Henry digs way back to give us something new and exciting. Set List "Love Will Find a Way" "Trade It All" "Send Me Sign"
The energy in the room was buoyant and vibrant from the moment they walked in the door. OutKast star Big Boi, Sleepy Brown of the prolific Atlanta production collective Organized Noize, and their eight-member backing band have been working together for 20-plus years, and their chemistry is instantaneous and undeniable. These guys helped redefine the sound and style of hip-hop in the '90s, incorporating funk and psychedelia while transcending genre boundaries. As half of OutKast — still the only rap group ever to take home Album of the Year at the Grammys — Big Boi continues to thrive as a solo act, riding the charts with last year's Boomiverse and its hit single "All Night." Big Boi played that infectious, horn-drenched banger at the Tiny Desk, and book-ended it with two of his best-known OutKast songs: "So Fresh, So Clean" from 2000's Stankonia and "The Way You Move" from 2003's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Along the way, he and his stellar supporting players just keep feeding off each other in a set that's bound to leave you smiling. PERSONNEL Big Boi (lead vocals), Sleepy Brown (vocals), David Brown (guitar), Preston Crump (bass), Omar Phillips (drums), DJ Cutmaster Swift (turntables), Jason Freeman (trumpet), Jerry Freeman (trumpet), Keisha Williams (backing vocals), Terrance "Scar" Smith (backing vocals) SET LIST "So Fresh, So Clean" "All Night" "The Way You Move"
It's appropriate that the pioneering Mexican band Café Tacvba (Tacuba) start its set with "Olita del Altamar" ("Waves from the High Seas") from the group's 2012 album El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco. It's essentially an incantation of the magic that transpired during their performance behind Bob Boilen's desk. The lyrics sing of the comings and goings of waves, symbolic of the passage of time and fueled by the Mexican folk rhythm son jarocho, a favorite of the band's since their start almost 30 years ago. They then fast forward to "Diente de León" ("Dandelion"), from their 2017 album Jei Beibi. It's a majestic, stripped-down version that puts the emphasis back on the lyric, a plea for existential and environmental harmony using the metaphor of the weedy flower. As usual, lead vocalist Rubén Albarrán is a captivating central presence, evoking a sense of down-home camaraderie with his ever friendly smile that has become the band's most outward image. Having seen the band play in front of dedicated fans in massive stadiums in Mexico City, it's striking to see his movements limited to a few careful spins and dance steps while still managing to embody the intense energy of their music. Their song "Las Flores," from their 1994 album Re, slips into the ska groove that attracted fans to rock en Español in general and to Los Tacvbas in particular, a beat that captures the adventurous musical energy that swept all of Latin America in the early 1990s. Not all bands would end their set with a power ballad, though very few bands hold their audience's attention and dedication like Café Tacvba. But that's just how they close their set, the four principal members together for almost 30 years, casting a musical spell that still captivates after all this time. SET LIST "Olita del Altamar" "Diente de León" "Las Flores" "Que No"
Her nervousness was palpable and stood in stark contrast to her fully produced stage show. "I'm sorry I'm shy," Florence Welch told the crowd of NPR family and friends gathered for her Tiny Desk performance. "If this was a big gig, I'd probably be climbing all over here and running around." Opening with the song "June," from Florence + the Machine's 2018 album High As Hope, Florence performed with her eyes closed. By the end of the three-song set, she fully embraced the experience and gave in to the rapturous audience. Within seconds of hearing her first note, the raw power of her un-amplified voice was chilling. It's impossible to talk about Florence without her backing band. Tom Monger adds exquisite ethereal textures to the songs with his stunning mastery of the pedal harp. Hazel Mill's backing vocals and anthemic power chords on the keys accentuate the poignancy of the lyrics at just the right moments. And Robert Ackroyd's rhythmic, steady acoustic guitar drives the music forward. But the intensity of the musicality is almost secondary to the message in her lyrics. Ear-worm melodies coupled with repetitive phrases create universal, awe-inspiring anthems. At the end of her first song, Florence implored the crowd to hold on to each other. In "Patricia," she insisted it's such a wonderful thing to love. After 14 enchanting minutes, it's impossible to disagree. SET LIST "June" "Patricia" "Ship to Wreck"
Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodríguez gave our office audience a very quick lesson on why pianists from that island nation are so impressive: they treat the piano as the percussion instrument it is. Rodríguez immediately let fly with an intense flurry of notes that were as melodic as they were rhythmic. The mash up of European lyricism and Afro-Cuban percussion is at the heart of the Cuban piano tradition and it is very present in the first song. It wasn't long before Rodríguez dug deep into rapid-fire syncopation along with drummer Michael Olivera and guitarist/ bassist Munir Hossn. Iconic music producer/composer Quincy Jones heard Rodríguez during a performance at a European jazz festival and took him under this wing, eventually signing him to Jones' management company. When you listen to the expansive and lyrical exploration of the second song in this Tiny Desk set, "Bloom," it's easy to hear what captured Jones' attention. The West Africa-based Yoruba spiritual tradition, commonly known as Santeria, infuses so much of Cuban daily life in music and Rodríguez closes with his take on the music dedicated to the Orisha Yemaya, the goddess of the ocean and all waters. The song's melody is a derivation of the song associated to Yemaya and the Tiny Desk trio explores the rhythms of the melody, up to and including the sing-along at the end. Every exposure to Cuban music presents an opportunity to walk alongside historical music figures and Santeria spirits alike. This performance is no exception. Watching these three performances repeatedly reveals new musical turns that slowly reveal how Alfredo Rodríguez is making a name for himself, alongside two incredibly talented, like-minded band mates. SET LIST "Dawn" "Bloom" "Yemaya"
Self-proclaimed "Funklordz" Chromeo played with a live band for the first time at the Tiny Desk. The duo usually performs their live shows over backing tracks with shimmering chrome guitars and keyboards mounted on mannequin lady legs. David Macklovitch (Dave 1) and Patrick Gemayel (P-Thugg) met when they were 15 while growing up in Montreal and have been cranking out the electro-funk jams ever since. On being Canadian, P-Thugg announced in his robot voice "it's very, very cold" to which Dave 1 quipped, "it's cold... free healthcare." At first glance, their Jewish and Arab partnership might seem unlikely. But their signature sounds are undeniably infectious, epitomized by P-Thugg's Talk Box - an instrument that transforms his vocals into robotic sounds. With a nod to DC's own funky go-go music scene of the '70s, their band was outfitted in go-go-style matching uniforms custom embroidered with the words "Funk Lordz". The breakdown at the end of the song "Don't Sleep" was a fitting tribute to NPR's hometown, Washington, D.C. The Philadelphia based line-up included keyboardist Eugene "Man-Man" Roberts and legendary percussionists Rashid Williams and Aaron Draper who have played with the likes of John Legend, Jill Scott, The Roots, Adele, and Erykah Badu. Eric Watley filled out the low end with Dave 1 on electric guitar and P-Thugg on bass, rounding out the sextet. The band played three tracks from their fifth album, Head Over Heels. They tossed in the backbeat-thumping "Jealous (I Ain't With It)" from 2014's White Women in a medley that opened the energized set. Listening to Chromeo is a joyous affair. Watching them get funky with a stellar band behind The Desk for the very first time, it's impossible to sit still. SET LIST "Count Me Out/Jealous (I Ain't With It)" "Don't Sleep" "Must've Been"
He came to the Tiny Desk with friends, a lot of friends. In fact, Josh Karpeh, best known in the music world as Cautious Clay, put together a backing vocal ensemble of friends he's known since his days as a music student at The George Washington University here in D.C. And so, with five singers - along with a drummer, keyboardist and a bassist - Cautious Clay brought a warm, thoughtful and chill vibe to the Tiny Desk. I was first struck by Cautious Clay's charismatic spirit at a sold-out show in D.C. earlier this year. And while I was already captivated by his seemingly effortless singing, with hints of James Blake and Sampha, when he picked up his saxophone and, later, a flute, I was won over by his rich sound-palette. Here at the Tiny Desk, Cautious Clay opens with "Cold War," a song that I interpret to be about commitments within relationships. The line, "In it for the monetary growth and power / But we divided at the bottom of this whiskey sour" shows the humor and insight that I love in his lyrics. There's good reason why I'm so certain that this little-known artist will be well-known in the coming year: he's a bright talent, exploring music with a curiosity and invention that is genuine, without pretense and with intentions that aren't aimed at fame but rather meant for friends. SET LIST "Cold War" "Call Me" "Stolen Moments"
A single voice can send a powerful message - and that's just what Jim James did at the Tiny Desk, with just his voice and an acoustic guitar. His lead-off song, "I'm Amazed," comes from My Morning Jacket's 2008 album Evil Urges. It's a prophetic song in many ways - it speaks not only of a divided nation and the need for justice but also to the beauty in the life and plight of others. It's something Jim James would find greater appreciation for after he fell from a stage at a My Morning Jacket concert, just three days before Evil Urges was to be released, sustaining life-threatening injuries. It would be a life-changing event and the inspiration for his first solo album years later, in 2013, Regions of Light and Sound of God. Jim James' second song at the Tiny Desk, "Same Old Lie," comes from an album he released just days before the 2016 Presidential election. The lyrics take on a deeper meaning now, just days before the 2018 elections. "It's the same old lie you been reading about / Bleeding out - now who's getting cheated out? / You best believe it's the silent majority / If you don't vote it's on you, not me." His closing tune, in what I think of as a purposeful trilogy for these political times, is from two albums he's released this year, Uniform Distortion and Uniform Clarity. The albums contain the same songs, performed with his blistering electric guitar on one and on the other, as here, acoustically. "Over and Over" is perfectly suited for "The Future of Voting 2018" tour he's embarked on. After 20-some odd years of putting out music, Jim James is full of fervor and compassion for others as he sings, "How can we make / The same mistakes / and still carry on / Living the same we did yesterday / Have we learned nothing at all?" SET LIST "I'm Amazed" "Same Old Lie" "Over and Over"
Watching this performance is to witness a spell being cast, note-by-note. Liniker e os Caramelows (Liniker and the Caramelows) are from Brazil but steeped in the tradition of soul from here in the U.S. They started their turn behind the desk with the ballad "Calmô," a testament to the power of slow songs dripping with soulful emotion. It was a bold statement of just who they are as a band and what they stand for. You have to go back to the co-mingling of jazz and Brazilian music in the late 1950s to appreciate the affinity our two countries have had for each other musically. Lead vocalist Liniker Barros has obviously done her share of listening to soul singers and she effortlessly slides from lower registers to an emotional falsetto, though the Tiny Desk space did restrict the kind of vigorous floor show of dancing and moving from all the band members that I've seen at the bigger live performances they've done. Liniker and the band shook things up to high-gear, Brazilian funk on the second part of "Tua," complete with a mid-song, church-revival breakdown, featuring tenor sax. "Remonta" displayed the band's flexibility as they moved from ballad to a reggae bridge, eventually exploding into a majestic African-based Candomblé rhythmic finish. This performance catches Liniker e os Caramelows as they spiral upwards toward wider acclaim and recognition. Seeing them this close helps to understand just how they cast their musical magic on their audiences. SET LIST "Calmô" "Tua" "Remonta"
He should have been exhausted, but instead played the Tiny Desk with incredible stamina, holding a single trumpet note that lasted longer than most people can hold their breath. In the days just before this performance, Nicholas Payton played at the Joy of Jazz Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, then Santiago, Chile and, finally, New York City. A member of his team drove them the four hours from NYC so he could nap in the car and be ready to play. Payton dazzled the audience, simultaneously playing his trumpet and a Fender Rhodes. It's his signature, resonant sound. With the rest of his trio - the rhythmic precision of drummer Jonathan Barber and bassist Ben Williams - Payton's genius virtuosity captivated both faithful fans and anyone in the NPR crowd just discovering his music for the first time. All three compositions in this set are from Payton's 2017 album, Afro-Caribbean Mixtape. "It is often said that New Orleans is the northernmost region of the Caribbean," says Payton on his website. "Africa is the source of all rhythms. The Afro-Caribbean Mixtape is a study of how those rhythms were dispersed by way of the Middle Passage throughout Cuba, Haiti, and Puerto Rico, then funneled through the mouthpiece of New Orleans to North America and the rest of the world." Racial constructs are notably relevant in the last tune, "Jazz Is A Four-Letter Word," which was inspired by the autobiography of drummer and activist Max Roach. You can even hear Roach's sampled voice, fused into the infectious groove, a narrative of black consciousness on display. Ideology aside, the music was on point and the audience couldn't help but sing and clap as the trio took us out on a soulful rhythmic vamp. SET LIST "Kimathi" "Othello" "Jazz Is A Four-Letter Word"
"I've made music under many brand names. It was a dumb idea," David Bazan jokes during his performance at the Tiny Desk, in his own particularly reflective and self-deprecating way. You can find that music filed under his previous "brands" or incarnations as Headphones, Lo Tom (with TW Walsh and members of Starflyer 59) and his own name. But here Bazan returns to the one that first gave him voice: Pedro the Lion, a name he now says he intends to keep. No matter how dark or disastrous, there's always been an undercurrent of grace to the music of David Bazan. Even in his most righteous anger, empathy seeps through. "When They Really Get to Know You They Will Run" opens the Tiny Desk set with sparse instrumentation — Erik Walters on guitar, Bazan on bass, Sean Lane on brushes and snare — not unlike performances of yesteryear, when slyly clever-yet-quiet riffs put Bazan's sardonic wit front and center. Twenty years after being released on Pedro the Lion's debut album, It's Hard to Find a Friend, the cheeky song about hypocrisy (exposing the toxic male gaze through double standards of beauty) still rings painfully true. Bazan then introduces "Yellow Bike," from Pedro the Lion's forthcoming Phoenix, as "cheeky in a different way." With a hiccuping rhythm that rolls like a Tom Petty joint down uncertain roads, Bazan recounts the thrill found in childhood bike rides, and the somewhat terrifying price of freedom that accompanies onset adulthood. So what about all of those songs released as "David Bazan" from the past decade? Those are now Pedro the Lion songs! That includes "Kept Secrets," originally released on 2016's Blanco. Its slow, doleful sway closed out the Tiny Desk with a hidden hope washed in snow, "white with ocean foam." Phoenix comes out Jan. 18 via Polyvinyl Records. SET LIST "When They Really Get to Know You They Will Run" "Yellow Bike" "Kept Secrets"
Midway through Half Waif's Tiny Desk, singer Nandi Rose Plunkett stops to let us all know that this particular Half Waif show is extra special. "So today we're actually 'Full Waif,' because I am joined by my dear friends," she says. "These are all musicians who have played with the band Half Waif over the past five years, but we've never all played together until now! So thanks for the opportunity to get 'Full Waif' together." The band, more often a trio, with Nandi singing her songs and playing keyboards, with Zack Levine on drums and Adan Carlo bass synth and guitar, put out their third album Lavender earlier in the year. The three intimate songs performed here, all from that album, are stripped to their essence. So when they closed with "Salt Candy," the line "I wanted to be carried in my mother's arms / I wanted to be buried in my mother's arms," in this setting and with the spare punctuation of electronic drums and textures, sitting alongside Nandi's voice, was particularly chilling. I've always found a sense of solitude in Half Waif's music and their lead-off performance of "Lavender Burning," with its opening line, "Staring out into the shifting darkness / Tryin' to give a name to the place where my heart is," reinforces my love for their peaceful, almost backwoods calm. SET LIST "Lavender Burning" "Silt" "Salt Candy"
The story of Bernie and the Believers is the most powerful I've ever come across at the Tiny Desk. It's about a beautiful act of compassion that ultimately led to this performance, and left me and my coworkers in tears. I discovered the music of Bernie Dalton among the thousands of Tiny Desk Contest entries we received earlier this year. The band's singer, Essence Goldman, had submitted the entry and shared Bernie's story. You should hear her tell it in her own words at the Tiny Desk (and I choke up every time I hear it). In summary she said that a few years ago, Bernie — a father, a songwriter and a musician in his mid-forties, and an avid surfer with a day job as a pool cleaner — answered an ad she had posted offering voice lessons. Essence was a performer trying to manage her own career as a single mom, and Bernie was trying to improve his talents. Bernie drove 90-minutes from Santa Cruz to San Francisco, eagerly showing up early to his voice lessons with Essence. But not long after they started working together, Bernie lost his voice. They didn't think much of a it at first, but then things got worse. He had trouble swallowing and eating. Essence encouraged Bernie to see a doctor and after some tests Bernie Dalton was diagnosed with bulbar-onset ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. He began to lose the use of his hands and, along with it, the ability to play guitar. With a prognosis of only one-to-three years left to live, Essence offered to raise money so that Bernie and his daughter could travel together. But what Bernie wanted more than anything was to make a record. So he asked Essence to not just be his voice teacher, but his voice. From there, they got to business. Essence pulled together a team of producers, engineers and musicians, while Bernie guided the creative direction through gestures and a dry-erase board. They wrote and recorded a new song every day. Their first single, "Unusual Boy," was the one they included in their 2018 Tiny Desk Contes
The group is new, but all of the members of boygenius — Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers — are Tiny Desk Concert alumae. In fact, Julien has been behind my desk twice before. So when the usual nerve-racking session was over and I shouted out, "So, is it any easier the second or third time?" I had to laugh when I got a resounding "No!" from all of them. The notion of playing in broad daylight, in an office, without having your voice coming out of a PA and with an audience close enough to touch is not only intensely intimate but also intimidating. That's not only true to these three, newly collaborating, under-25-year-olds. It was also true of, say, Ralph Stanley (who was older than their ages combined) when he sang a cappella behind my desk. But what came through as these three heartfelt singers performed was the strength of their songs. My first attraction to each of them as artists was the songwriting. In fact, the title track to Julien Baker's first album, Sprained Ankle, is what got me to a show of hers early in 2016, which introduced me to the opening act, Lucy Dacus. (You can hear them tell their tale on an upcoming All Songs Considered.) Boygenius only has six total tunes, all from their just-released, self-titled EP, and here they perform half of that catalog. What you get at the Tiny Desk is a frailer version of these more fleshed-out songs from a band that is likely quite temporary. For their closing tune at the Tiny Desk, "Ketchum, ID," Julien, Phoebe and Lucy each take a verse. Lucy's verse ends the song with the line, "Let's dissolve the band, move to Idaho." And the chorus to the song, in stunning harmony, echoes the mileage of the lifestyle, how they live and how they met: "I am never anywhere / Anywhere I go / When I'm home I'm never there / Long enough to know." This trio is a special gift to us all in 2018. SET LIST "Souvenir" "Me & My Dog" "Ketchum, ID"
When dvsn visited NPR for this Tiny Desk concert, it reminded me of the first time I saw them two years ago in New York City. They decided to wash the desk in vibrant blue, purple and orange lighting, brought in by dvsn's team to make the space feel like a concert hall. And while the audience at NPR was almost as densely packed as that NYC venue, it felt much like my live introduction to the group — grandiose in presentation, but at the same time, deliberately intimate in delivery. With a four-piece band and three pristine backup vocalists for support, singer Daniel Daley flexed his falsetto pipes and a shiny gold grill, running through a sampler of fan-favorites about breaking up, making up and trying to move on. The short-and-sweet set is an example of the kind of audible acrobatics you don't often hear at contemporary R&B shows anymore. Though it's easy to mistake dvsn as simply the stage moniker of Daley, the act is really a duo comprised of the singer and Grammy Award-winning producer Nineteen85, the (almost) secret weapon behind the boards. Together, the Toronto-based duo has released two albums so far — 2016's Sept. 5th and 2017's Morning After. And on the day of the Tiny Desk concert, while Daley gleamed in the spotlight behind dark shades, Nineteen85 hung back in the audience to, as always, play the role of humble maestro. SET LIST "Too Deep" "Body Smile" "Mood"
Some days, you can hear a go-go band revving up the party or a pianist busting the keys wide open, luring NPR staff to the Tiny Desk. But in the hushed performances, your ears need to lean into the sound so that your entire being can take in every fingerpick of string and each hummed melody. The Innocence Mission, ever the most careful cultivators of quiet, encouraged us to come closer, to discover the "thing beautiful enough" in the moment it's delivered. The trio — now three decades into its existence — bookends this performance with two songs from 2018's Sun on the Square. "Green Bus" and "Light of Winter" thread the long and winding needle of Karen Peris' evocative words with her husband Don Peris' decorative-but-nuanced guitar and Mike Bitts' deft bass lines. In some of my favorite lyrics of the year, Karen Peris tangles the tender and the tempestuous: And what could I bring you, now in the meantime? Fruit from the sunlight, quartz from the bay? And where will I find this, perfect and wondrous? I look into shops, I slip into rain. Between those newer songs, The Innocence Mission plays "Tomorrow on the Runway," the opening cut from 2003's Befriended, which Iron & Wine recently covered in Stephanie Laing's film Irreplaceable You. Nursing a small cold, Peris' voice slightly breaks when she sings, "Did you still leave the darkness without me? You're always miles ahead" — but the humbling effect, however unintended, lingers in your being. SET LIST "Green Bus" "Tomorrow on the Runway" "Light of Winter"
When a baby grand piano rolls into the office for a Tiny Desk concert, you expect something special. But none of us could have imagined what it's like to see 15-year old Joey Alexander play that piano with such mastery. The thing is, when you see him play live, you quickly forget his age and get lost in the intense focus of his performance. Alexander and his stellar supporting cast — Reuben Rogers on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums — form a tight trio, locking eyes as Alexander's compositions unfold. The relaxed, seasoned veterans looked thrilled to be playing with Alexander at the Tiny Desk, and he was clearly inspired playing with them. The crowd was both mesmerized and humbled by the memories of what they were doing at 15. Born in Indonesia, Alexander learned to play by listening to his father's jazz albums. When he was just 10-years old, Wynton Marsalis invited him to play at a Jazz at Lincoln Center gala, and the young Alexander set the jazz world buzzing. He made his mark covering classics by Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, but he's now recording and performing more of his own compositions. He showcased that original work during his Tiny Desk performance. Alexander's vigorously rhythmic playing was playful in the opening "Eclipse" (from his latest album of the same name), which he described as "spontaneous playing." "Bali," also from Eclipse, followed, while "City Lights" (from his 2016 album Countdown) closed a set that ranks among the year's finest jazz performances at the Tiny Desk. SET LIST "Eclipse" "Bali" "City Lights"
Sometimes the world turns obstacles into magic. When Dirty Projectors let us know they couldn't make it to the band's Tiny Desk performance until late in the day, we were sad because the clocks had recently turned back for the fall, we knew that our beautiful, natural light would be gone and it'd be dark. But with candles left over from a late-winter day performance by Rhye — and some LED panels and spots — we were set up right on time for David Longstreth to sing these words: "The sky has darkened, earth turned to hell / Some said a light got shined where darkness dwelt / So I won't cry or collapse, overwhelmed / Time like a song just might rhyme with itself." That song, "Right Now," and the other two tracks from Dirty Projectors' brilliant 2018 release Lamp Lit Prose, felt more poignant than ever. Dirty Projectors' eighth album is often loving and forgiving. It's full of the quirks of production and rhythm and rhyme that had me fall for their music when I first heard it about a dozen years ago. What's wonderful about this Tiny Desk Concert is watching these talented people arrange this complicated music without amplification and seeing the joy on their face when it all worked out. Obstacles into magic indeed. SET LIST "That's a Lifestyle" "Right Now" "What Is The Time?"
The Wu-Tang Clan gathered at the Tiny Desk to commemorate the 25 years since the release of the group's landmark album Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). With more than 60 albums between the various members, The Clan's combined discography left them spoiled for choice when it came to narrowing down the set list for their performance. The result was an extended, 20-minute medley of songs from across the group's iconic catalog. The retrospective mashup of Wu classics started with the posse cut "Triumph." Backed by strings (The Green Project), the performance morphed into an old-school cipher as Raekwon, Inspectah Deck and Cappadonna traded verses with GZA, Masta Killa and U-God. Young Dirty Bastard, son of original member Ol' Dirty Bastard, provided a spark of energy reminiscent of his father. At one moment in the performance, RZA — the mastermind behind the Clan's success — omits some explicit lyrics from earlier in his Wu journey, while alluding to the #MeToo movement mid-cadence. But it's the poetic interlude, read from his phone at the close of the set, that better reflects his current state of consciousness. "Wu-Tang is for the kids!" RZA proclaims. The core of the group began as childhood pals in Staten Island in the early '90s, when the crew's creative philosophy was influenced by everything from Saturday afternoon kung-fu flicks to the spiritual wisdom of the Five-Percent Nation. As they've matured, Raekwon still describes the Wu as "superfriends." They've allowed each other to grow and form various offshoots in recent years. But when the Wu-Tang Clan comes together, they still bring a love for the culture and for their brotherhood. SET LIST "Wu Classics"
In October 2018, NPR Music held a Tiny Desk Talk in Nashville with our friends at WPLN and WMOT. At The Nashville Palace, Ann Powers sat down with renowned Nashville music producer Dave Cobb to talk about how emerging artists find their sound and how a producer can help bring a musician’s vision to life. They were joined by rising songwriter Savannah Conley, who's been working with Cobb as she enters the music mainstream. Ann, Dave and Savannah’s thoughtful, funny conversation yielded some great advice about the recording process. We’ve collected some of Dave’s best tips from the studio – about embracing mistakes, setting a vibe, capturing raw energy and more – into this short video.
NPR's American Anthem series brings together two songwriters -- Ernie Isley of The Isley Brothers and Chuck D of Public Enemy -- whose respective versions of "Fight the Power" eyed the same struggle.
It's been said that you only get one chance to make a first impression. In H.E.R.'s case, you get two. She stunned us as a special guest for Daniel Caesar's Tiny Desk concert earlier this year, in an appearance that showcased her vocal mastery. That earned her an invite to play again, front-and-center. She attacked her second go 'round with more fervor than the first, highlighting her skills as a multi-instrumentalist, maneuvering between acoustic and electric guitars, then the Fender Rhodes. While H.E.R. stands for "Having Everything Revealed," she's an artist who's built her reputation on a certain degree of anonymity. The cover art for her debut, 2016 EP, H.E.R. Volume 1, shows a woman's silhouette over a blue backdrop. Her visuals never provide the audience a clear shot of her face and her signature accessory for every outfit is a pair of large, dark sunglasses. As fans collectively squinted to get a better view, she delivered more projects. Another EP, H.E.R. Vol 2, came in 2017, followed months later by H.E.R. which combined songs from both volumes with a handful of new songs. The latter earned her five nominations for 2019's Grammy Awards, including Album Of The Year and Best New Artist Of The Year. She was born Gabriella Wilson to a Filipino mother and Black father. She first attracted the spotlight as a child prodigy, eventually signing a record contract when she was 14-years old. At 21, she's yet to release her debut LP. There were two standout moments during her Tiny Desk set. One came at the midway point of her biggest hit so far, "Focus." When the instruments dropped out and background vocalists Ajanee Hambrick and Malik Spence chimed in with their lush harmonies, the audience melted. The second came when her focus was interrupted by a charming and sincere expression of gratitude for the Tiny Desk platform. For a split second it appears as though she's about to remove those sunglasses. "Not saying that I'm your favorite artist, but maybe me bei
Bob Boilen of All Songs Considered sees over 300 concerts in an average year, and he's got a theory that the sole of a band reveals the something about the soul of a band.
Cuba is known as much for their pianists as their percussionists — you'll see why with this performance. Cuban pianist Harold López-Nussa and his trio open their performance with some help from a recording of famed Afro-Cuban folkloric singer Lázaro Ros. Ros is both a musical and spiritual guide for this performance; the trio dug deep into the ritual music of santeria for inspiration with "Eleguá," a tribute to one of the Afro-Cuban deities. (Special mention should be made of Harold's brother, Ruy López-Nussa, on drums, and bassist Gastón Joya, who both fill the spaces between the beats while elegantly leaving breathing room within the performances.) "Preludio" demonstrates the telepathic connection between these musicians, while subtlety and emotion are not sacrificed for the slower tempo. "Hialeah" has the recognizable piano riffs — called guajeos — that we can recognize as originating with Cuban dance music, but the trio deftly melds that rhythm to a complex jazz exploration, without compromising its danceable pulse. SET LIST "Elegua" "Preludio (to José Juan)" "Hialeah"
Growing up in the '90s, there was never a Christmas without Amy Grant's music. Home for Christmas, in particular, was a favorite around our household, its string-swept nostalgia wrapped around the family den like a warm blanket and a plate of cookies. So when I invited the Nashville pop singer to perform our annual holiday Tiny Desk, I had to bring my mom. You could almost map Grant's fabulous four-decade career by those Christmas records (four in total, five if you count her reading of Jimmy Webb's The Animals' Christmas with Art Garfunkel). In them, you not only hear an artist progress — from '80s synth-pop to lush string arrangements to a contemporary Nashville sound — but as a person, as her own feelings and faith surrounding the season evolve with a mixture of melancholy and cheer. "As I've gotten older, sometimes I've realized the bravest thing you can do at Christmas is go home," she tells the Tiny Desk audience after performing "To Be Together," from 2016's cozy, yet lived-in Tennessee Christmas. "Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is open the door and welcome everybody back." And that's when it all comes home for Amy Grant. "Tennessee Christmas," written 35 years ago, takes on new meaning here — this was the first time she's performed the song since her father died this year. You see her eyes glisten, and her voice catch on the final "tender Tennessee Christmas," everyone feeling that wistful tenderness and offering some back in return. To shake out her sadness, Grant dons reindeer antlers (generously provided by someone at NPR because of course someone at NPR keeps festive wear on hand) and dashes through a delightful version of "Jingle Bells." Happiest of holidays from all of us at NPR Music! Tennessee Christmas is available now. SET LIST "To Be Together" "Tennessee Christmas" "Jingle Bells"
Saxophonist Miguel Zenón is a big thinker — that much is clear from his recorded output, with its deep and inspiring connection to the folk traditions of his native Puerto Rico. But you also get that sense from his turn behind the Tiny Desk, where we can watch the concentration on his face and those of his adventurous band, the Spektral Quartet. This is life-affirming music with curious twists and turns, expertly performed by amazingly talented musicians. There are two ways to marvel at the stunning unison playing that comes about three-quarters of the way through "Milagrosa." First, listen with your eyes closed. The notes cascade at a such a fast clip, it can leave you breathless. Now, watch with your eyes open: It's a joy to see Zenón and his band read the notes from the page, at times sneaking in visual cues with smiles just below the surface. It must be such a pleasure to make music like this. SET LIST "Rosario" "Milagrosa" "Villabeño"
When Buddy, a preacher's son from Compton, turns to me with eyebrows raised on the elevator ride inside NPR's corporate headquarters, it's hard to tell if the question that comes next is in preparation for his performance or pure provocation. "Can we smoke in here?!" he asks with a grin that elicits stifled laughter from his bandmates and a few newsroom journalists along for the ride. It's a blunt request, even from a self-professed "weed connoisseur," and it kicks off one of the most dramatic Tiny Desks in recent memory. If 2018 signaled the year of disruption in rap — with a shortlist of vets and newcomers trolling their way to the top of the charts — it was dominated by a groundswell of emerging voices who found more creative means to make their mark. Buddy's anticipated full-length debut Harlan & Alondra, named for the cross streets where he lived as a child, placed him among the better company (and on NPR's Best Rap Albums Of 2018). The same soulful hybrid of rapping and singing that compelled Pharrell to sign him as a teenager found Buddy stretching L.A. hip-hop beyond its typical gangsta narrative, while dancing with his dreams and shaking off his demons. But sometimes being a nonconformist works both ways. So when Buddy proceeded to fire up a blunt midway through his set, we had to stop the show and ask him to put it out before re-recording his song, "Hey Up There." (Smoking is not allowed on NPR property.) The performance was still lit, owing in part to Buddy's Baptist bona fides and his hood's close proximity to Hollywood. He grew up a singing in the choir and watching his dad work the crowd from the pulpit. He's also an alumni of actress Wendy Raquel Robinson's Amazing Grace Conservatory, an L.A. program known for steeping inner-city kids in the performing arts. Between the two, he earned his dramatic chops early. "I'm so used to being in front of an audience of people," he tells me, "just doing my thing and not really caring about it." He's
How do you play an instrument you never physically touch? Watch Carolina Eyck. She's the first to bring a theremin to the Tiny Desk. The early electronic instrument with the slithery sound was invented almost 100 years ago by Leon Theremin, a Soviet scientist with a penchant for espionage. It looks like a simple black metal box with a couple of protruding antennae, but to play the theremin like Eyck does, with her lyrical phrasing and precisely "fingered" articulation, takes a special kind of virtuosity. "I'm really playing air," she tells the Tiny Desk audience. "I don't touch anything while I play." The position of the hands influences electromagnetic fields to produce pitch and volume. Recognized as one of today's preeminent theremin specialists, Eyck writes her own compositions, such as the pulsating "Delphic" which opens the set, and she's got big shot composers writing theremin concertos for her. Joining Eyck for this two-musician-in-one Tiny Desk is cellist Clarice Jensen. When she's not making gorgeous, drone-infused albums like last year's For This From That Will be Filled, Jensen directs one of today's leading new music outfits, ACME, the American Contemporary Music Ensemble. "Three Leos," composed by Jensen, offers her masterful art of looping the cello into symphonic layers of swirling, submerged choirs with a wistful tune soaring above. The two musicians close with "Frequencies," a piece jointly composed specifically for this Tiny Desk performance. Amid roiling figures in cello and melodies hovering in the theremin, listen closely for a wink at the NPR Morning Edition theme music. SET LIST "Delphic" "Three Leos" "Frequencies"
Aaron Lee Tasjan arrived at the Tiny Desk in his fashionable ascot and mustard-colored shirt, sporting reflective, red, rounded sunglasses and mutton chops. As he warmed up, the sound of the middle-and-late 1960s came through his seagreen, Gorsuch 12-string guitar while his voice felt both familiar and fresh. This buoyant, East Nashville-via-Ohio soul and his fabulous band have a knack for channeling Paul McCartney, Tom Petty and The Kinks. Aaron Lee Tasjan's love for this older sound infuses Karma For Cheap, his recent album, with an optimistic THC-veiled sentiment — one that can be heard on "Songbird," his opening number here at the Tiny Desk. "There's a songbird singing, I'm laying on the floor. Something feels right that has never felt right before." These are songs of encouragement, and the final tune in this Tiny set, "Set You Free," invokes that sentiment in plain-spoken language: "You gotta change your mind, you gotta plant the seed and let it set you free." All the while, drummer Seth Earnest, guitarist Brian Wright and bassist Tommy Scifres seemingly channeled their love of David Bowie's 1972 song, "The Jean Genie" (a song mixed in Nashville), in its rhythms and vibes. It's all in good fun, exploring the ages and traversing music history. Aaron Lee Tasjan has a knack for making music that is timeless, as good music wants to do. SET LIST "Songbird" "End of the Day" "Set You Free"
Nate Wood says he only wishes he had more limbs. He made the comment in an interview NPR partner station WBGO, noting only the limitations of his physical body, rather than his ability to multitask. In his latest project, Nate Wood - fOUR, Wood's brain splits attention between four synthesizers, an electric bass and a drum kit, all while singing about futurism. He's his own engineer and roadie, too, who drove himself from Brooklyn to our D.C. office and quietly set up his gear, alone. His setup is made possible through a long road of ergonomic trial-and-error that includes the precise height of the keyboards, the instrument sequencing and a wearable microphone to minimize physical demand and maximize as many possibilities as he can fit within arm's reach of a drum throne. It's a feat of ingenuity, especially considering Wood plays all of fOUR's tunes in one take. No backing tracks. No overdubs. But while it's a thrill to see the multi-instrumentalist wizardry here, his music is perhaps best appreciated with eyes closed. Nate Wood pulls us into an industrial, neon dystopia with tunes that stand alone as headphone music without the accompanying visuals, meticulously crafted and with precise execution. This isn't novelty music. You're hearing (and seeing) a mastermind songwriter and mad scientist at work. Just look at that lab coat! SET LIST "Rabbit" "Better If You Try" "They're Coming"
When Stella Donnelly showed up for this Tiny Desk performance with just her guitar in hand, she immediately won the office over with her broad smile, warmth and good-natured sense of humor. It's the kind of easy-going, open-hearted spirit that makes her one of the most affable live performers you'll see. While there's no doubting her sincerity, she's also got a disarming way of making her often dark and brutal songs a little easier to take in. For this set, she performed entirely new — and, as of this writing, unreleased — songs from her upcoming full-length debut, Beware of the Dogs. Opening with the title cut, Donnelly smiled cheerfully through the entire performance while reflecting on the horrors that often lurk beneath the surface of seemingly idyllic lives. "This street is haunted like a beast that doesn't know its face is frightening to behold," she sings. "All the painted little gnomes, smiling in a line, trying to get your vote." She follows with "U Owe Me" — a song that's both comical and eviscerating as she describes a horrible boss she once worked for at a pub in Australia — before closing with what Donnelly describes as "a more run-of-the-mill breakup song" called "Allergies." Surprisingly, Donnelly chose not to play any of the songs that have gotten her to where she is in her young career — songs like 2017's "Boys Will Be Boys" or last year's "Talking," two savagely frank examinations of misogyny and violence that earned her the reputation for being a fearless and uncompromising songwriter. But the new material demonstrates that her unflinching perspective and potent voice is only getting stronger. Beware of the Dogs is out March 18 via Secretly Canadian. SET LIST "Beware of the Dogs" "U Owe Me" "Allergies"
This Blood Orange Tiny Desk is a beautifully conceived concert showing off the craft and care that has made Devonté Hynes a groundbreaking producer and songwriter. It's a distillation of themes found on Dev Hynes' fourth album as Blood Orange, titled Negro Swan. Themes of identity, both sexual and racial, through the eyes of a black East Londoner (now living in New York) run through this album and concert. Dev Hynes is a composer who fits as comfortably in the worlds of R&B, gospel and electronics as he does in the classical world of someone like Philip Glass. The opening song at the Tiny Desk, "By Ourselves," features Dev Hynes on piano, Jason Arce on saxophone, Eva Tolkin and Ian Isiah on vocals along with a powerful spoken word performance by Ashlee Haze. Ashlee's story is a tale of finding herself and her identity in the words and music of Missy Elliott when she was, in Ashlee's own words, an eight-year old, "fat black girl from Chicago" who discovered "she could dance until she felt pretty" and "be a woman playing a man's game." "Jewelry," the second song performed, welcomes Mikey Freedom Hart on piano while Dev moves on to electric guitar and vocals reminiscent of a languid Jimi Hendrix, with soul-baring lyrics of pride. The group then offers a rendition of "Holy Will," inspired by the Detroit gospel group The Clark Sisters, as singer Ian Isiah takes this song of praise to a whole new level. Blood Orange ends as a trio on the final song, "Dagenham Dream." Eva Tolkin and Ian Isiah are on vocals; Dev Hynes works an organ sound while singing about being beaten and bullied as a school kid in his hometown of Dagenham in east London. The power of each of these songs is magnified by the way Blood Orange has woven this performance together. He's a rich, rare and caring talent we first met 11 years ago in a grassy field in Austin, Texas back when he still used the moniker Lightspeed Champion. Now his thoughts are deeper, his message of finding one's place in
Most artists who play the Tiny Desk are at least a little nervous. Performing in broad daylight in a working office full of staring faces is outside the comfort zones of most people. But Chan Marshall, the unforgettable voice behind Cat Power, seemed especially uneasy when she settled in for her set. Rather than taking center stage, close to the audience, she stepped back and to the side to be closer to her pianist and friend, Erik Paparazzi, for much of the performance. She intermittently steadied herself by resting a hand under her chin while clutching a cup of tea, and she ran through three songs without a break, making her set sound more like a Cat Power medley than a series of distinct songs. Regardless, the music was arresting and beautifully orchestrated, with simple piano lines and brushed drums backing a voice that could only be hers. Opening with "Wanderer," the title track to Cat Power's latest album, Marshall sang of restless love and yearning with a nod toward motherhood and her 3-year-old son: "Twist of fate would have me sing at your wedding / With a baby on my mind, now your soul is in between." She followed with "Woman," another track from Wanderer — originally recorded with Lana Del Rey — before closing with "The Moon," from her 2006 album The Greatest. As the band played out its final notes, Marshall leaned on her pianist with a look of relief, as if to say, "We got through it!" But she was all smiles afterward, lingering long after the performance to chat warmly with friends and fans — particularly a small group of young children who'd attended with their parents. It was a sweetly endearing end to a memorable afternoon. SET LIST "Wanderer" "Woman" "The Moon"
Kurt Vile exudes a casualness at the Tiny Desk in his style and body language that is so unlike most anxious artists who come to play behind my desk. Sure, he's done this Tiny Desk thing before, with Courtney Barnett. But even then, I remember thinking that he's got something else on his mind — and it made me laugh this time around when Kurt played his opening tune, "Bassackwards," and sang these words: "I was on the beach but I was thinking about the bay / Got to the bay but by then I was far away." That idea of being one place and thinking about another, for me, also connects to the way he plays guitar. He seems distracted, yet the complex guitar lines he so nonchalantly plays, along with his musical mate Rob Laakso, are effortlessly beautiful and lyrical. After they played two new tunes from Kurt Vile's latest record, Bottle It In, Kurt goes solo on an older, self-described "juvenile" song from long ago, recently revived during his Courtney Barnett collaboration last year. "Peeping Tomboy" has its own schizophrenic issues as Kurt sings, "I don't wanna change but I don't wanna stay the same / I don't wanna go but I'm runnin' / I don't wanna work but I don't wanna sit around / All day frownin'." On the surface, it all can seem just chill. But there's a lot of rumination in these songs — and even when he's gazing into the overhead office lights, I think he got his mind on the stars and the world at large. SET LIST "Bassackwards" "Loading Zones" "Peeping Tomboy"
There's a magical aura that surrounds Lau Noah as she sits behind my desk and embraces her guitar with one foot propped unnaturally high on a stool. As melodies pour from the strings, she sings these words in Spanish: "On the verge of the soul, there is a red petal, attached to the skins of mortals." A few lines later in the song she continues, "a fragile petal that drinks the water of the most cruel stories: children who have never heard a fairytale, lovers who love, dressed in regret." This is the sort of poetic tale that captured my heart amongst the thousands of entries I watched during the Tiny Desk Contest in 2018. Her song she submitted for the contest is called "La Realidad." Lau Noah's journey as a songwriter and guitarist occurred by happenstance. She was born in Reus, Spain barely a few hours drive from Barcelona. She speaks and now sings in Catalan, Spanish, English and sometimes Hebrew. She'd played piano growing up (never guitar) and left Spain for New York City five years ago while in her late teens. On a visit to Montreal in 2016, Lau hoped to go to a Patrick Watson concert with friends. But the performance sold out and she was left alone in an apartment while her friends went to the show. Then a snowstorm ensued. The apartment had two guitars and, with nothing else to do, she picked one up and began to play. She wrote her first song, "Pequitas," which means "Little Freckles." Now, not too many years later, her creativity on both classical guitar, her narrative poetry and the singing of that poetry make the musician Lau Noah a unique spirit. Before she played her final song, "Red Bird," at the Tiny Desk, she quoted Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, from his novel Don Quixote: "When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies," Lau said, reading from her notes. "Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams is madness. And maddest of all: to see life as it is and not as it should be." Lau Noah herself w
Mountain Man is the perfect band for a Tiny Desk concert. These three women make the most intimate music; and behind the desk, the voices of Amelia Meath, Molly Erin Sarlé and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig were the stars. Adorned by only light, rhythmic acoustic guitar, they sing songs that conjure a simpler life: dogs, friends, moonlight, sunlight, skinny dipping, beach towels and sand. These dear friends have known each other for more than ten years, since their college days in Vermont. They released their first album in 2010 called Made The Harbor and only recently had a follow-up with the pleasantly surprising, 2018 fall release of Magic Ship. In the eight years between Mountain Man records, Amelia Meath went on to create Sylvan Esso with Nick Sanborn. Molly Sarlé, meanwhile, was in a meditation center in California — at a cliffside trailer in Big Sur — and worked on her own, beautiful solo album, which is due out soon. And Alexandra Sauser-Monnig worked with Hiss Golden Messenger, released her own music under the name ASM and has a new record coming as well. But there's a true kinship that happens in this trio. Things get quiet, sometimes funny and playful or, at moments, awkward, especially when they talk about "savory oatmeal." Mountain Man is endearing. There's a tour about to happen, and hopefully they won't vanish after that for another eight years. There's no other band like them. SET LIST "Rang Tang Ring Toon" "Moon" "Stella"
Scott Mulvahill has been trying to win the Tiny Desk Contest for each of its four years. And while he's never won, we all loved him so much we had to invite him to play.
The Afro-Cuban percussionist mesmerizes with his almost otherworldly talent on congas.
Decked out in matching, cobalt blue outfits, the singer and her band had a clear vision: If you want to overcome the times, find strength in numbers.
The Atlanta trap super-producer and son of a preacher man saved the day with a soulful Tiny Desk.
The Brooklynites stand out for their inventive and seamless blend of jazz, R&B and hip-hop.
Myers replaces her album's roaring electric guitars and electronics with a pulsing string quartet, piano and brushed drums — and uncorks a cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill."
The artist came to the Tiny Desk masked up, as always, the better to catch a glimpse of her soul.
Kaia Kater Tiny Desk
The U.K.-based singer-songwriter takes the Tiny Desk on a cosmic journey through her Saturn return.
The expectation upon seeing a banjo hanging is one of rollicking rowdiness, but when Kaia Kater began to strum her five-string, the mood in the office turned plaintive and a bit mournful. The Afro-Caribbean-Canadian singer and songwriter, who studied Appalachian music at West Virginia's Davis & Elkins College, often references the Black Lives Matter movement, within a music form that doesn't exactly snap to mind as being in dialogue with modern issues. These days, Kaia Kater records for Smithsonian Folkways, and some of the songs she brought to the Tiny Desk come from her recent recording Grenades, a record she worked on while exploring her father's home country of Grenada.
The veteran rocker and a backup band from Italy play songs from their album The Crossing, chronicling an American Dream of rock and roll and Beat poetry.
Philadelphia Rapper Chill Moody and singer Donn T, along with their crew known as &More, were one of the standout entrants in last year's Tiny Desk Contest. They bring a message of hope and love.
The singer from Puerto Rico is part of a movement on the island that emphasizes largely acoustic instruments and a folk-based approach to interpreting life before and after the hurricane of 2017.
Performing unplugged, the band forgoes its usual meticulousness in favor of a shaggy, entirely acoustic mix of new songs and '90s-era deep cuts.
It was a day when sunlight drenched the office and the songs of heart from Courtney Marie Andrews felt right at home.
The R&B singer from Los Angeles is all about showing and spreading love.
When Amanda Palmer heard she'd have around 15 minutes for her Tiny Desk Family Hour performance, she assumed there wouldn't be time for most of the songs on her new album, There Will Be No Intermission, a sprawling masterwork with epic tracks clocking in at 10 minutes or more. So, she showed up with just her ukulele in hand, prepared for a stripped-down, abbreviated set. But when we wheeled out a grand piano just for her – and after I gushed to the crowd about Palmer's brilliant new opus on the nature of humanity called "The Ride" – she decided she had to play it.
Scottish singer, songwriter and essayist Karine Polwart seldom comes stateside, eschewing air travel to reduce her carbon footprint. But on a rare, recent visit, she stopped in D.C. for a Tiny Desk.
These three songs, from Clark's incendiary new album This Land, roar with the assurance and force of a showman at the top of his game.
Each year at SXSW, a few emerging artists become the talk of the festival. This year, Cautious Clay — the far-reaching and breezily soulful project of singer and multi-instrumentalist Josh Karpeh — appears to be one of the names on attendees' lips. As luck would have it, Karpeh appeared at NPR Music's Tiny Desk Family Hour on Tuesday night, and this was the way to witness the band do its work: before a reverent crowd, in a reverent setting, with impeccable sound to bring out the richness and depth in Karpeh's voice. Cautious Clay performed five songs at Austin's Central Presbyterian Church, one of SXSW's best settings.
The music of Theodore is dark and transformative, with the kind of spare elegance you can hear in Sigur Rós or Pink Floyd.
The Calidore String Quartet confirms that the centuries-old formula — two violins, a viola and a cello — is still very much alive and evolving.
The setting: Austin's Central Presbyterian Church, last week, during SXSW. The mood: somber, stately, reverent. The moment: just seconds before a performance by Fragile Rock, a rowdy local indie-rock band that performs emo songs, fronted by bickering puppets.
Tiny Desk alums Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers surprised us all with their stunning collaboration this year as Better Oblivion Community Center. Together they radiate joy at the desk.
Toro y Moi loses the voice processing, synths and other heavy effects for a stripped-down acoustic set at the Tiny Desk.
If you're going to put together the first-ever Tiny Desk Family Hour — an epic night of Tiny Desk-style concerts, held at the wonderful Central Presbyterian Church in Austin during SXSW Tuesday night — you might as well kick things off with a core member of the Tiny Desk Family. Gaelynn Lea won 2016's second annual Tiny Desk Contest with the barest of ingredients: a few swooping violin strokes, a loop pedal and her fragile-but-forceful voice.
Laraaji is best known to some for his ambient work with Brian Eno in the late '70s. He brings his meditative calm to the Tiny Desk in this hypnotic performance.
This is probably the quietest you'll ever hear the first metal band to play the Tiny Desk.
Years ago, Gina Chavez was a SXSW discovery for me: I'd tracked her down at some unofficial showcase and was immediately mesmerized by the Austin singer-songwriter. Since then, many good things have come her way, and she's developed into a major artist. On this Tiny Desk Family Hour video, recorded live at Austin's Central Presbyterian Church during SXSW last week, you can hear for yourself the voice that caught my attention back then — and has never let it go in the years since.
These classically trained artists fill the NPR Music offices with shrieking, rhythmic noise that redefines what an electric guitar can do.
John Paul White is a Tiny Desk veteran two times over: He's performed once as a solo artist and once as half of the decorated and now-defunct Americana duo The Civil Wars. So he was a natural to take the stage for NPR Music's Tiny Desk Family Hour, a nearly four-hour marathon of concerts in miniature, held at Austin's Central Presbyterian Church during SXSW on Tuesday night. The room felt at once packed and cavernous, with White perfectly suited to the setting. He's got a voice made for high ceilings, with swooping strains of Roy Orbison, radiating intimacy to match the crowd's pin-drop silence.
Watch what happens when the smoky-voiced jazz singer from Mexico conspires with an adventuresome string quartet for songs steeped in Latin American traditions.
Watch members of the New York-based group give the world premiere video performances of two recent pieces by Radiohead guitarist and composer Jonny Greenwood.
When you're facing a crowd that's been sitting for three and a half hours, you might as well get everyone up and dancing. Leikeli47 was the ninth and final Tiny Desk Family Hour act to take the stage at Austin's Central Presbyterian Church during SXSW last week. So naturally, the charismatic, genre-smashing masked rapper closed NPR Music's big night with as much intensity, joy and free-wheeling fervor as the moment required.
There is no one making music like this 27-year-old, classically trained opera tenor and pianist. Watch and see why.
Hailing from New Orleans with a love of sticky, bass-bumping funk, Lucky brought along a 10-person band, including a quartet of horns, to capture the full flavor of his debut album Painted.
When Mountain Man began a decade ago, it consisted of three close friends arraying their voices in a resplendent blend, often without so much as an acoustic guitar for adornment. Today, the configuration remains exactly the same, except that all three members — Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, Molly Sarlé and Amelia Meath — have developed strong solo identities along the way. Sauser-Monnig also records wonderful folk-pop songs under the name Daughter of Swords, Molly Sarlé released a magnificent single under her own name earlier this year, and Meath is the singing, dancing half of the transcendent synth-pop powerhouse Sylvan Esso.
The group unites sounds from Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, with a dash of New York City thrown in.
Quinn and his musical partner, guitarist and singer Nick Carpenter, arrived from the cool of Anchorage to the swelter of D.C. and performed with remarkable confidence and grace.
Mountain Man: Tiny Desk Family Hour
Tomberlin is the daughter of a Baptist pastor, grew up singing in the church and, since her teens, has questioned her own beliefs in God and faith. Her songs are delicate and vulnerable.
This just in: The Muppets have arrived at NPR! The news has stopped! Count von Count and the NPR kids count us down: 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1! And there they are at the Tiny Desk: Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Rosita, Abby Cadabby and Cookie Monster, all singing about a sunny day and how everything is A-OK. The Sesame Street crew — including Elmo, Grover and other surprise guests — visited NPR's headquarters in Washington, D.C., to celebrate Sesame Street's 50 years of teaching the world its A-B-Cs, its 1-2-3s, how to be kind and how to be proud, all while spreading love and joy. 50 Years Young: How The Music Of 'Sesame Street' Keeps Up With The Times MUSIC INTERVIEWS 50 Years Young: How The Music Of 'Sesame Street' Keeps Up With The Times Sesame Street has won more major awards than any other group to play the Tiny Desk, including 11 Grammys and 192 Emmys. There was a lot of love as the cast of Sesame Street got to meet NPR hosts and newscasters, who in turn got to geek out meeting their favorite Muppets and the creators behind the felt and fur. These folks include Matt Vogel, Sesame Street's puppet captain and performer, and music director Bill Sherman. I even got to sing with Grover. And I'll also say, on a personal note, that this may well have been the hardest-working, most dedicated group of performers I've ever worked with. I'm so proud of these Muppets and so happy to celebrate all that they've meant to the world for these 50 years.
Foxing is at the forefront of an emo revival, heavily influenced by late-'90s and early 2000s groups like Sunny Day Real Estate and American Football.
The British madmen brought fury, cathartic rage and deep thoughts to the Tiny Desk for one of the loudest, most raucous performances in memory.
Imogen Heap takes us through her many musical talents, from her Frou Frou musical partner, Guy Sigsworth — and their first new song in 17 years — to an extraordinary performance with musical gloves.
Tasha Cobbs Leonard is widely regarded as one of the best gospel singers performing today. Her set at the Tiny Desk moved many at the NPR offices to tears.
Betty Who brings Roséwave, sun's-out pop to the Tiny Desk with all the usual studio production stripped away.
On Broadway, Be More Chill is a playful burst of frenetic energy and silly, stealthy sweetness. At the Tiny Desk, it holds onto that rowdy, generous spirit while stripping down the arrangements.
The group from Ireland makes music that mixes the organic with the electronic, starting with a large, 34-string lever harp.
Miya Folick was raised a Buddhist in Santa Ana, Calif., and is of Ukrainian and Japanese descent. She sings of conviction, not fiction.
Who would've thought that American Football's fruitful reunion would not only include some of the emo band's best songs, but also a children's choir at the Tiny Desk?
The two musical legends brought plenty of joy to the Tiny Desk, with an unexpected collaboration that works surprisingly well.
Every time she performs live, Erin Rae transforms her quiet storms into different hues of squalling introspection.
The punk-infused art band from Washington, D.C. brings a kinder, gentler and sparer version of the group's music to the Tiny Desk.
As the NPR staff gathered to watch his performance, Jacob Collier sprinted full bore down the hallway for his set, hardly able to contain his creative energy or enthusiasm.
The spirit of Cab Calloway lives on in Masego, the singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist who surprised NPR's Tiny Desk audience with a zany sense of showmanship.
Tamino possesses one of the most remarkable and memorable voices to ever grace the Tiny Desk.
Backed by a band assembled just for this occasion, the breakthrough pop icon performs three joyfully showy songs from Cuz I Love You.
The two bands just released Years to Burn, their first album together since 2005. Now, they've performed three songs — two new, one old — for Calexico's Tiny Desk debut.
The Calle 13 veteran, fresh off her appearance at demonstrations in Puerto Rico, performs three songs that rage with revolutionary intensity.
Bas came to the Tiny Desk to get it, and — in a breathless four-song set — he did exactly that.
David Crosby, Becca Stevens, Michelle Willis and Michael League are The Lighthouse Band, and together they harmonized the heck out of the Tiny Desk.
While Ty Dolla $ign visited NPR to record his own Tiny Desk concert, he also performed a special tribute to his friend, the late Mac Miller.
Among Authors' music isn't casual; there are songs within these songs, and they're not always catchy. They'll take you on a journey worth following.
Maybelle Carter's innovative method of playing rhythm and lead guitar simultaneously, called the "Carter scratch," helped revolutionize the way guitar is played. Watch Americana singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews show you how it's done.
How does half•alive, known for funky earworms and synchronized dancing, translate to such a cozy space? Have the dancers sit.
Watch a young cellist on the rise, offering music of virtuosity, sweet lyricism and a little fire from his Persian roots.
The Houston-based rapper's mindful words are like a life hack for anyone seeking guidance, with pleas to look past inherent hardships and evil and to stay focused on life's ultimate prizes.
Together, poets Ciona Rouse, Caroline Randall Williams and Adia Victoria are the Blair House Collective. These poems, written individually and collectively for NPR Music's Turning the Tables, honor Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith’s legacy and art.
Nicole Bus' sound is reminiscent of vintage R&B, yet still feels current and capable of transcending age and demographics.
Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz made everything seem so easy, pulling a few acoustic instruments out of their car and, in no time, huddling around a single microphone behind the Tiny Desk. With that, Mandolin Orange was ready. Emily bowed her fiddle while Andrew strummed a guitar and sang about his mom being carried away in a hearse. "Golden Embers" is the lead-off track to Mandolin Orange's 2019 album Tides of a Teardrop. This song shines a light on the darkness that fell on Andrew's family when he was 18. Now ten years into playing together, this couple from Chapel Hill has a family of their own and recently released their sixth album. The two of them sing and play in such complementary ways; it's heartwarming to watch the ease with which they perform and harmonize. Their second song at the Tiny Desk, "The Wolves," is a story song that, for me, tells a tale on an older woman's life, the "hard road" she's taken and that feeling of wanting to howl at the moon when all is finally right. There is joy and thoughtfulness in the music of Mandolin Orange. The duo's set ends on the thoughtful side with "Wildfire," a fan favorite from their 2016 album Blindfaller. It's a song with a wish that the Civil War would have left racism to rot on the battlefield, and yet it still rages like "wildfire." It's a sobering message presented with a gentle tone, a tone that instilled hope inside of me — hope that we may all learn the lessons of history and rise above them.
47SOUL's message of equality is meant for the world. It's music without borders, mixing old and new, acoustic and electronic from a band formed in Amman Jordan, singing in Arabic and English.
The pianist and programmer has transformed the acoustic piano into his duet partner.
The singer and mega-hit songwriter showcases three of his own tracks, including "I Luv Your Girl" and two songs from Ménage à Trois: Sextape Vol. 1, 2, 3.
Ella Fitzgerald is celebrated as one of the most important jazz singers of all time not just for the quality of her voice, but also for her groundbreaking improvisational skills. "Ella could not only sing a melody," says Jazzmeia Horn, "she could scat the hell out of some chord changes and sound just like an instrumentalist." Horn is a creative, expressive jazz singer who's also an impressive improviser. "I like to say that I am continuing the legacy, or the tradition, of vocal improvisation," Horn says. So we asked her to explain what scat singing is and demonstrate her own twist on Fitzgerald's trademark skill.
The three Israeli sisters in A-WA mix Yemenite and Arabic traditions with splashes of reggae and hip-hop.
The Tallest Man On Earth's second appearance at the Tiny Desk comes almost 10 years to the day after his first. He returns with a touch of grey and a beard, but no less intense or moving.
With eyes shut, Marley dug deep into the healing power of music with songs from his 2017 album Stony Hill.
Mary Lou Williams was a groundbreaking composer, arranger, performer and mentor. She was also known as "the lady who swings the band," thanks to her mastery of swing, "jazz's unique approach to rhythm," says Helen Sung. Sung is a renowned jazz pianist and award-winning composer who won the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition in 2007. We asked her to explain what "swing" is and what makes it so central the sound of jazz, and to show us how to do it.
Sixteen performers from the Broadway cast crammed behind the Tiny Desk to sing songs and share stories about thousands of airline passengers who were stranded in Newfoundland after 9/11.
Giddens shares songs from her latest album, There is No Other, in an emotional and transfixing performance at the Tiny Desk.
In the course of her career, Celia Cruz recorded over 70 albums and received a dozen Grammy nominations. Her powerful voice and charisma made her one of the most popular Latin musicians of the 20th century, earning her the title the "Queen of Salsa." She always carried her African roots into her music, says singer Angélique Kidjo — and that was especially evident in the uniquely rhythmic way she sang. Kidjo recently released an album of Cruz's music called Celia, so we asked her to explain what Cruz's music means to her and to demonstrate her singing style.
There's a hush to the music of Nilüfer Yanya that made the Tiny Desk the perfect stage for her sound.
Y La Bamba returns for its second Tiny Desk performance with a revised musical vision.
Roseanne Cash has been making great records for forty years, but she's never played or written better music than she's doing right now.
The R&B singer performed songs from her debut full-length, Shea Butter Baby.
In his second visit to the Tiny Desk, Josh Ritter had America on his mind. "We all have to fight against this notion that we're not all human beings."
The brothers and their backing band gave a playful performance of three tracks from their latest album, Happiness Begins.
After performing at the Tiny Desk as one third of the group Mountain Man, Molly Sarlé returns for a soul-stirring solo performance.
Nearly a decade after her first appearance at the Tiny Desk, Sharon Van Etten returns with a full band and a bigger, bolder sound.
The vibrancy of the band can feel childlike and candy-coated. But the group's songs are more about the pain of entering adulthood and leaving some of that sweetness behind.
The Alabama Shakes singer and guitarist brought an eight-piece backing band to the Tiny Desk for a set of deeply personal and affecting songs.
As she settled in for this stripped-down set, Taylor Swift looked out over the office. "I just decided to take this as an opportunity to show you guys how the songs sounded when I first wrote them."
One week after releasing a record-shattering studio debut, the Atlanta native brings a glowing R&B set to the Tiny Desk.
Along with his trio, the pianist, multi-instrumentalist and composer cast a spell over the NPR Music offices in this joyful turn behind the Tiny Desk.
The group from Japan is on a mission to expand the conventional meaning of "cute." Their performance included synchronized dancing, pom-poms and matching pink uniforms, with a heavy, angular sound.
Rio Mira's music celebrates life along the river that separates Ecuador and Colombia: soft breezes, loving friends, the embrace of Africa and lots of festejando!
The 34-year old R&B mainstay used his moment at the desk to fit in as many of his most cherished songs as possible — Nine songs in 17 minutes to be exact.
The British rapper made a trip all the way from the UK just for this Tiny Desk performance and powered through a set that made the personal political.
The Tony- and Grammy-winning singer, actor, author and Hamilton star performs three songs from Mr, his genre-bending new solo album.
Sunny War has been homeless, busked on city streets and Venice Beach, left home feeling she was a burden to her mother, battled addiction and still found a way to bring joy to others thru her music.
KOKOKO! are sonic warriors. They seized control of the Tiny Desk, shouting their arrival through a megaphone, while electronic sirens begin to blare.
The Nigerian singer and songwriter is one of the biggest African artists in the world and a pioneer of Afro-fusion, an inescapable sound this year.
The jazz, funk and gospel improv group brought jams and joy to the Tiny Desk.
The insightful pianist offers a Beethoven bonanza, ranging from the mesmerizing pulse of the popular "Moonlight" Sonata to flashes of wry humor and tender beauty.
The singer brought a sparkling pop-disco vibe and a lot of swagger to the sun-filled Tiny Desk.
A nomadic storyteller with a cross-genre style ranging from folk to rap, Mereba slays the devil in her solo set behind the Desk.
The influential reggae group, whose name means "black freedom," brought songs of solidarity and love to the Tiny Desk
The budding superstar debuted a new song with Phony Ppl and performed hits from Fever and Tina Snow during the first night of NPR's Tiny Desk Fest.
Dec. 5, 2019 | Rodney Carmichael -- The first time Raphael Saadiq played Tiny Desk, "it was really a tiny desk." "And honestly we were kinda complaining about it," Saadiq laughs, recalling that performance in 2009, back when hosting intimate little concerts behind Bob Boilen's desk was still a fledgling idea at NPR Music. "Like, we kinda didn't wanna do it," he admits in hindsight. It wasn't until the video-taped version of his set hit the Internet and began picking up views that the lightbulb went off for Saadiq, too. "It's like probably the biggest streaming I ever had, so it's kinda good to be back — not kinda good; it's really good to be back." As he tells this story, exactly one decade later, Saadiq's return to a slightly bigger Tiny Desk — to close out NPR's live-streamed Tiny Desk Fest — coincides with the biggest record of his career. Named for one of three brothers who succumbed to addiction, Jimmy Lee is his most personal, most vulnerable, most fearless work yet, and it com
This Tiny Desk concert was part of Tiny Desk Fest, a four-night series of extended concerts performed in front of a live audience and streamed live on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. For NPR's Tiny Desk Fest, Crow and her crack band of rock-and-roll lifers performed a 35-minute set (including two unexpected encores) that featured new material from Threads and a handful of hits that have morphed over the years into pop standards. From the easygoing opening strains of "All I Wanna Do" to the rousing final notes of "If It Makes You Happy," we were in some of the surest hands in the business.
The enigmatic and reclusive producer Madlib joins hard-hitting emcee Freddie Gibbs for one of the most memorable Tiny Desks of the year.
This Tiny Desk concert was part of Tiny Desk Fest, a four-night series of extended concerts performed in front of a live audience and streamed live on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. The first time Raphael Saadiq played Tiny Desk, "it was really a tiny desk." "And honestly we were kinda complaining about it," Saadiq laughs, recalling that performance in 2009, back when hosting intimate little concerts behind Bob Boilen's desk was still a fledgling idea at NPR Music. "Like, we kinda didn't wanna do it," he admits in hindsight. It wasn't until the video-taped version of his set hit the Internet and began picking up views that the lightbulb went off for Saadiq, too. "It's like probably the biggest streaming I ever had, so it's kinda good to be back — not kinda good; it's really good to be back."
"I just want you to know," Raveena told the NPR office, "that in this space that we're in, you're extremely, extremely loved."
Watch the band perform a blissed-out, gently sweeping set featuring three songs from its latest album, Titanic Rising.
The Comet is Coming is a force of nature. The British trio makes the kind of instrumental jazz that takes music lovers out of their comfort zone and into a musical realm they may never have explored.
The LA-based trio makes an intricate blend of jazz, R&B and hip-hop. For their Tiny Desk set, they pulled out all the stops: flutes, flugelhorns, saxophones, keyboards, ukuleles and more.
When Los Lobos gathered behind the Tiny Desk, it felt like they were cramped in the back room of a family Christmas party, calling up tunes from the Latin holiday song book.
The Swedish singer sways and writhes as he and his band create a dream state calming enough to slow the day's hectic pace to a crawl. Take a seat on a comfy couch and have a listen.
It's impossible to not be drawn in by the visual specter of Balún. The band has refined their electronic roots with their turn toward self-discovery on beautifully crafted studio albums, and this set behind the Tiny Desk shows how expertly they deliver the same meticulous, artful music live.
The irrepressible harpist proves that the instrument can be as tempestuous as a tango, as complex as a Bach fugue and sing as serenely as a church choir.
When the crew that is Spanglish Fly pulled in behind the Tiny Desk, the group's vibrant version of boogaloo raised the temperature in the NPR Music offices quite a bit. Whether displaying their party spirit or even the slow burn of social consciousness on the song "Los Niños En La Frontera," this band plays from the heart and engages both the mind and body.
The Austin, Texas band brought old-school R&B horns, bongos and deep grooves to the Tiny Desk.
Despite some unexpected gear problems, the soulful R&B artist and his band locked-in and played a phenomenal set behind the Tiny Desk.
Watch the celebrated opera star deconstruct old Italian love songs with her signature flair, backed by a crack jazz ensemble.
The Washington D.C. rapper gives a charismatic performance full of humor, heart and plenty grooves, for the Tiny Desk Fest.
The singer who once sang for Massive Attack and sampled by Iggy Azalea and The Chemical Brothers, is front-and-center at the Tiny Desk.
The eclectic composer joins members of the ACME ensemble for some of his most affecting music, which moves the audience to tears.
After first trying to win our annual Tiny Desk Contest, the singer-songwriter from Nairobi decided to put out a record, got nominated for a Grammy and wound up here anyway.
The fast-rising teenager from Jamaica just won a Grammy for Best Reggae Album, making her the first woman and youngest artist to ever win in the category.
Jimmy Eat World showed up to the NPR Music office all smiles and no guitars. They borrowed a couple acoustics, a gong and a tambourine for a heartfelt set that included "The Middle."
The R&B singer from Inglewood, CA made his performance a family affair, dedicating it to his late godson, with his mother and older brother on backup vocals.
The strength of this London band is matching message with music. There's intensity and clear intention in their use of rock as an art.
Here's a first: Steelpans at the Tiny Desk. It's true. Nearly a thousand performances into the series and the instrument has never been featured, until now.
At 25, she mixes the bluesy melisma of Nina Simone and the deep register of Sarah Vaughan — two of her influences — with songwriting as devastating as her delivery.
Phil Elverum shares his open wounds — of death, love and the loss of love — in close harmonies, accompanied only by electric and nylon-string guitars.
Backed by a small string section, Stevenson performed three songs that sounded so gorgeous, an actual marriage proposal broke out shortly after her set ended.
The Iranian-Swedish singer draws her musical cues from Brandy and Sade while racking up a list of collaborators such as Vince Staples, James Fauntleroy and, most recently, Pharrell Williams.
The Canadian singer-songwriter gives a deep, soulful performance against a sometimes moody backdrop of bass saxophone and bowed guitars.
Chris Dave, your favorite musician's favorite drummer, takes listeners on a journey through a virtual record store, picking up different genres along the way and putting them in your bag.
A consummate storyteller, going as far back to her days with her band Rilo Kiley, the words of Jenny Lewis comfort and inspire.
The Australian singer transforms the NPR Music offices with a voice that, at moments, comes as a whisper.
The band from Havana brings its intoxicating mix of Afro-Cuban dance music and 1970s funk-and-soul to the Tiny Desk.
Weir, along with Don Was and Jay Lane, play a set rich in Grateful Dead lore, including an emotional take on the sing-along, "Ripple."
Robby Grant, Pat Sansone (Wilco), Jonathan Kirkscey and John Medeski (Medeski, Martin & Wood) give an all-Mellotron performance, making music of magic and mystery.
The veteran jazz drummer is joined by special guests that include producer and percussionist Kassa Overall and actor Malcolm Jamal Warner, for a potent and deeply moving set.
Within the first moments of Taimane's magical set, we hear her play fiery flamenco, a famous phrase from the opera Carmen, a touch of Bach and more than a nod to her Hawaiian homeland.
A nine-piece choir joins the band for an inspired reworking of four Coldplay songs — and a surprise cover of Prince's "1999."
Watch the award-winning pianist play a hit by Chopin, a premiere by Thomas Adès and a cherished song by Gershwin dressed in a virtuosic arrangement.
The 23-year old rapper from Alabama went for a stripped-down set anchored by a Peruvian cajón.
The former One Direction singer gave a charming performance of "Watermelon Sugar," "Adore You" and other cuts from his latest album, Fine Line.
The New Normal includes some Tiny Desk concerts without the Tiny Desk. Sophie Allison, aka Soccer Mommy, performed a short set while quarantining in her Nashville home during the coronavirus crisis.
Watch the low-key British pop star perform "Sunflower," "Loving Is Easy" and more at the Tiny Desk.
The New York band (yes, band) is reminiscent of Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson and Dirty Projectors. Watch the five-piece play three songs at the Tiny Desk.
"Don't go out to the cookout." The leader of Tank and the Bangas spreads pure joy from her living room in New Orleans.
Chris and Rich Robinson revisit songs from their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker.
No joke: The Doobie Brother took to his studio to record a special quarantine concert for Tiny Desk fans.
The Death Cab For Cutie frontman performs a new song and pays tribute to Fountains of Wayne songwriter Adam Schlesinger in this quarantine concert.
The soul singer demonstrated a commitment to the Tiny Desk that we rarely, if ever, see.
From her "quarantine shed" in Hawaii, King Princess performs three songs from Cheap Queen in ways we never would have imagined.
Watch one of the greatest emcees in hip-hop history perform three new songs in quarantine.
You'll want to watch this deeply reflective and personal Tiny Desk concert.
From Margo Price to Nathaniel Rateliff, watch five artists perform their favorite John Prine tunes from their homes (and bathtubs) in honor of one of the greatest songwriters of any generation.
Ho hey! Look who turned up at the Tiny Desk. Watch The Lumineers play a four-song set for the smallest crowd in ages.
In the first installment of our new video series The Formula, producer Just Blaze unpacks the drum-centric samples he created for Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Whether he's tapping out sampled drums or incorporating live drummers in the studio, his ability to harness energy is what makes his sound so dynamic.
From Kevin Morby's tiny desk in Kansas City, Kevin Morby and Waxahatchee duet.
Laura Marling delivers an intimate performance of songs from her just-released record Song For Our Daughter in her living room.
Watch the superstar pianist at home in Shanghai, China, play a soothing Chopin Nocturne and Bach you can dance to.
Alex Toth, who played the Tiny Desk back in 2015 as a member of Rubblebucket returns front and center with his own band, Tōth.
With a great deal of "Salva-Mex-American" pride, Angelica Garcia performs three songs from her album, Cha Cha Palace at the Tiny Desk.
Even though he produced three beats for “Duckworth,” 9th Wonder had a realization during our interview. Three samples, three genres, three generations-- Kendrick Lamar intentionally wove "threes all the way across."
Nick Hakim premieres new music from a dark corner of his bedroom in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
For "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day," The Pop Ups save the earth from an asteroid, explain sound waves through a sing-a-long and a keytar, and encourage us all to invent and create.
John Fogerty plays three Creedence Clearwater Revival classics with some help from his family for his Tiny Desk home concert.
The Free Nationals and Anderson .Paak make their triumphant return to the Tiny Desk along with some other special guests.
Spinning records backwards was once condemned as satanic. But when DJ Dahi reverses samples— or alters his voice— to produce hits for the likes of Pusha T, Kendrick Lamar or Childish Gambino, it's a ministry of texture and sound.
Rodrigo y Gabriela play a relaxed Tiny Desk home concert from their studio in Zihuatanejo, Mexico.
Jeru The Damaja, the '90s emcee, shares a medley of classics for his Tiny Desk home concert.
The American guitarist met Adele Pappalardo years ago while touring Italy. They perform droning psych-folk songs together from their Bergamo home.
The harpsichord is alive and well. Watch Mahan Esfahani give the first solo harpsichord recital at the Tiny Desk, playing music that spans over 250 years.
DJ Premier is a purist at heart. He picks samples based on feeling and the beats he creates from them are all about honoring that vibe. That lineage has played out from his parents record collection growing up in Houston to his own expansive discography over the last 30 years.
Lianne La Havas plays a Tiny Desk from her cozy London space. Her set includes two songs from her upcoming, self-titled album.
Alexandra Sauser-Monnig returns to the Tiny Desk with her band Daughter of Swords, showcasing new music as well as songs from 2019's gorgeous Dawnbreaker album.
MILCK performs two recent singles, along with an unreleased track in a deeply moving Tiny Desk set from her home in Los Angeles.
Braxton Cook has supported artists at the Tiny Desk on three separate occasions. This time around, he takes center seat, so to speak, from the comfort of his sunny New Jersey home.
Jon Batiste premieres new songs and takes us through some of the many sides of his rich musical history at the Tiny Desk.
Unlike most super producers, Salaam Remi doesn’t have an identifiable sound he loans out to various acts. He’s better known for mining a sound from each act he works with that, in turn, becomes their signature sound. He pushes artists through their songwriting process and that helps him figure out where to go musically.
The country singer performed four songs from her latest album, Never Will, including one of our top 25 songs of 2019.
The R&B singer, whose music appeared on Season 4 of Insecure, performs four songs for our Tiny Desk quarantine series.
The jazz singer and guitarist has multiple Grammy nominations to his name. He performed five songs for our Tiny Desk quarantine series.
Grammy-winning fiddler Augustin Hadelich brings one of the finest violins in the world to the Tiny Desk.
The frontwoman of the indie-rock band Hop Along made her second appearance at the Tiny Desk, this time performing songs from her debut solo album.
Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn perform three songs from their couch for our Tiny Desk quarantine series.
The two rappers perform tracks from their joint mixtape Janktape Vol. 1 for our Tiny Desk quarantine series.
Clem Snide and Scott Avett play spiritually searching songs from Forever Just Beyond while maintaining social distancing for their Tiny Desk (home) concert.
The award-winning Irish quartet performs three songs from its latest album, The Livelong Day, at the Tiny Desk.
Watch the Americana star perform four songs in quarantine from her home in Ireland.
Watch D Smoke perform a riveting Tiny Desk (home) concert.
Watch the pianist reimagine old spirituals and songs of freedom that continue to resonate in new ways.
More than 40 years after forming, the British post-punk pioneers finally visited the Tiny Desk.
The Washington D.C. rapper and Rhymesayers signee debuts two songs from her upcoming album, The Sharecropper's Daughter.
The cast and musicians of the hit Broadway musical Hadestown pack into the Tiny Desk for a truly glorious performance of its greatest songs.
One of our favorite new artists of 2019 shares a new song as part of her Tiny Desk quarantine concert.
You've heard this Mississippi songwriter multiple times on HBO's Insecure this season. Now watch her perform live as part of our Tiny Desk quarantine series.
The Los Angeles songwriter shines on the soundtrack of HBO's Insecure. Watch her perform three songs as part of our Tiny Desk quarantine series.
Although sisters Este, Danielle and Alana are self-quarantining in separate residences, their Tiny Desk set from home is a reminder that California is a state of mind.
The Swedish funk foursome perform songs from its latest album, New Me, Same Us, plus an old favorite for our Tiny Desk quarantine series.
Benny The Butcher, one third of Griselda, performs a short set in his living room, with help from BSF labelmates Rick Hyde and Heem.
The Walkmen frontman gathers his children and a few haystacks for a special Father's Day edition of Tiny Desk.
The pop superstar premiered a new song, "Gramercy Park," and revisited a classic during her Tiny Desk performance.
Watch the drummer and activist perform three songs for our Tiny Desk quarantine series.
The acclaimed guitarist (and masculine half of She & Him) performed seven songs in his Tiny Desk quarantine concert.
The Miami-based reggae singer brings a green screen to his Tiny Desk quarantine concert.
The Seoul-based sextet performs music that blends Korean traditional music with modern sounds.
Sudan Archives draws inspiration from Irish and African traditional music. Watch her channel both in this Tiny Desk concert.
This Southeast African band deserves your attention. Watch a very special remote Tiny Desk concert.
The Brazilian-born guitarist performs a peace-inducing concert from his home in Los Angeles.
The Polish rock band performed a Tiny Desk quarantine concert in Gdańsk basement.
The indie rock band performs four songs while quarantining in five separate homes.
The Alt.Latino favorite comes together virtually to perform a handful of songs from the band's latest album, Invisible People.
The chart-topping rapper and songwriter performs a Tiny Desk quarantine concert at West Coast Customs in Los Angeles.
Watch four different Jacob Colliers perform simultaneously in the same studio in this unprecedented Tiny Desk quarantine concert.
This Tiny Desk quarantine concert features a guest appearance from guitarist John Mayer.
The Dutch singer brings us into his home studio for this Tiny Desk quarantine concert.
The singer-songwriter channels Whitney Houston, Alanis Morissette and The Cranberries' Dolores O'Riordan in her Tiny Desk quarantine concert.
The singer and songwriter plays four new songs from his home in Cornwall, accompanied by a modular synthesizer and fronted by Adams' gifted falsetto.
After performing for us last year, Nilüfer Yanya rejoins the Tiny Desk team from afar, performing three works from her last album and debuting a new song.
Lucinda Williams and her guitar mate, Stuart Mathis, set up shop for a Tiny Desk home concert at Thirty Tigers' headquarters in Nashville.
Thao is joined by two cellists in this remarkable set for our Tiny Desk quarantine series.
The Boston-born, Los Angeles-based rapper does it all in this performance for our Tiny Desk quarantine series.
This four-song set for Tiny Desk's quarantine series is utter joy.
One of our favorite indie rock lyricists performs a four-song concert for our Tiny Desk quarantine series.
Melanie Faye stole the show during Masego's Tiny Desk concert, so we invited her to perform her own quarantine concert.
The singer-songwriter performed music from his new album, græ, from his home in North Carolina.
The Nashville-based rock musician recorded a five-song set for our Tiny Desk quarantine series.
Watch the rising young pianist, in a final performance from his Berlin home, make the case for two seemingly disparate French composers born nearly 200 years apart.
There haven't been any live public performances at America's biggest arts center since mid-March. But New York's Lincoln Center has been hosting some free mini concerts for healthcare providers, teachers and other essential workers, featuring just one or two volunteer musicians and audiences of five, max. The musicians are volunteers from the New York Philharmonic, one of Lincoln Center's constituent organizations. One of the performers is Kuan Cheng Lu, a Taiwanese first violinist who joined the orchestra 16 years ago. On a recent Friday evening, he chose to play some solo Bach.
Watch the hip-hop group perform a stripped-down set from a house in Los Angeles for Tiny Desk's quarantine series.
The platinum-selling, low-key superstar performs a solo set at her piano for Tiny Desk's quarantine series.
This Tiny Desk quarantine concert takes place in a large car, looking out on the Caribbean Sea.
The rising reggae star performs a four-song Tiny Desk quarantine concert from Jamaica.
One of the shining lights of Americana music recorded a Tiny Desk concert at her home in Nashville.
Kevin Parker brings his "Tame Impala Soundsystem" to life in a Tiny Desk from Australia.
The soulful British singer invites us into her temporary backyard in Nashville for a Tiny Desk quarantine concert.
Billie Eilish used some of her signature video magic to perform in front of the Tiny Desk from the comfort of her own home.
To mark the release of her newest album, Tiwa Savage and her band, The Alternative Sound, returned to Lagos for a lovely set in a beautiful setting.
The quartet, known colloquially as Goat Rodeo, jammed out from four different homes in this Tiny Desk quarantine performance.
The Israeli clarinetist and Brazilian guitarist recorded this Tiny Desk quarantine performance in Rio de Janeiro.
Burt Bacharach, one of pop's historic melody makers, is still performing at age 92, as you'll see in this Tiny Desk quarantine concert with lyricist Daniel Tashian.
Protoje is a not-so-secret treasure who's been a vital force in the reggae revival movement these last several years. Perched in the hills of Irish Town on the fringe of Kingston, Protoje welcomes us into his backyard (which doubles as The Habitat Studio) for a uniquely fresh spin on a Tiny Desk (home) Concert. With a custom-designed set flanked by lush greens and mountains in the distance, this creative backdrop complements the uplifting feeling of Protoje's music.
For his Tiny Desk (home) concert, Bill Callahan stands outside his home, near a desk adorned with a taller-than-usual globe, two books and a single banana. Joined by trumpet player Derek Phelps and guitarist Matt Kinsey, the trio performs "Released" from 2019's Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest and three songs from Gold Record, which came out just last week. Callahan has a deep pocket of stories to tell, whether his own or those of other characters. Either way, we are all ears.
For her Tiny Desk (home) concert, Phoebe Bridgers chose the White House. OK, maybe it's a green screen, but she and her team created a sweet mock-up of the Oval Office, with Phoebe performing behind a very special desk. It's a far cry from the hotel bed in Austin we first filmed Phoebe on back in 2017, but her ambitions and talent run high. She played the Tiny Desk later that year and returned with newfound bandmates, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, as boygenius one year later. But there was more to come when she surprised us all for a magical collaboration with her musical hero Conor Oberst as Better Oblivion Community Center just six months later.
Declan McKenna and his band rock their Tiny Desk (home) concert. Their "home," in this case, is The Foundry, a neighboring studio in North London. Declan is decked out with glitter, channeling a more flamboyant side of rock than I've seen from him before. He's still immersed in complex storytelling with characters on the fringes, alienated for reasons of class and politics.
Most of us have experienced some form of heartbreak over the past few months. For me, music has proven to be the ultimate coping mechanism. Arlo Parks's songwriting taps into the feels we've all had this summer. Born Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho in London, she began writing poetry and songs because (according to her short bio) she spent her high school days "feeling like that Black kid in school who couldn't dance for shit, listening to too much emo music and crushing on the girl in Spanish class." Her ability to voice harsh bouts of despair, yearning and loneliness is juxtaposed by a gentle delivery that leans into folk and R&B. That same sort of contradiction is apparent in her decor: An MF Doom poster for 1999's Operation Doomsday hangs in a room with pretty accent lights lights, plants and a corduroy sofa. The subjects she writes about are familiar to us, but our expressions of grief rarely land so beautifully.
Look to the left of Nubya Garcia's Tiny Desk (home) concert and you'll see a hanging plant swaying right above the keys. It never stops moving during the next 23 minutes, and it's for a bizarre reason. Garcia's (home) concert took place on a boat — a first in Tiny Desk history — because she was in between homes. Before the pandemic hit, the London-born jazz saxophonist and composer was booked for an extensive global tour that started in February 2020, and it was expected to continue through the end of the year. Because she was only going to be in London for a very short time, she gave up her flat, planning to stay with family and friends for short breaks. It seemed like a good idea until March, when COVID-19 shut down most of the world and the tour, too.
We've been trying to make a BTS Tiny Desk concert happen for years now — even gaming out ways we might move Bob Boilen's desk far enough forward to accommodate the superstar Korean boy band's dance moves. In the end, it took a global pandemic — and the launch of Tiny Desk (home) concerts back in March — to make something happen. With BTS cooped up in Seoul, the group held true to the series's spirit by convening a live band for its Tiny Desk debut, and even arranged to perform in a workspace with a music-friendly backdrop: the record store VINYL & PLASTIC by Hyundai Card in BTS's hometown.
In 2015, Oddisee visited the Tiny Desk with a drummer and a keyboardist. For his Tiny Desk (home) concert, he assembled his full band, Good Company, for the first time since the global pandemic cancelled their tour last spring. They rehearsed the day before this capture at Assorted Studios in York, Penn., the midway point between the members' hometowns of Philadelphia, New York City and Washington D.C. They picked this facility because it felt more like a living room than a studio. And to make it feel as cozy as possible, they brought memorabilia from their own homes. Bass player Dennis Turner brought family photos, Ralph Real (on the Fender Rhodes) brought his son's toy drum set, and Oddisee brought tribal statues from Sudan.
Conway the Machine is bringing the heat throughout our bizarre national quarantine with multiple albums and mixtapes, adding to the groundswell of Griselda buzz that's been building the past 12 months. As one third of the gritty rap group, Conway brings a distinctive swag and raw emotion to the Tiny Desk (home) concert series (as did his cousin, Benny The Butcher). Nestled into a booth at a diner in Queens, N.Y., Conway delivers five joints, including three from his 2020 album From King To A GOD. "Front Lines," produced by Beat Butcha, was written after the killing of George Floyd and speaks directly to the racial profiling committed by cops while policing Black communities.
If you're going to be stuck at home during a pandemic, it helps to have an awe-inspiring living room view. Stellar singer-songwriter Brandy Clark highlights hers in this charmingly casual set recorded in her loft-like Nashville apartment. The city's verdant hills roll out behind her as Clark plays these four songs, most from her beautiful new album, Your Life Is a Record. Like that view, Clark's musical vignettes gently take your breath away, their small details adding up to something expansive. It's easy to imagine her sitting in front of her floor-to-ceiling windows and coming up with yet another way to carefully break her fans' hearts.
It's been about a month since the release of the new Bright Eyes album. It's right about now that I likely would have seen Bright Eyes at the 9:30 Club here in D.C. Knowing that wasn't going to happen due to the pandemic, I'm thrilled to have Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott join "together" for a taste of live Bright Eyes. They recorded this Tiny Desk (home) concert with Conor and Mike at ARC Studios in Omaha, Neb., while Nate sits 1,500 miles away at Lucy's Meat Market, a well-equipped studio in Los Angeles filled with sweet-sounding vintage keyboards. Singing and seated behind him is Becky Stark, better known as Lavender Diamond, along with their daughter.
This is the tiniest of Tiny Desk (home) concerts, a single song, recorded in Rwanda by The Good Ones. In 2019, the band's album RWANDA, you should be loved was one of my top 10 albums. They were to play a Tiny Desk concert in May of this year, but the world had other plans. Adrien Kazigira and Janvier Havugimana know endless hardships. The night before this recording was made, a flood in Rwanda killed more than a dozen people and destroyed homes. Muddied water was more than waist high in Janvier's one-room hut. That next morning, Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan and photographer Marilena Umuhoza Delli showed up to record the duo; she had the camera and he handled the audio. And though Janvier had been up all night dealing with the mud, they all took a two-hour drive to Adrien's hilltop farm. Janvier tapped out the rhythm with a key on a thermos; the jug was filled with milk — milk from a cow Adrien was able to purchase courtesy of a 2019 U.S. tour.
Americana's most famous couple perform a Tiny Desk quarantine set in their barn, backed by gorgeous stain-glassed windows -- Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires feel fortunate, they have their 4-year-old daughter, Mercy, a wonderful home, and each other. But as Jason points out, "It's been a little difficult, we haven't gotten to do the thing we feel we were born to do." Playing for an audience is what these two have been doing for a good part of their lives. Still, they're in their barn, making music for all of us to hear, and they are grateful for that. The songs for this Tiny Desk (home) concert are from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's Spring release, Reunions.
In this Tiny Desk (home) concert, R&B star Jhené Aiko coasts through an eight-song medley that plays like the ultimate nod to her legions of fans — fans who've been begging for a Tiny Desk for a long time. The Los Angeles native's star status is a result of her music's versatility and vulnerability. Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo has carved out a space of her own over the past decade, despite a rapidly changing R&B landscape. As a songwriter, she leaves no stone unturned, explicitly expressing her struggle, joy and sexuality while always administering the vibe.
Winning the Tiny Desk Contest has been a surreal experience for me, not only because it's a big, big honor, but because it's all happening in the midst of a global pandemic. Even just shooting my Tiny Desk (home) concert has been a wild ride: getting the band together, getting the NPR team together, figuring out how to shoot safely with everyone in New York City. At one point, we finally had everything set and ready to go. Then, days before the shoot, I tested positive for COVID-19. I will spare you all the details (lots of tears, lots of phone calls), but I am so grateful for my band, the NPR Music team and the Javits Center for going above and beyond for me, the human as much as me, the musician.
The first time I heard Little Big Town, I knew they needed to play the Tiny Desk. This was eight years ago, when the country foursome made a splash with the playful hit "Pontoon." The easy fun these friends projected won me over, but I stayed for the crazy powerful harmonies. I soon discovered that Little Big Town had been perfecting its vocal blend for more than a decade – and the group just got better, and more adventurous, as its star rose. In 2014 came the spine-tingling ballad "Girl Crush," in 2017 the Taylor Swift collaboration "Better Man." Both songs won Grammys. This year Little Big Town topped itself with its ninth album, Nightfall, a perfect balance of meditative moments and bangers that extends its reign as country's greatest contemporary quartet.
Angel Olsen is sitting on the porch of her new Asheville, N.C., home singing "Whole New Mess." She wrote it long before she bought this house. The song is actually about addictions, defining her "home" amidst a life of touring that kept her on the road for large chunks of time. Much like this Tiny Desk performance, the original recording is just her stunning voice and guitar (minus the birds and the trees), recorded in a church-turned-studio a few years ago.
Wayne Coyne has appeared inside a bubble for over a decade. At concerts, he'd roll over the tops of adoring fans, their outstretched hands keeping him aloft. That was novelty long ago; now it seems prescient. For this Tiny Desk (home) concert, Wayne and his bandmates are seemingly quarantined from one another, with the bubble-sharing green-haired drummers and keyboards pairing off, playing together yet apart.
Colombian vocalist Lido Pimienta has had one of the musical highlights of a year marked by tragedy and uncertainty. The healing magic of her album Miss Colombia transfers beautifully to this visually stunning Tiny Desk (home) concert. (Extra points if you can spot the tiny Tiny Desk!) Backed up by a bevy of international musicians based in her new home of Toronto (I see you, members of the Cuban group Okan), you can hear for yourself how Pimiento's quartet of songs challenge the concept of just what qualifies as "Latin music" in a way that both honors and expands tradition.
Vocalist Carlos Vives kicks things off in high gear on this Tiny Desk (home) concert with his trademark sound: a celebration of the music from his beloved home country of Colombia, mixed with rock and other Latin music style. Spirited champeta dance grooves from the country’s Pacific coast permeate his classic 1995 hit “Pa’ Mayte,” and if you look closely you’ll see two of his backup vocalists also playing traditional gaitas Colombianas (flutes). They are used to spectacular effect as a transition between the title cut of his new album Colombiana and “La Bicicleta” (originally recorded with his compatriot Shakira), a vallenato fueled by a bit of reggaeton.
When we invited Brazilian vocalist Bebel Gilberto to do a Tiny Desk (home) concert, we had no idea her home would have a spectacular view of speed boats gliding across the bay in Rio de Janeiro just beneath historic Sugarloaf Mountain. But those iconic sights are in fact the perfect visual backdrop for Brazilian music, and Gilberto's in particular. Bebel Gilberto is, of course, the daughter of one of the creators of bossa nova, João Gilberto. But as she slinks into the subtle electronic samba of "Cliché," from her new album Agora, it becomes clear why she is now a standard bearer of Brazilian music. During this concert, she is accompanied by Chico Brown, the son of famed musician Carlinhos Brown and grandson of the legendary Chico Buarque.
From a verdant room tucked away in Miami, Ozuna's Tiny Desk performance might allow you, as it did me, to forget for a moment that he's one of the most watched and listened-to artists on earth. For someone whose work often operates at galactic proportions, this performance of five songs makes room for Ozuna's sweet tenor to take center-desk in a love letter to the global communities that supported and streamed him to god tier status.
Gracie and Rachel are perfect musical mates. Their styles conjure contrast, with Gracie Coates' more pop-leaning keyboard melodies alongside Rachel Ruggles' classical background. They've been honing their orchestral pop sound since high school. These days they share space in a NYC apartment and are grateful to be able to "commute from their bedrooms" at a time when so many collaborators can't be together.
Christone "Kingfish" Ingram made his Tiny Desk debut in 2018 at age 19, flashing brilliance while backing hip-hop icon Rakim. Since then, this Grammy-nominated singer and guitarist from Clarksdale, Miss., has risen to critical acclaim and packed venues across the nation. Kingfish blends Delta Blues with contemporary melodies that resonate with blues lovers new and old. Evocative of mentor and collaborator Buddy Guy's signature hammer-on technique, the 21-year-old Kingfish ferries this treasured genre of the American musical tradition to contemporary audiences. His Tiny Desk (home) concert was shot at Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale with bassist Paul Rogers.
It's been 15 years since the legendary guitarist Leo Kottke put out a new recording, and it's no coincidence that his new music is with Phish bassist Mike Gordon. The two have a history of making albums together, but that hit a hiatus in 2005 with their Sixty Six Steps project. They're back with a 2020 album, Noon, and Phish drummer Jon Fishman joins the duo. And while they're miles apart for this Tiny Desk (home) concert, Leo at Creation Audio in Minneapolis and Mike and Jon at Tank Recording Studio in Burlington, Vt., there's plenty of humor and spirit traversing the wires.
The setlist for Spillage Village's Tiny Desk (home) concert reminds me of the bouts of pessimism and jolts of optimism I've had of late. Opening with the dreary, apocalyptic "End of Daze," leaping into titles like "Hapi" and "Jupiter," feels all too applicable in 2020. The Atlanta collective consists of Dreamville records standouts J.I.D and EARTHGANG along with Jurdan Bryant, Hollywood JB, Benji and Tiny Desk alumnus Mereba. R&B star 6lack, also a member of the group, was unable to make it to the shoot due to travel restrictions. Spillage Village began working on its latest album, Spilligion, in direct response to the unpredictable chaos the world has faced since March. J.I.D told Rolling Stone that he originally rented a house to begin recording his third solo album with collaborations, but that the heavy topics of the pandemic and social justice led to music that was bigger than any one artist.
Katie Pruitt's voice is like a kite soaring through the sky of her songs. Just listen to how it catches the wind in the song that opens her Tiny Desk (home) concert, the title track from her captivating debut, Expectations. "Sometimes I can't get outta my own head," Pruitt begins in a wry monotone that embodies the low mood she's describing. But phrase by phrase, Pruitt builds self-confidence until, by the end, she's fully aloft. Pruitt rides the high of her own chorus without histrionics. Here's an exceptional musician and songwriter who never feels the need to show off.
This three-act, 18-person Tiny Desk (home) concert was conceived by Michael League, Snarky Puppy's composer and bandleader. He and his cadre of artists on the GroundUP record label believe in two important points: that music and politics are inextricably linked, and the best way to connect people is through song. League's rolodex is impressive. If you're a jazz fan, you're almost certain to know many of the performers in this ambitious Tiny Desk, which includes (among others) Grammy winners Gregory Porter, Brad Mehldau and Chris Potter. The concert features three distinct ensembles.
Superstar songwriter Ty Dolla $ign has too much history with NPR Music and too many hits under his belt to deliver us just any ol' Tiny Desk from home. He assembled a roster of frequent collaborators (including Skrillex) under one roof to perform some jams from his new album, aptly titled Featuring Ty Dolla $ign, as well as a few of his chart-topping singles. While many know Ty as pop's go-to feature artist, the Los Angeles native has steadily crafted his own diverse catalog, with more than a dozen albums, mixtapes and EPs to his name. With Featuring, he flips the script, roping A-list pop stars — like Post Malone, Nicki Minaj, Future and Young Thug — into his own world, using them to define the Ty Dolla sound.
"We weren't sure what to wear and the only thing we could agree on was devil costumes." In a pink wig, blue horns and a purple cheerleading outfit, Sadie Dupuis brings a brightly ghoulish spirit to her Tiny Desk (home) concert, just in time for Halloween. Haunted Painting, her terrific new album as Sad13, is, in part, about metaphorical and literal ghosts: their weight and place in your life, but blasted with the sonic glee of a neon rainbow. While Dupuis' guitar unmistakably squiggles with a vocal vibrato to match, Sad13's pop sensibility differentiates from her other band, Speedy Ortiz; these sweet-and-sour songs explode with creative arrangements and nerdy production techniques.
The backdrop for Polo G's Tiny Desk (home) concert is a nod to his deep love for the game of basketball. He and his band perform in Los Angeles Lakers jerseys on an outside court in California, with Polo G repping one of the greatest Lakers, Magic Johnson. The man born Taurus Bartlett has achieved quite a bit for a relative newcomer in hip-hop. This summer he was selected for XXL's popular Freshman Class cover. His second LP, The Goat, debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 200 and spawned two platinum-certified singles, including the braggadocious "Flex" that kicks off his Tiny Desk.
Ascending R&B talent Tiana Major9 welcomes us into her South London home with a band she assembled for her Tiny Desk (home) concert. Tiana gained the music world’s attention in August when Adele took to Instagram to call the song “Same Space?” “absolutely stunning!!” (The post was liked more than 430,000 times.) I was lucky enough to witness a private Tiana showcase in Los Angeles several months earlier, where I was moved by the refined nature of her voice.
Mickey Guyton recorded her three-song Tiny Desk (home) concert in a warm-hued corner of a friend’s studio near her Los Angeles home. Her makeshift desk holds the book that inspired its title, alongside a pair of blue baby booties: Guyton will soon give birth to her first child. Albums by Whitney Houston and Patsy Cline -- Guyton’s guardian angels -- rest on the window ledge. The hands of keyboardist Lynette Williams, who also plays in Childish Gambino’s band, are the first sight you see as the music starts. This is country: soulful keyboards, the Afro-Caribbean instruments of percussionist Paul Allen, Jon Sosin’s acoustic guitar. Guyton raises the rafters and distills emotion with impeccable clarity. Her high notes thrill, her nuance in storytelling captivates. A star for our times claims her place.
Shirley Collins is a legend — a humble one, but undoubtedly a transformative voice in traditional folk music. It's truly a miracle to hear her voice at this Tiny Desk (home) concert. At 85, Shirley Collins is seated in the living room of her cottage in Lewes, East Sussex, accompanied by guitarist Ian Kearey. Her life story took the sort of twists you hear in the songs she sings, in her case, a broken heart, a painful divorce, and the loss of her voice. For 30 years, she couldn't sing. Now, here she is playing songs from Heart's Ease, only the second album she's made in the past 40 years. You hear her sing of a young sailor boy who saves his ship from robbers and is promised by his captain both gold and his daughter's hand in marriage. The lad sinks the robber's boat, only to be left to drown by that very same captain.
Pianist Tigran Hamasyan settled down in his home country of Armenia during the pandemic, and took the opportunity to catch up on projects that have been lingering, unfinished, for years. For a touring musician, it's one of the few benefits of the COVID-19 lockdown, having the time to get things done and engage with new work. Tigran first wowed me in 2006. Earlier that year, he'd won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and his performance at the John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts for NPR's annual Jazz Piano Christmas program was truly memorable. I've been following him and his robust discography ever since.
Since 2008, we've invited almost 1,000 musicians to come to NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., to play songs beside a desk that belongs to my colleague Bob Boilen. Since the pandemic hit, artists have been getting creative incorporating their own desks, and other makeshift setups, into Tiny Desk "home" concerts. But the desk – and the home setup – for this performance beats them all. The location is the home, and not so tiny writing desk, of Aaron Copland, America's beloved composer.
Enter the unassuming and innately talented Michael Kiwanuka from a "rainy London" flat that's dimly lit with a vintage feel. The Mercury Prize-winning musician evokes an all-encompassing softness in spirit as he leads viewers into the "Light," the first of five songs in his Tiny Desk (home) concert. The warm texture of his voice and tenderness of his soul belie the depth of his songwriting, which ranges from sociopolitical works to songs revealing the inner chambers of self-exploration. Featuring material from both Love & Hate and his more recent award-winning Kiwanuka, this is an absolutely stunning performance.
The Tiny Desk challenges artists to think outside their usual box. When they play my NPR desk, we don't amplify the singer's voice into the room, resulting in a more vulnerable sound. For their Tiny Desk (home) concert, the singer, musician and composer Owen Pallett did something different, but just as unusual. Owen recorded four songs in multiple stages on different instruments: first, they played acoustic guitar and sang; then they performed the songs again, but this time on violin and viola; finally, Owen layered the recordings in post-production, not really knowing what the final versions would sound like. They explain the whole process, charmingly, between songs.
For her Tiny Desk (home) concert, Adrianne Lenker's home is a camper trailer parked somewhere in Joshua Tree National Park. It's the appropriate setting for the five songs she performs from her new album, tunes birthed in a wooden cabin in Massachusetts. The songs, the words, the voice of Adrianne Lenker has been at the top of my year-end musical loves for the past five years, more so than any other artist. It began with her work as the singer and songwriter on Big Thief's electric debut album, Masterpiece, in 2016 and runs through this year's two sister solo albums, one titled songs and the other instrumentals. Those albums contain nothing more than an acoustic guitar, voice, and the bug, birds, and creatures captured while recording.
Recorded in his hometown of Detroit, KEM's Tiny Desk performance is light, welcoming and beautifully decorated. So is his music. After almost 20 years of recording R&B hits like "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Love Calls," he still comforts my soul with his sultry voice and simple, yet satisfying melodies. Fans have been waiting since 2014 for a new album and it finally dropped earlier this year. Love Always Wins is filled with his signature romantic style. With accompaniments by veteran musicians, Michael "Nomad" Ripoll on guitar and David McMurray on saxophone, we get to hear three songs from the album in this lovely set.
Classic soul music feels best in a club, with a lead singer and big band, preferably with horns, playing off the excitement of a sweaty crowd, drawing them in to stories of love, or love lost, or love reclaimed. It's a hard feeling to find in our pandemic times. In his Tiny Desk (home) concert, soul legend Don Bryant brings us there, with just a keyboard, a guitar player and an otherwise empty room. Wearing an elegant black and grey jacket matching his salt-and-pepper hair, Bryant evokes style and experience – someone who has been in it for the long haul.
If 2020 has taught me one lesson, it’s this: “Don’t wait on what’s yours. Just go get it.” At 21, Atlanta’s record-setting fresh face Mulatto has spent her entire year embodying that lesson. With her debut album, Queen Of Da Souf, and a relentless run of features, Big Latto has stamped her flag in hip-hop’s most influential city at a crucial moment. At a time when women in hip-hop are running laps around the guys without so much as shifting their lace fronts, Latto is finding her footing in the new rap canon with Gold-charting singles, standout freestyles, and cosigns from the likes of Nicki Minaj, Gucci Mane and Trina.
"Tiny Desk! We finally made it!" exclaimed singer-songwriter Mac Ayres as he finished his opening number, "She Won't Stay Long." I'm sure his fans will especially feel that sentiment since they've made a home in our social media feeds and YouTube comments for years now. We were well on the way to hosting Mac Ayres at our D.C. offices until we had to shut down and pivot. As we worked our way through the adjustment to Tiny Desk (home) concerts, he also needed some time to regroup.
Soprano Julia Bullock prefers to be called a "classical singer." It's a rather humble, even vague, appellation for one of today's smartest, most arresting vocalists in any genre. She was just named Artist of the Year by Musical America, who labeled her an "agent of change." Bullock, who also considers herself an activist, has shaken up the classical music world recently with provocative programming and expressive performances. You can witness just that in this extraordinary Tiny Desk (home) concert from Munich, Germany with pianist and conductor Christian Reif, whose sensitive playing seems to anticipate and enhance Bullock's every phrase. He also happens to be her husband.
If we invite artists to return to the Tiny Desk, we ask that they do something completely different from their first show. For PJ Morton, the obvious shift would've been to come solo. After all, he defied the laws of space back in 2018 and managed to squeeze 14 bodies behind the Desk. This time around he's just as generous with the spotlight, but puts a new focus on gospel. Gathered in a big airy space in his hometown of New Orleans, PJ and his band performed three selections from the now Grammy-nominated The Gospel According To PJ, his very first gospel album. He grew up playing gospel music, but chose secular music as his professional path. The album brings him back full circle, a journey mapped out in conversations on the album with his father, Bishop Paul S. Morton.
With a genuine smile stretched across her face, Dua Lipa seems overjoyed to reconnect with her band for their only performance since their tour in support of her sophomore album, Future Nostalgia, was cancelled in March. Glowing from the inside out and accentuated by the apricot hues of a backdrop in a London studio, Dua and her backup vocalists and band bring life and warmth into households in need of "levitating" and some pep in their step this winter. This vibrant four song set of dance hits, all from Future Nostalgia, will surely have you cutting up the floor in your kitchen while quarantining in the cold weather.
The Austin-based rock band Black Pumas is having a good 2020. The group, led by singer Eric Burton and guitarist Adrian Quesada, was just nominated for three Grammys, including album of the year for Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition), and both record of the year and best American roots performance for the track "Colors." The band's turn behind a tiny desk (and chair) shows why its debut album — now more than a year old — is receiving so much recognition right now.
Powerful sister duo Chloe x Halle went all out on this one. Flanked by personal memorabilia supplied by their mother, the Bailey sisters did their best to make this studio performance really feel like a home concert. As they volley off each other, swapping lead and harmonies, it's amazing to watch how years of practice and innate genetic chemistry have them synced tighter than a SMPTE timecode. "Baby Girl," the second song here, starts with notes reminiscent of Crystal Waters' "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)," and is preceded with Chloe sharing "I know this year 2020 has been absolutely bonkers for all of us. For those moments where you kinda feel less than and you're not good enough ... that's why we wrote this song. ... Whatever happens, we'll be OK. And this is our world." Fusing R&B, soul and pop, backed by a talented nine-piece female band, this performance is surely to delight Chloe x Halle's global fanbase.
"I've never done this without Paramore," Hayley Williams announces during her Tiny Desk (home) concert. For the first time in months, she's joined by a band, including friends and Tiny Desk alumnae Julien Baker and Becca Mancari. And from the moment the camera pans out of a literal tiny desk diorama, a jolt of energy leaps from Williams. Petals for Armor is a soul-cleansing exhale from years of holding her breath. Originally released in a series of EPs, her solo debut sings through heartache in a tangle of triumph and hard-earned wisdom. It's a pop album that knows sadness can simmer, but also shout over an ever-shifting sonic palette. During the pandemic and protests, Williams has played these songs from her couch with muted restraint, and self-serenaded with acoustic covers — sad songs really can be sympathetic companions during dark days.
I've always found something comforting in the music of Ashley Ray. When I saw her in this Tiny Desk (home) concert, sitting on a screened-in porch with producer, songwriter and longtime friend Sean MConnell (and a distant chorus of crickets chirping in the early evening light), I realized why: Her songs sound like home. Love of family, the memories and traditions we share, tales of loving the past until it's time to let it go: They're all in her music, amplified by this setting, with beautiful, two-part harmonies and a couple of acoustic guitars.
The pandemic has sidelined many big Beethoven birthday plans. Jonathan Biss was slated to play concerts around the globe in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth. Instead, he's home in Philadelphia. So it's no surprise that for this all-Beethoven Tiny Desk concert, Biss chose music that explores the composer's own isolation, brought on by deafness and an uncompromising personality.Biss is uniquely qualified for the task at hand. The 40-year-old pianist has recorded all 32 of Beethoven's freewheeling sonatas, performed them worldwide and has taught an online course in the music.
After the pandemic hit and musicians migrated online to share their performances, Nicholas Kitchen, the first violinist of the Borromeo String Quartet, built a little "concert shell" in his Boston-area loft he calls "MusicKitchen." It's a practice space for the group which he shares with his wife, the Borromeo's cellist Yeesun Kim. Like the shells in regular concert spaces, but on a tinier scale, the Kitchen shell (seen behind the players in this video) helps project the sound. And the sounds Kitchen wants to emphasize in this concert come by way of Beethoven, the composer born 250 years ago this week.
For this Tiny Desk (home) concert, we pay a visit to the doctor's office. Actually, the venue is called Rare Violins of New York and it's something of a second home to cellist Jan Vogler, who pops in frequently to have the experts give his 1708 Stradivarius cello a thorough checkup. If your multi-million-dollar fiddle has a cough or the sniffles, or even needs a full-blown restoration, Rare Violins, which sits just a block away from Carnegie Hall, can help. The firm also has a lovely music room, kitted out with a fine piano – something Vogler lacks at his place. With help from the fine pianist Alessio Bax, Vogler makes a convincing case for Beethoven as one of the great heroes of the cello. Beethoven, whose 250th birthday falls this week, wrote five cello sonatas, plus other works for the instrument, which, before his time, was primarily relegated to beefing up the bass line in various chamber music situations.
It's Cory Henry's favorite time of the year, and the charismatic keyboardist has this wish for us all: "May these songs fill you and your family with joy and happiness as we bring in what will be a far better year than the last. Live in love, live in peace, grow in freedom. Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays." Henry is a renowned composer, producer and musician who rose to fame as a member of Snarky Puppy. In 2018, he visited the actual Tiny Desk for a jubilant performance with his own band, Cory Henry and The Funk Apostles. Just a few weeks ago, he released a holiday album, Christmas With You, a collection of classics and new compositions full of comfort, joy and reflection. For this Tiny Desk (home) concert, Henry and his longtime collaborator, drummer TaRon Lockett, recorded a couple of those songs at the Gold—Diggers studio in Los Angeles.
"Good afternoon humans, my name is Sevdaliza, you're very welcome on flight 808; our destination is Shabrang." And so begins our elegant, ethereal journey. We hear an old reel-to-reel tape machine spinning some Brazilian bossa nova sounds, then shift to something more somber. Sevdaliza is seated, the tones are golden and brown, and her yearning voice sings, "I am flesh, bones / I am skin, soul / I am human." The song, "Human," which casts away the notion of artists — particularly female artists — as products. It's a defiant stand from this Iranian-born artist. Sevdaliza is an original, a truly creative soul. Her collaborators play delicate textures — electronic percussion, buzzing, swirling synth sounds, and cello and violin beautifully enhance texture and melody.
From a stunning room overlooking the San Gabriel Mountains in Pasadena, Calif., we hear the ethereal sounds of Active Child. "I chose this space, as this is where I've written nearly every piece of music for my active child project. my music and this house / this view are completely intertwined." Active Child is the music of Patrick Grossi. For his Tiny Desk (home) concert, he layers his choral-styled voice on top of melodic harp and piano. Electronic beats propel selections from his latest album, In Another Life, as well as one of his earliest and well-known songs, "Hanging On," that we featured on NPR Music back in 2011. Active Child makes music like no one else, and this Tiny Desk (home) concert is a perfect way to experience his music.
I don't recall any other artist at the Tiny Desk harmonizing their own introduction, but Philadelphia's own Jazmine Sullivan didn't waste a second, greeting us all by flexing those once-in-a-generation chops from the jump. The singer-songwriter, draped in a trench coat while her band sports all black, are nestled in the corner of a dimly lit space resembling a cabaret. We don't see or hear much from Jazmine Sullivan until she has something to get off her chest. She drops a body of work every five years or so, shakes up the world of R&B with each offering, then quietly goes back to minding her own business. Her latest project, Heaux Tales, is a bold and timely conversation piece addressing truths regarding relationships, sex, social norms, self-worth and a myriad of other topics that women graple with. Each song is masterfully connected to another through unique yet familiar testimonies by women from all walks of life.
The Tiny Desk is teaming up with globalFEST this year for a thrilling virtual music festival: Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST. The online fest includes four nights of concerts featuring 16 bands from all over the world. Hosted by African superstar Angélique Kidjo. For our opening night, we have the gospel sounds of the Dedicated Men of Zion, the flamenco and Gypsy jazz-influenced North African sounds of Labess, the award-winning vocalist and songwriter Sofia Rei, who blends Argentine and other South American folk traditions with experimental pop and electronic music, and Tiny Desk alum DakhaBrakha, a Ukranian rock band overflowing with joy and energy.
Dedicated Men of Zion come to you from their backyard barbecue in North Carolina, bringing with them an electrified version of sacred Gospel soul music. This family band (all related through blood or marriage) has been isolating together during the pandemic, and the members are excited to provide an uplifting note during difficult times.
This Algerian and Canadian band proves that music has no boundaries even in times of isolation. Recording its set from France and Colombia, Labess blends flamenco and Gypsy jazz-influenced North African chaabi into energetic soul music with a nonstop beat. Singing in Arabic, French and Spanish, lead vocalist Nedjim Bouizzoul mixes realism and hope, gentleness and fury, in stories about exile that illustrate the joys and the distress that pave the road from the native countries to new homes and back again. Through his poetry, he proposes we reflect on cultural diversity and the necessity to unite, no matter our differences.
Recording from her apartment in Brooklyn, award-winning Argentine vocalist and songwriter Sofia Rei provides a concert that blends South American folk traditions with experimental pop and electronic music. That mix of tradition and modernity extends to her surroundings, which features traditional iconography, robotic 'saints,' exuberant plants and looping pedals.
This show marks DakhaBrakha's return to globalFEST and Tiny Desk. The Ukranian band's first globalFEST performance was in 2014, and their 2015 Tiny Desk concert remains a favorite. We've had them in our spaces, so it's a real treat to see them in theirs, the Dakh Theater in Kiev. Coming together, their performance maintains the energy and joy that define their music, bouncing off each other musically and emotionally. DakhaBrakha aims to keep Ukraine's musical and storytelling tradition alive by making it more accessible to a younger, international audience, a kind of self-proclaimed "ethno-chaos." They craft stunning sonic worlds for traditional songs, reinventing their heritage with a keen ear for contemporary resonances.
The Tiny Desk is teaming up with globalFEST this year for a thrilling virtual music festival: Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST. The online fest includes four nights of concerts featuring 16 bands from all over the world. Hosted by African superstar Angélique Kidjo. On Tuesday night, we have Minyo Crusaders' new spin on Japanese folk music, Peruvian cumbia music from Hit La Rosa, Natu Camara's combination of West African soul, rock and pop music, and Tunisian singer and activist (and globalFEST Alum) Emel.
Min'yō folk music was originally sung by Japanese fishermen, coal miners and sumo wrestlers hundreds of years ago, and the Minyo Crusaders are on a mission to make these songs relevant to an international audience. For their performance, the Crusaders found a unique take for their desk: a "kotatsu," which is a heated Japanese table traditionally used for gathering in the winter months.
From the candle-lit home of their lead singer, Hit La Rosa comes in hot and doesn't stop until the final measure. The band explores the many facets of Peruvian cumbia music, infusing it with pop music, folklore, jazz and dancehall to produce its distinctive grooves and hooks. The band's precise-yet-dreamlike music and punk sensibility all come together to make music that explores life's shadowy sides. Despite living through a political crisis in Peru, the band brings a message of hope and joy in the midst of struggle and upheaval.
From a studio space in Brooklyn, Guinean native Natu Camara mixes West African soul, rock and pop music. As a builder of inter-cultural bridges, Camara uses her songs to bring people together, weaving a tapestry of musical stories and visions of her beloved home.
Tunisia-born singer Emel first performed at globalFEST in 2015, the same year she performed her song of Tunisian Revolution, "Kelmti Horra," at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. Emel was hailed by NPR as a "21st century catalyst for change." She created her latest album, The Tunis Diaries, equipped with only a laptop, tape recorder and a crowdsourced guitar after she was unexpectedly quarantined in her childhood home in Tunis last spring.
The Tiny Desk is teaming up with globalFEST this year for a thrilling virtual music festival: Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST. The online fest includes four nights of concerts featuring 16 bands from all over the world. Hosted by African superstar Angélique Kidjo. For the third night of the festival, we have Vox Sambou’s energetic Hatian funk from Montreal, Carnatic Indian music from Aditya Prakash Ensemble, a blend of old and new with Italian singer-songwriter Rachele Andrioli, and an expansion and exploration of American Roots music from globalFEST alum Martha Redbone.
There are few performers as "alive" as Vox Sambou, whose energy and soul transcends the virtual space. He starts his performance at Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST with a short moment between himself and his son, overseen by a painting of his mother, highlighting the ways we pass down traditions from generation to generation. Based in Montreal, Quebec, Vox Sambou writes and performs in Hatian-Creole, French, English, Spanish and Portuguese. His music is a joyous fusion of Haitian funk, reggae and hip-hop.
Performing from their home base in Los Angeles, Aditya Prakash Ensemble highlights songs borne from South India's Carnatic tradition. Prakash uses his voice as an instrument to tell powerful, emotive stories — which he reimagines in a fresh, dynamic way. Aditya Prakash Ensemble's modern take on traditional music mixes in jazz and hip-hop and features a diverse L.A. ensemble.
Recording from southern Italy, Rachele Andrioli's performance highlights her mix of old and new, of traditional music and modern technology. Her trance vocals and loop pedals create a sound all her own, mixing music from Italian, Indian, Lebanese, Albanian and Romani cultures and traditions.
Martha Redbone performs her Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST performance from her home studio in Brooklyn's Navy Yards. Native and African-American singer-songwriter Martha Redbone is known for her mix of folk, blues and gospel from her childhood in Harlan County, Ky., which she infuses with the eclectic grit of pre-gentrified Brooklyn. Inheriting the powerful vocal range of her gospel-singing African-American father and the resilient spirit of her mother's Cherokee, Shawnee and Choctaw culture, Redbone broadens the boundaries of American Roots music.
The Tiny Desk is teaming up with globalFEST this year for a thrilling virtual music festival: Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST. The online fest includes four nights of concerts featuring 16 bands from all over the world. Hosted by African superstar Angélique Kidjo. For the final night of Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST, we have Edwin Perez's presentation of salsa dura, First Nations advocate and singer-songwriter Elisapie performing in Montreal, 15-year-old Appalachian banjo player Nora Brown, and globalFEST alum Rokia Traoré performing from Mali.
From the basement of the Bowery Electric in downtown Manhattan, composer and vocalist Edwin Perez and his 10-piece band come together to put on a show. With a strong backbeat and enough room to move around, Perez's up-tempo energy brings the party and keeps it going. The theme of the night is salsa dura music, which originated in New York in the 1970s and gained acclaim thanks to acts like the Fania All-Stars and Spanish Harlem Orchestra.
Elisapie returns to Tiny Desk for a show-stopping performance from Montreal, with the disco globe of our dreams helping to light her set. Elisapie, in both her songs and work, is a resounding advocate of First Nations culture in Canada. In her set, she harnesses an incredible energy with electrifying, emotive vocals.
Thirty feet below the surface in Brooklyn, 10th grader Nora Brown brings incredible, surprising depth to the Appalachian music she plays. Over the course of her Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST concert, surrounded by innumerable globes and instruments, she infuses new life and energy into the traditional songs of Addie Graham, Virgil Anderson and Fred Cockerham. Nora weaves together songs and storytelling, speaking of the great history of the music that came before her and at which she excels. This performance took place on the second night of our 2021 festival.
Rokia Traoré performed at globalFEST in 2005, the music festival's second year, and it's a thrill to present her meditative performance as part of Tiny Desk meets globalFEST. Her work is rooted in the Malian musical tradition, but defies the confines of a single culture. Born in Mali to a diplomat father, Traoré had a nomadic upbringing that exposed her to a wide variety of international musical influences. She joins us from Blues Faso, a theater inside her Foundation Passerelle in Mali, which she created to support emerging, interdisciplinary artists, from music and the performing arts to visual arts and photography.
"Hi, I'm mxmtoon, and I'm doing my Tiny Desk at the world's biggest desk!" And so it begins, from an eerily empty New York City office building, mxmtoon sings songs filled with dreams and anxieties. Much of the music comes from her recent 2020 EPs, Dawn and Dusk. Those EPs included collaborations with Carly Rae Jepsen and Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus. For this Tiny Desk (home) concert, her sweet voice and ukulele are accompanied by Nicole Wakabayashi on piano and Cale Hawkins on guitar.
TH1RT3EN, an irreverent and inflammatory new trio conceived by hip-hop star and lyrical savage Pharoahe Monch, has been in the works for five years. Co-conspirators include Daru Jones, a monster on the drums best known for his work with Jack White, and guitar mercenary Marcus Machado. Both the moniker and supergroup were born out of a frustration with the veneer of American society that underestimates the darkness of white supremacy.
If Gabriel Garzón-Montano's solo Tiny Desk back in 2017 was an exercise in restraint and vulnerability, his home set is the polar opposite. It beams ingenuity and unveils multiple layers, figuratively and literally. Taking advantage of of the rare opportunity to gather musicians in quarantine times, he says "It's like being a child who's allowed to do what they always wanted to do when they didn't wanna get up for school, and it's also felt like an adult who didn't know what to do at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon. I'm focusing on oscillating between those states with ease."
Sincerest apologies to Stefan Babcock's neighbors: For PUP's Tiny Desk (home) concert, the Toronto group refused to dial down the volume, filling Babcock's neatly-furnished living room – complete with an Ontario pennant – and just maybe making a few enemies down the street in the process.
There's a distinct dissonance between the bucolic setting of this lovely Max Richter Tiny Desk (home) concert and the reality he references after his performance. "Looking forward to the time when gigs can come back and we can do this for real," the composer says, leaving us with a yearning that is borne out in his tranquil, probing music. These half-dozen short pieces can offer two very different modes of experience. Shot in artful black and white, their simplicity and beauty invite us into a world as we once knew it, where fresh air wafts through open doors and dogs peacefully snooze (canine cameos by Evie and Haku) in the late summer sunshine in southern England. On the other hand, the chaos found in the real world we know today can find a balm in Richter's soothing, oscillating figures in "Infra 3" or the gently swaying chords of "Origins," where the music lumbers in the lower half of the keyboard.
It's been 10 years since the band Future Islands performed its first Tiny Desk concert. Now its four members are gathered not too far from their Baltimore base in Carroll Baldwin Memorial Hall, sans desk. "We lost the desk," singer Sam Herring tells us with a smile. With drummer Michael Lowry on the tiny stage, the rest of the band — including bassist William Cashion and Gerrit Welmers on electronics — took to the floor, allowing Sam Herring to make his moves and sing his heart out. This music is clearly for the head and the feet.
These days it's nice to have an audience cheer you on, even if it's just the lighting crew. Burgeoning Jamaican soul singer Sevana and her six-piece band shot and recorded this Tiny Desk (home) concert at the Kingston Creative Hub back in September 2020 (the interludes you'll hear about the pandemic are reflective of that time). Sevana, a member of Protoje's In.Digg.Nation collective, showcases her vocal range by jumping delicately between traditional R&B, Caribbean gospel and soul, with touches of reggae interspersed.
There's an elegant vibe as Lous and The Yakuza perform a Tiny Desk from the Book Bar in the Hôtel Grand Amour in Paris. And while the music is smooth, upbeat and warm, what lies beneath in Lous backstory, in her French lyrics, is, at times, deep and disturbing.
Miley Cyrus has always understood that music is theater. So it's no surprise that, visiting the imaginative space that is the Tiny Desk, she transforms it into something both fantastical and true to her topsy-turvy Mileyness. Cyrus ruled preteen hearts on the small screen before mastering pop stardom's big stages, and throughout her career she's played with sound and image in unexpected and even controversial ways. And she's never balanced pop's glorious artifice with her own soulful authenticity more self-assuredly than she does on her latest album, the rock and roll manifesto Plastic Hearts.
Muzz are dear, old friends who make fuzzy, thoughtful songs. So when they gathered at Reade's Old Kingston Theater in New York's Hudson Valley after seven months of separation, minus hugs and wearing masks, I trust it was joyful but also kind of awkward. Paul Banks and Josh Kaufman have known each other since childhood. You likely know Paul Banks as the singer for Interpol; Josh Kaufman is a producer and one-third of Bonny Light Horseman. They are both friends with drummer Matt Barrick, who played a Tiny Desk concert in 2012 with his band The Walkmen.
Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet recorded their Tiny Desk (home) concert at Dizzy's Club, or what they call "the house of swing." It begins with "Sloganize, Patronize, Realize, Revolutionize (Black Lives Matters)," a bold statement about humanity and the consequences of racism. Marsalis says this piece — as well as the rest of the music on his new album, The Democracy! Suite -- deals with the timeless human issues we see exacerbated during the times of the pandemic, like social challenges and matters of the heart.
Candles and books rest on a trunk at the bottom right corner of the wide shot. There, too, are special photographs of alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins with family in his childhood home in Philadelphia. "One of the brightest things about this pandemic was going home to spend time with my mother, father and grandmother after being on the road for a while," Wilkins told NPR recently.
Within the warm walls of Williamsburg Music Center, one of Brooklyn's last surviving black-owned jazz venues, Melanie Charles takes us on a journey that embodies the soul of jazz: exploration. A Brooklynite proud of her rich Haitian heritage, Charles is conscious of the giant shoulders upon which she stands and takes steps to both honor and advance this music. Behind her, smiling pictures of her guardian angels, Mary Lou Williams and Billie Holiday, encourage Charles while she and her musicians blend the mystique of Haitian folk music with the sorrowful optimism of negro spirituals and the free space for elevation that jazz improvisation allows.
"Just bear with me while I just enjoy this and soak in it," GIVĒON admits with a laugh. Switching between the demeanors of a seasoned, nonchalant crooner and a giddy-grinned newbie, the fast-rising R&B star makes a point to show his humility during his long-awaited debut at Tiny Desk. Accompanied by a minimal, masked-up band and only one background vocalist (a fellow Pisces at that), the baby-face baritone fills the set with resonance and light. He radiates gratitude with every note. Against a blue, moody backsplash of projected music video stills, GIVĒON notes the divine timing of this performance. "Any moment to do this would be special," he says between songs, "but I think Black History Month ... just celebrating Black culture for this month, I'm really excited to get to do this on this platform."
Meshell Ndegeocello's Tiny Desk (home) concert feels like a narrative film. Shot in vivid black and white, the concert includes songs from throughout her career framed by her thoughts on the importance and influence of James Baldwin: "He deserves flowers every day. Most of all because he was willing to discuss things that were painful, hard to look at, hard to see, hard to accept."
Cornrows braided back with the precision of an architect. Stiletto nails commanding a sampling machine. Gold-glinted lids to match her light-up Beads Byaree earrings. With every move, KeiyaA shines so bright, it's impossible to look away. And while your eyes are fixated on her person, the music KeiyaA conjures inside Brooklyn's Electric Garden is what leaves you completely spellbound.
Rick Ross’ Tiny Desk takes place in the gallery space of Miami artist Rich B Caliente, The Boss’ longtime collaborator and friend. Even though the MIA street dignitary is now living in Atlanta, Ross insisted that his Tiny Desk (home) concert get captured in the city where his roots are anchored and where he rose to rap stardom.
"There are a lot of people who have been moving the needle forward for Black people. And they have been for some time," says an earnest, almost plaintive 2 Chainz. In a heart-filled sermon, he cites Martin Luther King Jr., Tyler Perry and Puffy as trailblazers, practicing gratitude for Black leaders who inspire him and the world at large. It's a sober moment of euphoria — and a drastic shift from the first 17 minutes of the Grammy winner's flashy Tiny Desk.
"Tiny Desk! Happy Black History Month!," rapper, singer and songwriter Rae Khalil exclaims before gliding into "FATHER," from her LP Fortheworld. From the confines of Harun Coffee in the historic Leimert Park neighborhood of South Los Angeles comes one of the most exhilarating Tiny Desk home concerts I've ever seen. Khalil's set is a colorful explosion of talent, perfectly complimenting the funky patchwork and textures of her attire.
Bartees Strange and his band are in a basement, surrounded by electrical wiring and DIY sound-proofing, but also green plants that no doubt have names. In Falls Church, Va., the indie rocker is a stone's throw from the much-missed Tiny Desk space in D.C., yet offers a set just as cozy and crammed.
"Freedom is what we feel when we perform. And freedom is what the world is in need of right now. In this pandemic it feels like we all need a sense of freedom." Sampa Tembo is in Lusaka, Zambia, her landlocked African home country. She's better known as Sampa The Great, an understated title. In her Tiny Desk (home) concert, the poet, rapper and singer-songwriter delivers evidence that it's more like Sampa the Greatest.
Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido comes to us from his estate in Lagos with an intimate four-song performance that takes us on a mini-retrospective of his career. He and his band create a sultry vibe with a unique rendition of "Gobe," his smash 2013 single, to open the set.
Kirk Franklin, set up with his band and choir in a corner of Uncle Jessie's Kitchen, makes a declaration. "I know you're at home right now, in your draws, listening to some Jesus music. It's ok. Jesus loves you in your draws!" The Arlington, Texas studio, named after a long time close friend, features a large photo of the iconic "I AM A MAN" protest signs from the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike on the wall. The jubilant energy that Franklin and company emit, juxtaposed with a visual reminder of the strife that Black people have endured is illustrative of the importance of gospel music in the Black community.
Jack Harlow's Tiny Desk (home) concert feels like the arrival of a rap superstar. Tucked in a homey-looking space in Los Angeles surrounded by bookshelves and vintage furniture, the Louisville, Ky., emcee delivers a performance with the confidence of an old pro. His set, however, is the first time he's relied solely on live instrumentation to bring his songs to life. "It's been a long time since I had a chance to perform and I've never done it like this," he says.
Using an Edison "Fireside" cylinder phonograph and his own Stratus music software, Ólafur Arnalds' Tiny Desk (home) concert brings the past and the future into a heartfelt performance. Filmed in his tree-lined studio in Reykjavík, Iceland (the former studio of Sigur Rós), Ólafur and his string quartet perform three songs from my personal No. 1 album of 2020, some kind of peace. The pensive set opens with an older tune, "Happiness Does Not Wait," with Ólafur Arnalds seated at a short upright piano known as a Danish 'pianette.'
"I'm Robin Pecknold from Fleet Foxes. Thank you so much for asking me to find the tiniest desk I could, and sing unadorned for the first time in too long." With his guitar and that unadorned voice, Robin Pecknold performs four songs from Fleet Foxes' 2020 album, Shore. It's an album that pays homage to some of the greats that we've lost — some more recently, including David Berman and Richard Swift, and some long gone but still influential, like Elliott Smith, Curtis Mayfield, Jimi Hendrix and Judee Sill. Robin wrote the songs while driving in the Catskills and (as you hear on "Going-to-the-Sun Road") Montana, a place that feels like home.
Over the years, African musicians have elevated expectations at the Tiny Desk. The distinctive vibrations left by artists like Burna Boy, KOKOKO! and the Soweto Gospel Choir have lead to some of the most unforgettable moments in our rich history. This (home) concert feels like the culmination of all of those moments.
Black Coffee, a figurehead of the global South African dance movement, is known for his undeniable DJ sets and AfroHouse anthems that (under normal circumstances) light up dancefloors around the world. He brings that same feeling to his Tiny Desk (home) concert, but with a unique configuration: live instrumentation.
Xavier Omär decided to turn his Tiny Desk home concert into a whole Texas affair. Initially, Omär wanted to recreate the look of the Desk: "I wanted to kind of bring the feeling of Tiny Desk back, so I had booked a library," he said. Ultimately the library didn't work out, but Rosella Coffee and Wine in his home base of San Antonio proved to be a great match for his sound--spacious and airy.
If you were to apply one of those "how it started / how it's going" memes to Tiny Desk (home) concerts — which began, it turns out, almost exactly one year ago — you'd have, under "how it's going," the image of pop superstar Justin Bieber as he and his band perform the world premiere of a new song called "Peaches."
Music icon Sting returns to Tiny Desk with a new collaborator in tow, and the story is heartwarming. During the pandemic, Beninese pop star Shirazee adapted his own rendition of Sting's classic "Englishman in New York" into "African in New York." His version made its way to Sting, who loved it so much that he asked Shirazee to lend his voice to his Tiny Desk (home) concert and record for his new Duets album.
Liam Bailey is the type of artist that makes our jobs easy at the Tiny Desk. I can imagine him arriving at NPR headquarters early, guitar in tow, ready to bang out a three-song set in one take as staffers gather, fireside chat-style. That's what his home concert felt like. Wiping the sweat from his brow between songs, he exclaims, "We're not doing no studio productions. We're keeping it real. Keeping it raw."
The back of a van on a sunny day holding an acoustic guitar is a far cry from the usual setting where I'd see Buck Meek. More likely, I'd be in a dark club; Buck's intense electric guitar and backing vocals are a part of what makes up my favorite rock band these days, Big Thief. But here, home is Buck's Toyota Land Cruiser in Topanga Canyon, Calif.; Buck Meek is singing about the clouds and his favorite new word, pareidolia, which also happens to be the opening track to his 2021 album, Two Saviors.
Across hemispheres, despite a nearly 8,000-mile separation, the Saskatoon, Canada duo of cousins Kacy & Clayton and New Zealand's Marlon Williams manage to create harmony and intimacy. The Tiny Desk (home) concert, on the surface, is joyful and playful with animated illustrations by Daniel Syrnick. But a careful listen to "Plastic Bouquet," the title track to the 2020 collaboration between Kacy Lee Anderson, Clayton Linthicum, and Marlon Williams, reveals a depth of storytelling more familiar in murder ballads than the trio's upbeat Americana sound.
We've posted close to 200 Tiny Desk (home) concerts in this insane pandemic year. Few have made me smile and laugh out loud as much as this one from Steady Holiday. I'll stop with the spoilers now. Steady Holiday is the music of Dre Babinski. This video, filmed for our virtual SXSW showcase, finds her by the fireplace, a dog at her feet, an acoustic guitar in her arms. Steady Holiday is singing "Living Life," a tune about a favorite topic of mine: the everyday, the mundane, and living in the moment. All the songs in this Tiny Desk (home) concert are from Steady Holiday's 2021 album Take The Corners Gently, a top album of mine this year. Laughing while her dog grabs a chew toy, she performs the album's opening track, "White Walls,", a song about self-reflection and how doing the same thing over and over ("painting white walls white") won't make life better.
If only I could have experienced Yasser Tejeda and Palotré at one of the bars along Austin's Sixth Street. Tejeda, a New York-based guitarist from the Dominican Republic, started his musical career on the Dominican cuatro (a folkloric guitar-like instrument) and has incorporated guitar stylings that have made him a "go-to guy" for Dominican artists looking for passionate elegance in their sound. Yasser Tejeda and his band Palotré begin their set behind a home desk with "Amor Arrayano," weaving a vaguely Caribbean feel with a killer R&B hook. After a brief introduction of his bandmates Tejeda launches into "La Culebra," the track that caught my attention from their album Kijombo. Palotré is a powerful groove machine behind Tejeda's virtuosic guitar playing and his playful dance moves.
DUCKWRTH decided to do something special for Tiny Desk Meets SXSW: brand new music. "Welcome to my Tiny Desk," he says. "We are gonna play some new songs for y'all if that's OK. Y'all ain't got no choice!" The dynamic R&B singer proceeded to debut two exclusives: a slow jam titled "make u go," which he dedicates to the "lovers and freaks," and the upbeat "Birthday Suit," which KCRW astutely compared to Estelle's "American Boy."
Leave it to clipping. to innovate around the central notion of the Tiny Desk; to take the series' emphasis on close-up intimacy and transport it to new heights of, well, tininess. This is, after all, a band that contains multitudes. Producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes craft a bed of hip-hop, industrial music and noisy experimentalism, then set loose rapper Daveed Diggs, whose violent imagery summons '90s horrorcore and a thousand bloody movies. The band's last two album titles — There Existed an Addiction to Blood and Visions of Bodies Being Burned — offer up a sense of the vibe, but Diggs' gift for rapid-fire wordplay also acts as a leavening agent. The guy won a Tony Award for playing Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette in Hamilton, and he still knows how to sell every word that leaves his lips.
Nathaniel Rateliff stands in an old familiar place, sharing his pain. The Mercury Café is one of the first places Nathaniel frequented when he moved to Denver in 1998, hearing jazz, dancing, and eventually playing many shows there. For his Tiny Desk (home) concert, he's assembled a dozen players including a string section, backing singers, and some of his oldest friends: Joseph Pope III on bass, Mark Shusterman on keys, Luke Mossman on guitar and Patrick Meese on drums. On the opening song and the title track to his 2020 album, And It's Still Alright, they're restrained as Nathaniel sings about loss, including his friend and producer Richard Swift, but he's holding on. "I'll be damned if this old man / Don't start to counting his losses / But it's still alright."
A few years ago, some of us on the NPR Music team stumbled upon a copy of Demi Lovato's 2013 book, Staying Strong: 365 Days A Year. Reading Lovato's heartfelt daily reflections became a workday habit; her transparency and vulnerability made us ardent admirers who wanted nothing but the very best for Demi. We made it our mission to get Demi to the Tiny Desk, and though the pandemic had other plans, Lovato's Tiny Desk (home) concert was worth the wait. Recorded on a sunny spring day in her Los Angeles backyard, Lovato begins with a moving rendition of "Tell Me You Love Me" from her 2017 record of the same name, accompanied by subtle, sparse keys. She continues her set with the title tracks from her recently-released studio album, Dancing With The Devil...The Art Of Starting Over. On both tracks, Lovato's voice feels stabilizing and grounding; there's a sense of clarity and purpose in its power.
For the Tiny Desk (home) concert series, 'home' can mean many things. For CJ Camerieri and his project CARM, home is where the art is. He performed his concert at the Pablo Center in Eau Claire, Wisc., where the trumpeter and French horn player conceived and recorded all the songs for his 2021 debut solo album, CARM. "This particular community has been a really big part of my musical life for 10 years," CJ says after playing the calming tune "Soft Night," "so it seems like the perfect place to be doing this."
As usual, Rina Sawayama is one step ahead of us. She's back in the office, clad in a periwinkle blazer with waist cut-outs and a high ponytail cleaner than the view of the city skyline. Make no mistake: even in fluorescent lighting, the Japanese British pop star performs with the same tenacity and drama you hear in her 2020 debut album, SAWAYAMA, a lustrous pop epic peppered with early aughts R&B, nu-metal and classic rock.
C. Tangana's extended family basking in the warmth of sobremesa with easy smiles and effortless baile looks otherworldly after more than 13 months amid a global pandemic. But considering the Spanish rapper's past year back home in Madrid, the simplicity feels fiercely authentic. (Check his mama and tía vibing in the corner.)
Butcher Brown takes to a restaurant's rooftop terrace in the band's hometown of Richmond, Va., for a home concert and sizzles from the first note. The band opens with "Sticky July," a tune every bit as catchy as its name implies; think rollerskating with a popsicle under a cloudless sky of blue. When you think you've figured it out, keyboardist DJ Harrison switches it up, launching into a solo so funky you wonder if it's a new song, that is until Marcus "Tennishu" Tenney brings us back home with some sweet trumpet.
"¡Tú sabes!" Carlos "Tostao" Valencia exclaims after Colombian hip-hop trio ChocQuibTown performs its first song, the energetic "Somos Pacífico." "ChocQuibTown, straight from Colombia, from the Pacific coast," he says. "We call it Africa inside Colombia, we got the flavor, we got the flow." ChocQuibTown — named after the coastal area the trio hails from — is a family affair comprised of siblings Miguel "Slow" Martinez and Gloria "Goyo" Martinez, the latter of which is married to Valencia. In 2000, the trio formed to promote their neglected corner of Colombia's culture; today, ChocoQuibTown's music blends the traditionality of Afro-Latin jazz with the modernity of hip-hop to create a singular, yet versatile sound.
When D.R.A.M. played the Tiny Desk back in 2017, he made a couple of things clear to us: His playfully dynamic personality was primed for the spotlight, and beneath the catchy hooks, there's a real singer waiting to come out. For his Tiny Desk (home) concert, he does a complete 180. "It's like a new beginning. Full circle. So this time, call me Shelley." he says, following the opening track, "Exposure." Everything is new. Silk pajamas and slippers replace the trench coat and plush beanie, and thanks to lifestyle changes, he's slimmed down quite a bit and goes by his government name now: Shelley.
Lake Street Dive filmed its Tiny Desk (home) concert where the band is most at home: on stage at the “biggest little venue in NYC,” Pete’s Candy Store. All five band members managed to squeeze onto a stage no larger than the actual Tiny Desk to shine a spotlight on the Save Our Stages Act. Congress passed the $15 billion grant program last December as part of the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill. In the middle of the home concert, bassist Bridget Kearney recalls driving to the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn for a gig at Pete’s, then driving back to Boston the very same night, long before they ever sold out Radio City Music Hall on the other side of the East River.
Watch this stunning "home" Tiny Desk performance from Son Lux and you might conclude the band members live together in an all-white universe without walls or boundaries. But it's all an illusion. In fact, guitarist Rafiq Bhatia, drummer Ian Chang and singer-keyboardist Ryan Lott, who started Son Lux as a solo project back in 2008, each shot their own, separate video with their iPhones, at different times, at their homes scattered across different states. So did the guest vocalists, Nina Moffitt and Kiah Victoria. Editor Evan Chapman then stitched all the videos together.
The first song Rod Wave performs in his Tiny Desk concert comes with a bit of a wink. The St. Petersburg, Fla., rapper interpolates Drake's "Over My Dead Body," the delicate intro to Take Care. Like Drake, Rod Wave makes sad, melodic rap music. But his feels removed from the Canadian superstar's lineage. His cadences are more in step with the full-bodied crooning of Southern rap giants like Kevin Gates and Lil Boosie. It's been said that Rod Wave could be an R&B or blues singer in another era. With this Tiny Desk concert, anchored by the interplay of flute, piano, bass and drums, he seems to suggest: Why not this one?
With warm maroon box braids nearly sweeping the floor and glitter adorning her eyes, NENNY's presence demands full attention before she even opens her mouth. Dressed in a flowy, all-white outfit accented with a pastel checker pattern and surrounded by a matching four-piece band, the 18-year-old Portuguese singer-songwriter and rapper appears otherworldly, almost heavenly, as she harmonizes with her backing electric guitar and jumps across the room, dancing with her entire body. NENNY first appeared on heads' radar in 2019 with her single "Sushi." She's continued to impress with several more singles and the release of her debut project, 2020's Aura.
"I feel that we are living in a crazy moment in a crazy time and music has been a safe place for me — the only safe place for me," Luedji Luna says in a low, alluring voice as she explains the purpose of her latest album, Bom Mesmo É Estar Debaixo D'Água. The album, much like the Brazillian singer-songwriters's Tiny Desk performance, is a respite from these times. Elements of jazz and blues are infused with African rhythms as Luna uses music to express her ongoing struggles for autonomy as a Black woman. She performs from her coastal hometown of Bahia in the city of Salvador, Brazil, where African culture flows in abundance. Luna is a powerhouse, entrancing and elegant, soulful and spiritual, as she uses her platform to discuss individual and systemic forms of anti-Blackness.
From her hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Calma Carmona delivers a bewitching Tiny Desk performance. Her voice rarely rises above a whisper as she sings over impassioned Afrobeats during her three-song set — but when it does, it's a gritty, intimidating growl. Carmona got her start in 2013 when the Latin soul singer-songwriter released her first EP and opened for Beyoncé's The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in Puerto Rico.
I'm a little envious of those of you about to press play on this Tiny Desk (home) concert. The first time I heard this Argentine duo was love at first sight. Vocalist and upright bassist Cande Buasso and keyboardist Paulo Carrizo are from San Juan, Argentina, a very small town nestled by the Andes close to Chile. I like to imagine that the secluded location contributes to the magic and nuance of the very personal musical language the two have developed since forming the duo in 2017.
It may at first seem that Negativland's sound collage is an unlikely candidate for a Tiny Desk concert, but honestly, how many bands can you think of making music since the late 1970s while sitting pretty much at their desks? Formed in the Bay Area, Negativland are proud subverters of culture, causing trouble while having fun.
The Church Studios in North London is an institution, home to some of the most iconic records of the last three decades, including Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) and Adele's 25. From the hallowed Neve Room, Moses Boyd and his band remind us that the U.K. jazz scene still bangs. They also remind us that COVID-19 regulations are much stricter across the pond: physical distancing is the name of the game in this at home concert.
Ani DiFranco has always done things her way, and for this Tiny Desk (home) concert, she’s a one-woman team, filming and recording herself in the front hall of her New Orleans home and studio, Big Blue. The not-so-tiny desk you see in the hallway was her great grandfather’s. Other personal items seen as we scan her home include a purple painting of a tree by her cousin Jim Mott and a portrait of a woman and ghostly girl by a painter named Renata. At the time of this recording, Ani was planning to move after more than 10 years at Big Blue, so this concert is likely one of the last performances to take place in that space.
This is so enchanting. The painted scrim, the scenery trees are not only a setting for Sara Watkins and her bandmates, but we also discover a "magic desk." And as Sara lifts the desk's top, we hear a guitar playing an alluring melody; in fact, it's Harry Nilsson's dreamy song "Blanket For a Sail." I admired Sara's talents first as a fiddler, guitarist and singer playing in Nickel Creek, then her solo work, and much later with the trio I'm With Her. However, none of her music, even her solo recordings, ever sounded quite like the music on this Tiny Desk (home) concert. The songs are from her new album, Under the Pepper Tree.
While many of us have gotten better at using technology to feel close to our friends and collaborators over the past year, there's still no replacement for being in the same room as someone who you swear can read your mind. That's what it feels like to watch punk band Palberta, whose music makes magic out of repeated phrases sung in tight harmony and charmingly zany pop hooks. For its Tiny Desk (home) concert, shot on a MiniDV and a Hi8, the band crams into one member's Philly basement for a set that's a testament to the group's tight-knit collaboration and playful exuberance.
From a house in East Nashville, Kathleen Edwards sings about how thankful she is for those early aughts when she was praised with awards, television appearances, touring to packed venues — even if the tour bus with the bed in back was "total crap." As she continues to sing "Glenfern," the opening track to her first album in eight years as well as this Tiny Desk (home) concert, she remembers her former husband and collaborator.
Laurie Anderson is a revolutionary artist who has mixed storytelling, music and technology for the past four decades plus. This Tiny Desk (home) concert celebrates the truly breathtaking breakthrough album she put out in 1982, Big Science. On that record, she used a few different voice processors; one of them was a Vocoder. By singing into a microphone attached to a keyboard, you can hear how it effectively adds harmony to her voice on "Let x=x." Laurie Anderson also used that effect, creating what I think of as 'the voice of authority' in her storytelling, on "O Superman," a song unlike anything music I'd heard when it came out in 1981. She made use of a vocal loop, something ever-present these days in sampling, but here she uses an Eventide Harmonizer, looping the single syllable "ha" as the rhythm of the song. It's a song about dealing with the technological revolution, about compassion; if it's your first time hearing it, take it in and see what strikes you.
Get ready for some fiery desert guitar-shredding, Saharan style, with the music of Mdou Moctar. Producer and American bassist Mikey Coltun told me that "the concert was filmed outside of the house we were all staying at in Niamey, Niger, in November/December 2020." He continued, "As with any sort of musical happenings in the region, once some music is blasted, that's an invitation for anyone to come join, sing, clap, dance, and just come together as a community. We wanted to present the Tiny Desk exactly like this, from when we started playing to finally the energy growing with fans crowded around filming on their cell phones and passing around Tuareg tea."
Deep Sea Diver's Jessica Dobson didn't neglect the details for the group's Tiny Desk (home) concert. For starters, she sported an impressive homemade bolo tie that she crafted from an NPR enamel pin and "a little bit of duct tape." She also chose a very particular location for the shoot: "There were countless times this past year that I wanted to be transported out of my house and into a different world," the singer and guitarist explains to NPR via email. "One of my favorite and most inspiring worlds is that of David Lynch's Twin Peaks. I wanted to pay homage to the show by recreating the red room for our Tiny Desk."
Since last year, many musicians have had to confront their own version of the "if a tree falls in a forest" thought experiment: If you release a new album but can't tour, will the music still resonate for listeners stuck at home? On their superb 2020 album, Skeletons, Brothers Osborne — a country duo that's long challenged the conventions of country and still managed to top the charts — intentionally turned up the volume to create a stadium-sized sound. The problem? "We put it out and performed it nowhere," John Osborne told Morning Edition.
Colombian reggaetonera Karol G floats between styles on this wistful Miami set with the breeziness of a pop star who knows no boundaries – or maybe it's the calculus of an artist who has built a career on subverting them. Her personal, unapologetic flourish has allowed her to top the Billboard charts of a genre with limited female participation, and even less superstardom.
Latino hip-hop legend Fat Joe muscled his way out of the streets of the South Bronx with his debut album, Represent, in 1993. He radiates a different energy in 2021, sauntering in his own uptown streetwear shop, fresh fitted in pink leather and a designer bucket hat, but he's still got that old larger-than-life electricity.
There's a comfort to be found singing in a bathroom; we all sound better with our voices bouncing off the tiles. For Sasha Spielberg, a.k.a. Buzzy Lee, she took it a step further, recording her Tiny Desk (home) concert in her childhood bathroom, which her parents decorated with images of fairytales.
If you’ve ever seen a Hold Steady show, then you know it’s an experience, complete with communal singalongs and confetti. But for its first-ever full-band Tiny Desk appearance, the group squeezed behind a cramped backstage corner of the Brooklyn Bowl, COVID mask protocol in place (“Unusual times, unusual measures,” Craig Finn explains).
We're publishing this Tom Jones Tiny Desk (home) concert on his 81st birthday. It's a poignant moment in the life of a singer whose career spans 56 years and more than 100 million records sold; the passing of his wife, Linda, in 2016 after 59 years of marriage was devastating and resulted in the longest break between recordings of his career. But now Tom Jones is back with a new album, Surrounded By Time, and ready to share his deepest feelings, channeling songs by others with a voice still rich and muscular. It's a triumphant return to the Tiny Desk (his first visit was in 2009), and it's the first time he's performed these songs since recording them last year.
My great-grandmother always used to say, "Life is a train. People get on. People get off." And it just keeps going. Watching Rostam's Tiny Desk performance, it's easy to imagine you're on that life-train, traveling around and around, catching glimpses of instruments and faces as they pass by, before coming back where you started. It's a clever, if sometimes dizzying nod to the overarching themes of Rostam's Changephobia, a collection of songs that simultaneously look to the past and the future.
Merry Clayton's Tiny Desk concert begins with the essentials. After a brief piano intro, she begins to sing "Beautiful Scars" — the title track of her new album — in a powerful and knowing voice. That simple pairing commands attention: "I've been on the battlefield of life. / I've been through it. / But I just had to go through that to get to this." She sings in dialogue with five superb singers, all with serious gospel chops — including members of The Waters and Take 6 — and a band of seasoned pros. "Stand up and be proud of your scars," she sings. The vibe is relaxed, but purposeful.
"My love called me many names," Joseph Keckler sings in "GPS Song," which opens his Tiny Desk (home) concert. He proceeds to list them: "Baby animal. Little baby animal. Big baby animal. Black chicken." (It goes on like this for some time.)
From a rustic and retro-looking cabin on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, the band Men I Trust seized the essence of the Tiny Desk almost to a tee. The controlled, yet layered four-song set, bookended by tracks from 2019's Oncle Jazz would almost certainly make for a plug-and-play situation had it been behind Bob Boilen's desk.
The studio backdrop of this Tiny Desk (home) concert is the perfect setting for the dynamic duo headlining this project. Pino Palladino is a prolific bassist whose sound you're already intimately acquainted with (even if you don't know it). Blake Mills, a guitarist and two-time Grammy nominee for producer of the year, has an impressive catalog of his own. Together, in the studio, the topshelf sidemen are in their element, distilling the sonic creativity that is the first release under Palladino's name, Notes With Attachments.
The trio of country superstar Miranda Lambert, long-tenured recording artist Jack Ingram and acclaimed songwriter-producer Jon Randall have history together: After collaborating on "Tin Man" from Lambert's 2016 record The Weight Of These Wings and "Tequila Does" from 2019's Wildcard, the artists spent five days last November recording in Marfa, Texas. In this (home) concert, the trio turns its quarantine album, The Marfa Tapes, into a quarantine Tiny Desk set, complete with a well-appointed desk in the corner of the frame.
Liz Phair's music was always meant to fill arenas. After a clever sleight-of-hand at the top of this Tiny Desk (home) performance, where it briefly seems we've returned to in-person sets behind Bob Boilen's desk, Phair and her backing band do their best to recreate the kind of set you'd see in a much larger space; everyone plugs-in, turns it up and rocks with an impressive light show.
Our Tiny Desk (home) concerts have visited many faraway places – from Lang Lang in China to Mdou Moctar in Niger – but none as far-flung as Easter Island. The 63-square-mile isle, called Rapa Nui by its residents, is located some 2,000 miles off the coast of Chile.
The Tiny Desk managed to stay nimble during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to our (home) concert series and the musicians who were determined to make moves in quarantine. Creative souls found myriad ways to get their art to the masses via live streams and social media while also conjuring new ways to collaborate and connect to audiences. Over the past year and some change, beatmakers Carrtoons, Kaelin Ellis, Kiefer, and The Kount took to social media individually and often collaboratively to cook up productions, often resulting in viral moments and never-seen-before glimpses into their creative process.
It's been said that our young people are the hope of our future. If that's true, the future of classical music looks blazingly bright, judging from these extraordinary performances by the young musicians in this triple-play Tiny Desk (home) concert. Teenagers from three locales around the country – Chicago, St. Louis and Palo Alto, Calif. – invite us into their homes for fresh takes on vintage classics, contemporary sounds and sophisticated pop arrangements. They are all alums of From the Top, the radio program (distributed by NPR) that spotlights today's terrific young players.
You don't have to wait long for a signature Sleater-Kinney moment in the band's Tiny Desk (home) concert. Over the first half of the title track to Path of Wellness, Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein sing of human frailty and self-improvement, vibrating with low notes of disgust. Then Brownstein shoots Tucker a knowing smile as they sing, "You could never love me enough," and the pair, who have been making music together for nearly 30 years, start to unwind things: Brownstein hisses "I am on a path of wellness" through gritted teeth before ripping into a four-note riff that feels like it's pulling your guts out; Tucker sets her voice at maybe 75 percent howl capacity to sing "I feel like I'm unknown" and Brownstein still has to raise a hand to steady herself against the force. She can't stop grinning.
Up until now, Dry Cleaning's post-Brexit post-punk relied on a robust dynamism of jagged, thudding lushness and a speak-song voice. It's music that coos and quizzes at once. How energizing to hear Dry Cleaning recontextualize its established sound for a relatively subdued Tiny Desk performance from World of Echo, a record store in East London beloved to the British band.
Black Motion's Tiny Desk (home) concert, recorded at the former residence of Nelson Mandela, feels like a spiritual sound bath. The South African production duo turntablist Bongani Mohosana of the Zulu tribe and percussionist Thabo Mabogwane of Sotho tribe — open their set with "Mayibuye iAfrica," a cry for Africa to return to its culture and history. This Afro-House set is brought to life thanks to several featured vocalists and guest musicians. Afro-House has spread joy and healing across the country of South Africa, transcending local boundaries to become a thriving global dance phenomenon. In my experience, Its indigenous sounds and percussive rhythms drench the soul and heart with healing powers and cultivate communion with the infinite.
I don't think I've ever used the word "fierce" to describe a Tiny Desk, but that's precisely what JAMBINAI has created in this (home) concert. The show begins in front of a massive recreation of my desk and what happens next ... well, no spoilers here. Filmed in an immersive media art museum created by an organization known as d'strict on Jeju Island, this Korean band contains multitudes. At its heart, JAMBINAI's music mixes elements of metal, noise and Korean tradition. There's full-on distorted guitar, bass and drums, but also a haegeum (a fiddle-like instrument), a piri (a type of flute), a taepyeongso (a reed instrument) and a most appropriately named instrument, a geomungo (a giant Korean zither). We also hear some delicate vocals in the mix.
Both as producer extraordinaire and artist in his own right, Jack Antonoff has had an outsized impact on the past decade in pop. And yet, even with such maximalist aims, Antonoff clearly understands the effectiveness of scale: that the most enduring tracks are often intimate portraits.
Lucy Dacus sits at a very special desk for this Tiny Desk (home) concert. And though she's played the NPR Tiny Desk twice — first in 2016 and a few years later with Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers as boygenius — the desk at Maggie L. Walker Governor's School likely holds deeper memories. Much of her third album, Home Video, is centered on her school years in Richmond, Va., and the friendships formed and shattered there. During those high school years, she met her musical mate, guitarist Jacob Blizard (seated on the right side of the screen), and the audio engineer capturing all these songs, Collin Pastore.
There's a desk and a band playing songs filled with nature's imagery somewhere in the woods of Mulmur in Southern Ontario, Canada. It's the perfect setting for The Weather Station. Outdoor locations are familiar to anyone who's seen recent videos for "Robber," "Parking Lot," "Tried to Tell You" and "Atlantic," all songs from the band's fourth album, Ignorance, and all songs performed here for its Tiny Desk (home) concert. Songwriter and singer Tamara Lindeman told NPR Music's Marissa Lorusso of her deep feelings on the climate crisis: "I just basically fell down the rabbit hole that happens to you when you take in the full reality of what it means, and what two degrees [of warming] means and how far over the cliff we already are." And so the songs for this Tiny Desk (home) concert are filled with imagery of nature and our relationship with our planet.
Tori Zietsch, aka Maple Glider, is in her Australian home surrounded by her bandmates and friends. Comforting landscape paintings cover the walls: Tori's first vinyl album, Melanie's 1971 album Gather Me, hangs alongside the pictures. She fingerpicks her guitar and sings "Mama It's Christmas," the closing track to her debut album, To Enjoy Is the Only Thing. As she sings the words: "Oh it's Christmas time again / Where is my brother / Where is my friend / Mama it's Christmas time, again / Doesn't he know I've got ribbons to wrap him in." Looking at the camera's wide shot, I sense her watching bandmates and those landscape paintings morph into a warm, comforting blanket.
At the midpoint of Vince Staples' Tiny Desk (home) concert, he gazes through the sun-soaked windows of his Hollywood Hills location and pauses. "You should see this view – I don't live here," he exclaims with pride. "I would never live here." As to why he wouldn't give in to the spoils of success and relocate to a fancy spot in the Hills or Calabasas, he explains in the lyrics of the song that follows, "THE SHINING": I could never do it / I'm too active. That sentiment, the push-pull relationship with his North Long Beach home base, is a dominant theme of his new self-titled album, which he tells NPR is "the clearest expression yet of who he is."
Young Thug looks right at home in the lush, almost regal, gardens of The Houdini Estate in Los Angeles. The serenity of the chosen location might seem too delicate for the punk-rock raps Thug and his crew reverberate through the grounds, but as hip-hop's impactful oddball, oxymoronic magic has always been his strong suit.
Anna B Savage's new home these days is the west coast of Ireland near Mullaghmore, where this striking video was shot. Moss clings to a shoreline cove where seagulls circle in air so moist you could slice right through it.
The first time I saw shame singer Charlie Steen, he was stripped down to nothing but his Racing Green brand underwear (which he had wedged up his behind), as guitar, bass and drums punctuated his emphatic vocals. In this Tiny Desk (home) concert, we find Charlie in a full suit, tie and hat, sitting in a living room atmosphere backed not only by the rest of shame (also seated), but a compendium of violins, horns and more.
In the year-plus that we’ve been recording Tiny Desk (home) concerts, artists have worked hard to reproduce the Tiny Desk vibe through special effects ranging from Phoebe Bridgers’ Oval Office backdrop to clipping.’s tininess-enhancing miniature set. For Dinosaur Jr., the spirit of the Tiny Desk can be found in an under-appreciated facet of the series: the ever-evolving array of tchotchkes, promo pieces and other bits of pop-cultural detritus that line the shelves behind Bob Boilen’s desk.
Melbourne alt-soul collective Hiatus Kaiyote tricked out its avant-garde recording studio, The Villa, and lathered it with props: a miniature desk, alien costumes, and loads of furry friends. Frontwoman Nai Palm shared with me the impetus behind the design. "I'm a treasure hunter at heart," she said, "and the beautiful thing about dressing a set with sentimental artifacts from my house is that I feel super comfy to perform." Every intricate detail of this Tiny Desk (home) concert evokes feelings of coziness, psychedelia and joyful performance art.
Having spent time with Collections from the Whiteout, Ben Howard's sonically adventurous fourth album, I was curious to see how he would adapt these songs to the Tiny Desk (home) concert format. So when the opening shot shows Ben in a room alone, an acoustic guitar in hand, it was both an "oh yeah!" and an "uh-oh" moment. Gone were all those textures that he, Aaron Dessner, and a load of talented musicians had worked on, but front and center was that delicate, reflective voice that I love. It's a voice that, in the recent past, was often swarming in effects and buried in reverb.
Flock of Dimes may be a "solo" project for Wye Oak's Jenn Wasner, but she couldn't pass up an opportunity to invite a few friends over. You'll spot their familiar faces all over this video: Mountain Man's Amelia Randall Meath, Molly Sarlé and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, percussionist Matthew McCaughan from Bon Iver... you even get full attendance from Sylvan Esso, given that Meath is seated alongside her partner Nick Sanborn. (He doesn't play in the set, but he did co-produce Flock of Dimes' latest album, so Wasner asked him to sit in and bring a book to read.)
Before the Isley Brothers played "That Lady" during this Tiny Desk (at Home) concert, lead singer and founding member Ronald Isley shared two stories about the song that perfectly encapsulates the scope of their nearly seven-decade career. "It reminds me of going way back, when we had Jimi Hendrix living at the house and playing. We went on to meet a young fellow by the name of Kendrick Lamar who sampled the record and we got a Grammy award for it." At the Tiny Desk, we've hosted shows from superstars and legends – but our home concert series has now officially reached new heights.
Clad in a denim jacket, Joy Oladokun shines a light on the subjects of grief, politics and life in America via the lens of someone who looks and loves differently. Standing firmly in her vulnerability, the first-generation Nigerian American opens her studio performance with "if you got a problem," a sweet ballad that pledges unconditional friendship through the lonely and the messy times. After a charming introduction, she picks up her guitar and begins "taking the heat," which she dedicates to the late Mac Miller. The song examines the way we, as consumers, treat the artists who create the music that resonates with us: "Does anybody ever wonder when the legends die young / If there's anything we could have done..."
By the time Quavo hits the second half of his opening verse on "Avalanche," all three members of Migos are vibrating with energy, falling out of their seats to ride the beat. Juvenile delight fills the air, and it feels like a competition of who can vibe the hardest. Migos performs the remainder of their Tiny Desk (home) concert — "Straightenin" and "Birthday" — with Offset leaping around the trendy streetwear spot Gallery Dept., Quavo bouncing on armchairs and Takeoff working the shoulder.
A lot has happened since we last saw Little Simz at the Tiny Desk in 2017. Her stock as an actress has risen thanks to her role on the Drake-pushed reboot of Top Boy on Netflix; her 2019 album, Grey Area, made plenty of best-of-the-year lists, and the London native received the prestigious Pioneer Award at last year's AIM Awards.
Gathered in their kitchen are sisters, Emily, Jessica, and Camilla Staveley-Taylor; best known as The Staves. “We haven’t got a tiny desk; we’ve got our kitchen table.” But where The Staves gathered, along with guitarist and tenor horn player Marcus Hamblett, is deeply embedded in their family history. “We’re coming to you from Watford, England, in the house we grew up in and the table where we wrote most of our songs around. And we would road test every song in this kitchen, so we thought we’d play some songs for you from here.”
"I like having a band," Rico Nasty says with a giggle midway through her Tiny Desk (home) concert. "Especially when it's all girls." As an artist known to mash up the genres of rap, rock and pop — and create a safe space for women to do the same — Rico has rarely gotten the chance to put this full artistic collision on display. For her Tiny Desk debut, Rico takes every opportunity to flex her rage and range.
As the camera slowly rises to the room, we see Yebba in the center of a circle, complete with band members, background singers and a string quartet. The room is part of Electric Lady Studios, where her debut album, Dawn, was recorded. The album bears the name of Yebba's mother, whom she tragically lost in 2016, and its songs find the Memphis native delving inward to process it all.
Pastor T.L. Barrett comes to this Tiny Desk (home) concert from his spiritual home, the Chicago church he has pastored for over 40 years. His choir, the Royal Voices of Life, and the band are positioned in front of a dazzlingly lit stained glass window. A tambourine is at the ready. The sight is familiar to anyone familiar with churches that anchor their neighborhood.
Flanked by an ensemble picked by music director, producer and longtime friend Denaun Porter, formidable lyricist Royce 5'9" welcomes us to Heaven, his private studio near Detroit, for an impassioned Tiny Desk (home) concert. Donned in a white jumpsuit, an amped-up Royce points with enthusiasm toward vocalist Ashley Sorrell (his mentee and an emerging talent out of The D), who launches the set with "God Speed” from Royce’s 2018 album, Book Of Ryan.
A tattooed hand scrawls on a small school desk — "Jose by J Balvin" — followed by a signature smile. It's an intimate beginning for the príncipe del reggaetón, J Balvin himself, as he begins his "El Tiny" performance on a sunny barge in the middle of the East River. Backed by the Brooklyn Bridge, Balvin breezes through some of the best cuts off of his new album JOSE (Balvin's birth name). The first three — "Vestido," "Que Locura" and "OTRO FILI" — are moody and gentle popetón, creating expectations of familiar intimacy before he blows the performance wide open with the Tainy-produced, tempo-shifting album opener, "F40." And as the sun descends on the New York skyline, Balvin closes it out with a drop-laden extended mix of the jock-jam Skrillex collaboration, "In Da Getto."
Six hands, holding pencils as drumsticks, tap out a simple percussive beat on a Wurlitzer and two desks. Zooming out, the camera reveals the members of Diamante Eléctrico, accompanied by a colorful 10-piece backing ensemble in their home country's capital, Bogotá. Diamante Eléctrico's brand of Colombian indie rock can be described in three words: funky, inventive and necessary. The Latin Grammy-winning band's music emphasizes community and place — two things that are displayed front and center as the band takes the stage in the second "El Tiny" performance of Hispanic Heritage Month.
maye's sultry vocals and ethereal energy conjure a world in which areperias shrouded in hazy bubbles and twinkly lights feels astonishingly normal.
Silvana Estrada's angelic first note strikes, and for a moment her family's instrument workshop in Veracruz, Mexico, feels like a window to the heavens themselves. Adorned in a white dress and a radiant smile, the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist invites us to participate in a rich and varied expression of familial love and musical brilliance. She wastes no time entrancing her audience, using a stripped-down performance of "Un Día Cualquiera" — accompanied by nothing but soft claps and subtle harmonies — to showcase her impeccable vocal precision and range.
As you gaze into the space where Cuban vocalist Eme Alfonso performs her Tiny Desk (home) concert, you enter a place where music becomes a spiritual language. So much of her history and music is centered around the Afro-Cuban spiritual practice that some know as santería. In the 1980s, her parents started Síntesis, a pioneering band that performed secular versions of that musical liturgy through electric jazz fusion. In fact, her parents, Carlos Alfonso and Ele Valdés, join her on vocals on this three-song set, which she recorded in Havana.
The first florid trills of piano wash in, and Sech is here to celebrate reggaetón in its home. The scene: the light-soaked Biblioteca de la Autoridad del Canal de Panamá Roberto F. Chiari. Sech arrives with a book he places on the table. His blazer bears his name, the isthmus of Panama and its flag, and the likeness of Panamanian Yankee great Mariano Rivera and his jersey number, 42 (the namesake of Sech's most recent album). He approaches the mic for a silky version of "Playa" that, like the rest of his Tiny Desk set, is nearly entirely acoustic.
After years spent working the global stage, Prince Royce returns home to claim his rightful throne in this Tiny Desk (home) concert. Performing his entire "El Tiny" set live from an unassuming barbershop chair in The Bronx, the Dominican-American superstar dazzles in this homecoming performance with the unguarded swagger characteristic of a true rey de la gente.
For a moment, it looks like YEИDRY is rising from the sea. She's barefoot and wearing yellow, like the roses on her side table tiny desk, Oshún's color. On the floor, below the seaside view, is a box of records displaying Celia & Johnny, the 1974 classic collaboration between Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco. To her right sits the 1979 album Cross Over by the Fania All Stars, of which Celia and Johnny were both starring members. From Soho Beach House in Miami, YEИDRY performs five songs, which make up most of her solo discography.
Sitting next to rapper Nicki Nicole, on a stack of books, you'll see an old Sony camcorder – throughout this six-song performance we cut back to its footage every now and again, the rough texture breaking from the pristine, offering a nostalgic sense of intimacy. It's a production choice that completely works and, in a way, reflects Nicki Nicole at large, as an artist born in 2000 and with a connection to sounds and styles beyond her years.
To the beat of her swishing hips and swaying percussionists, Camila Cabello's famous "Half of my heart is in Havana" reverberates across this musician-packed Miami set, with an at-home ease that feels novel for the global popstar.
Gathered at Preservation Hall in New Orleans, a hallowed space for Black American music, Cha Wa's set begins with hand-clapped rhythms and light percussion – then, a burst of horns gives way to "My People," a song that zeroes in on the disparities between the haves and the have-nots: "Rich people living in paradise Poor people under the bridge at night, oh yeah Most people know what it takes to survive But my people know how to do it and thrive." Cha Wa celebrates Black culture through the medium of rhythm, while also punctuating cultural differences with the hope of opening up the eyes and ears of those ignorant of, or ignoring, those differences. Decked out in a brilliant green feathered "Indian suit," Joseph Boudreaux Jr. celebrates the roots of Mardi Gras Indian culture.
Yasmin Williams doesn't need much scenery to set your imagination in motion. For her Tiny Desk (home) concert, the Virginia-based guitarist keeps the background sparse (a rug, a folding table, curtains, a plank of wood) to foreground her inventive playing.
Jagged Little Pill, the Broadway musical based on Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album of the same name, reopens Thursday night after a 19-month hiatus due to COVID. The cast assembled at the D’Angelico Guitars showroom in Manhattan to record this Tiny Desk (home) concert, finally able to celebrate their long-awaited return to the stage.
Haley Fohr's voice is built for cathedrals, but we'll take a funeral chapel. In Circuit des Yeux's Tiny Desk (home) concert — recorded amid the sepia-toned stained glass of the historic May Chapel at the Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum — Fohr's operatic, four-octave vibrato contains a wondrous terror, but also an illumination of being.
Decked in a hoodie, cargo pants and coveted sneakers, a slimmed-down and clean-shaven Ed Sheeran stands surrounded by bookshelves and a host of world-class musicians. He’s flanked by music director to the stars, Adam Blackstone, who assembled the band and handled bass guitar duties. After opening this Tiny Desk (home) concert with his latest single, “Shivers,” Sheeran introduces himself and proceeds with more hits, new tunes, and a surprise throwback.
It felt good to be home, if only for one night: home, in this case, being my Tiny Desk at NPR. We were about to film Neffy, our 2021 Tiny Desk Contest winner, at my desk at NPR headquarters. My corner of the NPR Music department looked just as I had left it almost 600 days ago; it's eerie inside and nearly nightfall outside. There's no audience for this Sunday evening concert, just our five-person Tiny Desk crew. We had filmed almost 1,000 Tiny Desk concerts before we abandoned the office in mid-March of 2020. What was then exciting yet routine now felt somewhat like a hallucination. For Neffy, it too was a dream: — a dream come true. Her joy during the recording was contagious. Neffy is Mecca Russell, a young singer who grew up around Arlington, Va., just across the river from NPR. Her Contest-winning song "Wait Up" is about living in New York, most recently during the COVID-19 outbreak, but yearning for home.
In this week's episode of The Formula, the first of a new season that digs into the collaboration between rappers and producers, we sit down with each of them in their respective cities — Rico at a performance space she frequents in the DMV; Kenny at his home studio in L.A. — to talk about their genre-bending discography and how it remade Rico into rap's raging queen of scream. They lay the groundwork by recalling the making of their signature anthem, "Smack A B****," a song recorded in their first impromptu studio session when Rico was still in the process of finding her voice in an industry brewing with frenemies and rival beefs. From there, they dissect "Sellout," the vulnerable, penultimate track from Anger Management, an album inspired in part by psychologist Arthur Janov's classic therapy tome, "The Primal Scream."
In their Tiny Desk (home) concert, The War On Drugs gather in their packed studio in Burbank, CA to let us in on the fun and intricate inner workings of their craft. After opening the show with “I Don’t Live Here Anymore,” which shares the same title as their new album, frontman Adam Granduciel introduces the band and asks if anybody has a capo. Suddenly a very thoughtfully crafted tiny desk with drumsticks for legs (and topped with a tiny lamp too!) slowly lowers down into the space, delivering said capo. Granduciel smiles, and the group continues with three more tracks from the new record: “I Don’t Wanna Wait,” “Old Skin,” and “Change.”
Neffy won our 2021 Tiny Desk Contest with a song about returning home. After working from home for many months, a small Tiny Desk production crew returned to the Tiny Desk to record her special concert. This is Neffy's journey to the Tiny Desk.
Every inch of Joss Favela’s Sinaloa-based, sombrero-shrouded “El Tiny” concert invokes the musical lineage of Mexican Regional music. Mixing soulful vocals with twangy guitars and a classic accordion, he opens with a sweet rendition of a genre staple, love ballad “Pienso en Tí.” Next, he dips into a heartfelt, piano-driven version of a song he wrote for his sister “La Mejor Versión de Mi.” Taking a beat between the tracks, he invites us to partake in the legacy of generations of caballeros that preceded him. “Yo soy de un rancho que se llama Caitime, Sinaloa, Mexico y con esta música crecimos,” he says, “esta música vivimos, y nos gusta porque son nuestras raíces, nuestra cultura, nuestra gente. (I’m from a ranch town called Caitime, Sinaloa, Mexico and we grew up with this music, we live this music and we like it because it’s our roots, our culture, our people.)”
From an elegant performance space in Lagos, Nigeria, Temilade Openiyi, aka Tems, adorns hues that recall the title of her latest EP, If Orange Was a Place. As she slips into performance mode, emoting with her eyelids drooped slightly, she begins "Found" in her upper register before switching to that unmistakably rich alto range. That's when the magic starts.
Isaiah Rashad and producer Kal Banx's relationship reveals how the best artist-producer collaborations work lot like life — with friends to distract us from, and soundtrack us through, all our drama.
Seated in the comfort of his home in Winnipeg, singing his song "Lighthouse," William Prince emanates thoughtful messages of redemption and love. "I greet you today from Treaty 1 Territory, Winnipeg, Manitoba," he says. "What a time it's been, I've been at home writing songs this past little while, and it really gave me some perspective on something ... confirmed something for me. You don't want to let a day go wasted." And with that, William Prince's baritone lulls us into his song "Wasted," a song he wrote to his son but is full of advice for us all.
"It's Indigenous Peoples' Month every month, don't you forget, mark your calendars," says Nicholas Galanin. "I think it's important right now that we uplift and acknowledge Indigenous people beyond holidays or months, allocated time." Galanin, who's Tlingit and Unangax̂, leads Ya Tseen and brings his perspective as an Indigenous artist to every aspect of the band's music and artistry. Even the backdrop of their Tiny Desk (home) concert is a house screen — the largest of its kind in Southeast Alaska — carved by Will Burkhart and Galanin (as an apprentice). The video itself was filmed at the Sheet'ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi community house, which is modeled after customary Tlingit Long Houses.
For Native American Heritage Month, we wanted to feature Indigenous musicians that break out of the preconceptions that many have of Indigenous music. Raye Zaragoza does just that, planting herself firmly in the folk genre, a tradition often reduced to white musicians with acoustic guitars. She pushes back on the narrative of folk music being for a certain type of person in her song “They Say,” in which she sings specifically about a time she realized at one of her own concerts that she probably couldn’t have afforded to be a member of the audience. “They say that folk music’s for the elite,” she sings, “the wise and the old with a college degree.”
After years working separately, Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist had all the ingredients they needed for a front-to-back classic when they finally linked up to make 2020's "Alfredo." Here, the pair breaks down the making of "Skinny Suge," the haunting confessional that finds Gibbs reliving the trauma of having one foot in the rap game and one deep in the streets of Gary.
Company finally is back on Broadway this week after a 20-month hiatus. There were only nine preview performances before all the theaters in New York went dark during the pandemic. Now the cast celebrates its return with a Tiny Desk performance filmed a few blocks away from the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre at the CIVILIAN Hotel. It's the 35th birthday celebration for the lead character, Bobbie, but also a reunion for this ensemble.
Sloppy Jane seems to be as much an event as it is a band. And despite 11 instruments — including cello, two violins, viola, two guitars, drums, bass, and a trumpet — crammed into a coffee shop called Porcelain in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens, that only represents around half of the musicians on Sloppy Jane's new album. Oh, and I do need to mention that the album, Madison, was recorded with more than 20 people, plus a film crew, in the belly of Lost World Caverns, where they lowered an upright piano into the cave! So, it's safe to say there's nothing casual about the music Haley Dahl, aka Sloppy Jane, makes, and the commitment from her accompanying musicians helps bring these crazy ideas to life.
The growing discography made by the Griselda founder and the noir-inspired Kansas City producer reflect the way these two visionaries have aligned to create something singular.
Coming off the success of 'Whack World,' Tierra Whack and J Melodic went back to the lab to create not only something new, but otherworldly. The track, titled “Heaven,” is from Whack’s new EP, "R&B?".
No other band has brought me more joy in 2021 than Wet Leg, and I truly needed joy in 2021. When "Chaise Longue," came out in June, it felt like a gift. It's rare to hear a band's very first song sound as perfect as this one did, but that's part of the magic that Wet Leg exudes. Two dear friends – Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers — making music to make each other smile, then watching that smile spread as audiences catch on.
Stepping into a DMV when you're about to take your first driver's test, while nerve wracking, is something of a milestone. And Olivia Rodrigo has been hitting milestones with frequency this year: her first album SOUR debuted at the top of the charts in May after the success of three previously released singles, most notably the viral "drivers license" (hence the DMV locale and its "interesting vibes.") Her pop stardom may seem sudden, but Rodrigo has been entranced by music and songwriting for the majority of her 18 years, as if she's been observing the right moves from the backseat of the car until it was time for her to get behind the wheel.
If you've been feeling a little overwhelmed with the world lately, you're not alone. Arooj Aftab is right there with you. The Brooklyn-based Pakistani musician transforms her worries into tranquil music. "The way things have been unfolding, it's just madness," she told NPR recently. The songs she offers here, at a decrepit, yet generously resonant convent in Brooklyn, sound like an antidote for stressful times. Aftab's melodies float delicately and meander amid a chamber ensemble that includes Celtic harpist Maeve Gilchrist, classical guitarist Gyan Riley (yes, Terry Riley's son), violinist Darian Donovan Thomas and Shahzad Ismaily on bass and synth. And then there's Aftab's voice, smoky yet smooth, caressing words in the Urdu language.
Beneath Mick Jenkins' smooth veneer lies a smoldering intensity. It comes across in subtle fashion, as he stays seated, cool and collected for the duration of his Tiny Desk (home) concert shot in Los Angeles. But like the embers glowing in the adjacent fireplace, you can feel the heat emanating from this brother's soul.
What a remarkable sight to see the reunion of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss gathered around a couple of microphones in Nashville. It's been 14 years since their surprising and remarkable album Raising Sand and now they're back at Sound Emporium, the studio where they recorded some of that first record and the entirety of their new album Raise The Roof. Huddled in the control room are an all-star cast of musicians, with Jay Bellerose on drums, JD McPherson on guitar, Dennis Crouch on upright bass, Stuart Duncan on guitars and ukulele, and Viktor Krauss on electric bass and guitar. All of these folks minus JD McPherson played on the original recordings of the songs you'll hear in this Tiny Desk (home) concert.
From Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen in Inglewood, California, our second and final Insecure Tiny Desk takeover is a total Los Angeles affair. The spot where B.K. Habermehl, Nnena, and TeaMarrr gather is also co-owned by series creator and star, Issa Rae. Our first collaboration with Insecure was an experiment just a few weeks into the Tiny Desk (home) experiment last year. We took what we learned and decided to run it back. Hilltop was featured on the show and the addition of L.A.'s own 1500 or Nothin' as the backing band made the refinement complete.
An unapologetic expression of faith and gratefulness is paired with festive lighting, poinsettias and ornaments in this holiday Tiny Desk (home) concert from Jonathan McReynolds and Mali Music. Both musicians are prominent in the latest generation of contemporary gospel and inspirational artists, incorporating secular sounds and outreach as an entry point into the "good news" of gospel music. They each follow in the footsteps of Kirk Franklin (and of Edwin and Walter Hawkins before him). Individually, McReynolds and Mali Music's output showcases a marriage of motivating messages and faith, with music that younger audiences are more attuned to. The duo came together last year to release "Movin' On," which yielded "good news" of its own in the form of a Grammy award, followed by a nomination this year for their EP Jonny x Mali: Live in LA. Given how effortlessly they trade-off during this Tiny Desk performance, I can see a Christmas album in their future.
From basements to bandshells, Turnstile shows are a life-affirming mosh-pit ballet. You sweat, you smile, you stage dive, you shake what ya mama gave ya. At the band's Tiny Desk (home) concert, Turnstile's high-energy hardcore is converted into seven songs over 17 minutes, surrounded by an art installation by John Scharbach — those stuffed animals presumably pogoing and windmilling in your imagination. GLOW ON, one of NPR Music's 50 best albums of 2021, is the rambunctious sum of the band's many parts – as much Bad Brains as it is Rare Essence and Fania deep cuts – but with its wild styles fully fused as Turnstile. Filmed at drummer Daniel Fang's house in Baltimore, these songs are all power chords, compact guitar solos, cowbells and fuzz bass, with vocalist Brendan Yates accenting the melody behind the keys. At shows, Yates normally bounces around with joyous aplomb; here, his self-restraint is commendable as he mimes out his stage moves inside an invisible bubble.
Enter into esperanza spalding's safe space for healing through music and song with a Tiny Desk (home) concert of selections from her Songwrights Apothecary Lab, (S.A.L.) project. A constant iteration of evolutionary ideas, her songwriting workshop is both a bold examination of human existence and resilience and a guided research collaboration with a collective of musicians and researchers in the practices of neuroscience, psychology and music therapy.
It’s fair to say Mon Laferte is a musical chameleon. The Chilean vocalist’s output of late has covered a vast swath of musical styles from Latin America, from big-band mambo to electronic dance club jams with a hint of reggaeton, and a few stops in between. The secret to the successes of these stylistic changes is the level of imagination and creativity she infuses in each turn.
Midway through his Tiny Desk (home) concert, Cordae shares the backstory behind "RNP" from his 2019 debut album, The Lost Boy, and the early stresses he endured as a successful young rapper. It takes a comedic twist, but his father's insight sets him straight. The music industry hasn't tainted him, and he's choosing to have fun with it. There's an undeniably pure quality to his Tiny Desk. The entire performance exudes confidence, and his excitement is palpable.
For each of the three nights, Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST will present artists in intimate settings (often behind their own globe-topped tiny desks), some of whom are making their globalFEST debuts, while a few others are notable past performers. Performing from Tampere, Finland's Suistamon Sähkö whips up rambunctious experimental dance music with a primordial force. Lebanese indie stalwart Zeid Hamdan and celestially voiced Syrian singer Lynn Adib are Bedouin Burger, a rising duo from the Middle East. With one foot in the world of tradition and another in glitzy, upbeat pop, ADG7 (Ak Dan Gwang Chil) is a multi-award winning group inspired by Korea's sacred, shamanic ritual music (gut) and beloved folk songs (minyo) of Hwanghae Province in the northern reaches of the peninsula.
For the second consecutive year, NPR teamed up with globalFEST in January 2021 for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo. Now, we're posting all the sets from our festival as individual Tiny Desk (home) concerts.
For the second consecutive year, NPR teamed up with globalFEST in January 2021 for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo. Now, we're posting all the sets from our festival as individual Tiny Desk (home) concerts.
For the second consecutive year, NPR teamed up with globalFEST in January 2021 for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo. Now, we're posting all the sets from our festival as individual Tiny Desk (home) concerts.
For each of the three nights, Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST will present artists in intimate settings (often behind their own globe-topped tiny desks), some of whom are making their globalFEST debuts, while a few others are notable past performers. Born from the rich musical and historical heritage of San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia (the first free Black town in the Americas), Kombilesa Mí fuses the traditional sounds of the community with urban pop. Northern Cree is a powwow and round dance act, based in Maskwacis, Alberta, Canada. Born and raised in the deep outskirts of Mexico City, the three Gama brothers are keeping alive the rich legacy of marimba music running through their family.
For the second consecutive year, NPR teamed up with globalFEST in January 2021 for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo. Now, we're posting all the sets from our festival as individual Tiny Desk (home) concerts.
For the second consecutive year, NPR teamed up with globalFEST in January 2021 for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo. Now, we're posting all the sets from our festival as individual Tiny Desk (home) concerts.
For the second consecutive year, NPR teamed up with globalFEST in January 2021 for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo. Now, we're posting all the sets from our festival as individual Tiny Desk (home) concerts.
For each of the three nights, Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST will present artists in intimate settings (often behind their own globe-topped tiny desks), some of whom are making their globalFEST debuts, while a few others are notable past performers. The family members of Al Bilali Soudan, from Timbuktu, Mali, are sought-after musicians and griots. Led by Abellow Yattara, the band is a torch-bearer of quintessentially Tamasheq (or Tuareg) music, shaped by a continuous exchange between the tehardent (lute), vocals and hand percussion. Kiran Ahluwalia's original compositions embody the essence of Indian music while embracing influences from Mali and Western blues, rock, R&B and jazz. Tufan Derince, a young Kurdish musician from Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey, is a master of the elektro bağlama, an electrified version of the bağlama of Turkish folk music.
For the second consecutive year, NPR teamed up with globalFEST in January 2021 for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo. Now, we're posting all the sets from our festival as individual Tiny Desk (home) concerts.
For the second consecutive year, NPR teamed up with globalFEST in January 2021 for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo. Now, we're posting all the sets from our festival as individual Tiny Desk (home) concerts.
For the second consecutive year, NPR teamed up with globalFEST in January 2021 for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo. Now, we're posting all the sets from our festival as individual Tiny Desk (home) concerts.
Jake Xerxes Fussell's Tiny Desk (home) concert opens with the eyebrow raising lyric, "I've got fresh fish this morning, ladies. They are gilded with gold and you may find a diamond in their mouths." It was originally sung by a fishmonger in Florida and captured in a field recording. Coming from Fussell, it sounds as lived-in as his worn Telecaster looks. It's immediate, but somehow out-of-time. Fussell found the tune at the Library of Congress, part of his process of collecting and curating traditional, public domain folk songs, and reinterpreting them through his own lens.
In her Tiny Desk (home) concert, singer-songwriter and producer Amber Mark expresses more than once that performing for the series is a "bucket list" moment for her. Upon our first meeting, she came with the concept for her performance entirely laid out. "The band is gonna sing backup, and we can cut to my family in the audience at the restaurant," she said. "We'll make it beautiful." With details that evoked excitement and nervousness all at once, the ideas felt massive to me. And what she delivers here is pretty grand, yet deeply intimate.
Tori Amos' Tiny Desk (home) concert debut takes place in what looks like close quarters. The singer-songwriter whose music has served as a beacon for so many listeners during her thirty-year career sits at her beloved Bosendorfer piano with a star-embellished Wurlitzer at her back. On a nearby shelf is a stack of books; one is Suzanne Simard's classic of forest ecology, Finding the Mother Tree. As Amos begins "Baker Baker," a fan favorite from her 1994 album Under the Pink, her bell-like voice fills the room. It's easy to imagine she's in a lighthouse on the cliffs of Cornwall instead of the state-of-the-art home studio where her husband, engineer Mark Hawley, ensures that the mix will be perfect. This three-song performance shows Amos both alone and reaching out, casting sonic beams to guide us in the dark.
Fatoumata Diawara is a true multi-hyphenate – an esteemed Malian singer, songwriter and actress who left her home country at 19 to pursue her artistry in France. By way of Como, Italy, she delivers a riveting performance alongside her bandmates, many of whom have toured with her since 2018. The guitarist and keyboardist here – Yacouba Kone and Arecio Smith – both contributed to her Grammy-nominated album, Fenfo.
Around this time last year, singer-songwriter and R&B royalty El DeBarge took to Instagram to take some requests and play a few hits. "I'd never done anything like that before, and the nerves were showing," he told me. That 23-minute live performance ignited a comeback of sorts, and the greats of today, many of whom he's influenced, wanted to be near him. That video reminded us of his greatness, and stars like Alicia Keys, Fat Joe, and Questlove helped make 2021 a busy year for the torchbearer of the DeBarge moniker. For his Tiny Desk (home) concert, he didn't want to veer far away from what he did on IG, and I quickly concurred. He got together with guitarist, Bennett Walker to play this intimate set of DeBarge classics.
Look around the GB's Juke Joint studio in Long Island City, N.Y. and you will see adornments from jazz singer Catherine Russell's home: a vintage Royal typewriter, a black dial phone, a red tiny desk and a striking Malian Bògòlanfini cloth that drapes the piano. Black and white photos of Billie Holiday and old-time big bands rest on the shelves and piano along with a copy of Russells' soon-to-be-released album, Send For Me, out April 1.
The opera star Anthony Roth Costanzo and the cabaret diva Justin Vivian Bond hail from opposite sides of the tracks, vocally speaking. But when the two unite in their stage show, "Only an Octave Apart," something fabulous emerges. This performance from, as Bond puts it, Costanzo's "tiny apartment," with his "tiny furniture" and his "tiny friends," gives us a glimpse of the show that opened at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn last fall and landed at the New York Philharmonic earlier this year.
In his Tiny Desk (home) concert, Too $hort asks: "How many artists you know that got relevant records in five decades?" The Oakland rapper answers by performing seven songs from his own discography, showcasing his extensive (yet still underrated) contributions to the growth of hip-hop on the West Coast. The expedition opens on a quiet, reflective note with a performance of $hort's influential 1990 single "The Ghetto" before roaring to life with 1988's "Life Is... Too $hort." From his spot in downtown LA, BoomBox Studios, $hort delivers a dynamic, funk-laden performance, seamlessly cycling through scenes of women-chasing debauchery and politically-minded meditation.
In a sparse, dimly lit Austin office building, Carl “Buffalo” Nichols stands in front of the mic stand with his steel guitar. As he finger picks into the first song “Living Hell,” the stark surroundings are juxtaposed against the warmth of his raspy vocals.
The first song in Patti LaBelle's Tiny Desk (home) concert sets the tone and quickly sums up the entire 15-minute performance. "Something Special (Is Gonna Happen Tonight)" from her 1986 album Winner In You is a highlight from one of many chapters in her fabulous career. A backstage corner of a concert hall in Austin, Texas, is transformed into Patti's world, furnished with a throne, flowers and trunks full of shoes. Options are a must, given a knack for kicking off her shoes during shows. The entire band managed to fit onto the set: thirteen people, including fierce background vocals, keys, horns and more, to recreate some of the best from the Godmother of Soul.
During a moment of testimony in her Tiny Desk (home) Concert, Pastor Shirley Caesar declares, "I'm beginning to feel something moving on the inside." It is impossible to witness a performance from the "First Lady of Gospel Music" and there not be a moment where the spirit moves her to dance, punctuated — in true gospel fashion — by a band led by her longtime organist and music director, Michael Mathis.
Dearly beloved: we are gathered here today to get through this thing called "Afro-life." Surrounded by lush greenery and soft lavender lighting, Fireboy DML makes his Tiny Desk (home) concert debut from Lagos, Nigeria. The Nigerian singer-songwriter delivers the three-song set with an earnest reverence – his warm vocals reflecting a depth of passion and devotion best attributed to being brought up in a church choir.
Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and pianist Joonas Ahonen, like most of us right now, are concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kopatchinskaja hails from Moldova, which shares a border with Ukraine and declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Ahonen is from Finland, which borders Russia in the east and was once under the Russian Empire until the 1917 Revolution.
It’s less a concert and more witnessing a master thoughtfully creating an atmosphere, a vibe. And for 13 short minutes, I feel seated in Abdullah Ibrahim’s home in Chiemgau, Germany, witnessing seven decades of experience slowly dripping from his fingers and touching my soul. Abdullah Ibrahim, now 87, has witnessed the horrors of apartheid. He grew up in South Africa and composed what would become known as the “anti-apartheid anthem,” “Mannenberg.” Nelson Mandela called him “our Mozart.” He also successfully made music under the name Dollar Brand, and worked with jazz legends including Duke Ellington, Max Roach, Don Cherry and Archie Shepp. In 1968, he converted to Islam and changed his name from Dollar Brand; more recently, he became an NEA Jazz Master. In my 18 years directing All Things Considered, I’d often reach for his music to play between news stories to give the audience a chance to think and reflect. His music is like that; it’s mind-opening.
When catching glimpses of his meteoric rise to global stardom and his picturesque life with partner and artist Evaluna Montaner, fans are often left to speculate on the romance of Camilo’s life. From his Tiny Desk (home) Concert in Miami, the Colombian singer-songwriter pulls back the curtain for 15 minutes of soul-baring intimacy, letting the world view his fairytale life in full bloom.
The first shot of Bonobo's Tiny Desk (home) concert is a little disorienting. What looks like the official Tiny Desk at NPR's Washington, D.C. headquarters is actually an eerily accurate miniature replication. Fit with scaled-down vinyl LPs and Bob Boilen's knickknacks, it was created by Cheronda Scott of CSpykerMiniatures and Kat Williams of Real Life Miniatures. "We couldn't be at the NPR desk, but we have brought it with us," Simon Green, aka Bonobo, says, gesturing at the tiny desk, perfect for a doll.
Our Tiny Desk (home) concert series has brought us to some very special places, but few can match the distinction of being inside Ludwig Van Beethoven’s house. Violinist Daniel Hope is the current president of Beethoven-Haus, where the great composer was born in 1770 in Bonn, Germany. Far more than a cultural curiosity, the house is, as Hope calls it, “the nerve center” for dozens of Beethoven scholars. It’s also a museum, library, publishing house and performance space. We often ask artists to perform at their own “tiny desk” of some sort. But the desk in this concert cannot be matched. On display, in front of Hope and pianist Sylvia Thereza, is Beethoven’s own traveling desk, a compact model he used to write letters and perhaps compose music.
Before the English band Yard Act set foot on stage at the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, England, the band set up its instruments in the green room and performed this Tiny Desk (home) concert. It’s a fitting location for the band from Leeds, which has around 70 shows lined up to celebrate its debut album The Overload including the SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas. Yard Act’s music is filled with brash sounds aimed at capitalism, equality, or lack thereof, and all done with both venom and humor.
Setting the scene with a winding tour of the jam-packed gathering of musicians in a mystical recreation of her childhood casita, Chicago-based singer KAINA offers her Tiny Desk (home) concert viewer a temporally unhinged invitation to come over to her house after school.
Pom Pom Squad's Tiny Desk (home) concert starts with a well-placed sense of irony. The opening chords of "Drunk Voicemail" – brash and heavy – tease the band's lead-in, letting imagination conjure up images of dirty basements and scruffy dishevelment before revealing the truth: five people in cheesy, matching red outfits, led by Mia Berrin in puffy plaid. It's a presentation that reflects the ethos of Pom Pom Squad: to give the often self-serious genres of grunge and punk a much-needed dose of silly camp.
“I ain’t about to be on all that preaching s***, but Imma tell you this,” Maxo Kream says during his Tiny Desk (home) concert. “I came from nothing! The mud. Anything you wanna do, put your mind to it.” The sentiment isn’t groundbreaking, but if you’ve made it to the point in the video at which he says this, it’s impossible not to feel the passion of these words. His set is one of the first times we’ve seen the Houston native play with a band. They set up shop in an H-Town performance space, and the stripped-down aesthetic brings things that could be easily lost in his album recordings. The rawness of his voice cuts straight through the live instrumentation.
Fitting many people into a small space has been key to the Tiny Desk formula since its beginning, so it only makes sense that Madi Diaz would perpetuate the tradition as she presides over a “tiny living room” concert in her Nashville, Tenn. home. “Never have there been so many people in this apartment,” she notes between songs. Diaz’s living room may not have been designed to accommodate a four-piece string section and a drummer, but together these six musicians make beautiful work of four tracks from the singer-songwriter’s stunning 2021 sleeper History of a Feeling. Opening with “Resentment” — a song she’d originally co-written for Kesha’s 2020 album High Road — Diaz steers her four-song set toward History of a Feeling’s quieter moments, in the process coaxing new power from career highlights like “New Person, Old Place.”
“Mi padre dice asustado / Que me salga de su lado / ‘Ellos son marijuanos,’” (“My father warned me / That I shouldn’t hang out with you all / ‘They are a bunch of potheads,’”) Los Rivera Destino sings in the song “Mis Amigos.” “Pero son mis hermanos / Y los quiero asi! (“That may be, but I love those potheads anyway!”) The tongue in cheek ode to pasto (marijuana) set to the classic Latin genre bolero perfectly exemplifies how the Puerto Rican group Los Rivera Destino not only delivers impeccable musicianship and a reverential embrace of nostalgia, but also lots of humor.
Maren Morris is the country artist most gracefully poised at the spot where future thinking meets time-honored ways. Consider the setting for her second Tiny Desk performance — this time a (home) concert — and the first filmed in her hometown of Nashville, Tenn.
The Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes is binging Mozart. He's just released his second double album in a row of the composer's piano music, and for this very special Tiny Desk performance, he takes us inside Mozart's own home in Vienna, just steps away from the medieval St. Stephen's Cathedral and a couple blocks from a McDonald's. Mozart might have appreciated the convenience of the fast food chain, as the years he spent in this two-floor, four-bedroom apartment (from 1784 to 1787) were a non-stop frenzy of activities. Andsnes says the composer threw gambling parties, taught students and, above all, composed some of his most groundbreaking music in this house, including the two works heard in this recital.
A library might not be the first place that comes to mind when you picture a suitable venue for a punk band — unless, of course, you're thinking about The Linda Lindas, who shot to viral stardom after a performance in the Los Angeles Public Library's Cypress Park Branch last year. For the band's Tiny Desk (home) concert, the teen punks returned to the library — this time, playing at the Los Angeles Central Library — with several members even sporting buttons that pledge love to the LA library system. "We're playing the library once more," guitarist Lucia de la Garza says with a smile, in awe of the "cool space." (It feels fitting — after all, having artists perform an intimate, powerful set under daytime office lights is kind of the Tiny Desk's whole thing.)
It's a testament to Brittany Davis that this Tiny Desk home show feels like a true live concert — one with real live energy, as if it's playing out in front of a massive crowd you can't quite see or hear. It's hard to replicate the spirit of the Tiny Desk outside of the NPR offices: You don't get the visual sense of place, you don't get NPR engineers managing the sound mix onsite and you don't get the exchange of energy between musicians and audience members who are often excitedly discovering your music for the first time. Still, this set swims in that much-missed alchemy where everyone in a given room is carried forward by the same sounds.
I find mehro's voice to be simply stunning; it reminds me of the moment I first heard Jeff Buckley. My favorite new artist of last year opens this Tiny Desk (home) concert with "chance with you," a song of regret from his 2021 SKY ON FIRE project. It's the song that first grabbed my attention and is performed so intimately here from a rehearsal space in Santa Monica. His bandmates include Dylan Bailey on guitar and Callen O'Brien on percussion and a 1921 Steinway.
The opening piano notes are barely sufficient warning to brace for the sweet and powerful voices that transport us to Samora Pinderhughes' Tiny Desk (home) concert, shot on film. "The Cry" heralds our journey into the Bay Area native's sophomore album, GRIEF. The vocalists move briefly out of frame for "Masculinity," a probing, open letter that addresses masculine stereotypes with directness and compassion. The song blooms beautifully, with Pinderhughes accompanied by strings, a background chorus, and his sister, renowned flutist Elena Pinderhughes.
Curren$y's Tiny Desk (home) concert features three key elements that make him who he is: cars, weed and, of course, music. One of the prominent champions of cannabis plays from the confines of a garage on this 4/20, a day deemed a worldwide celebration of marijuana. In front of a purple candy-coated 1965 Chevy Impala sitting on three wheel motion, the New Orleans native plays a smidgen from a catalog that spans over seventy projects to date.
Sean Carey's music often evokes the comforts of home, so it only makes sense that he'd gravitate to the quiet confines of a modest kitchen in his hometown of Eau Claire, Wis. This is a Tiny Desk (home) concert in the truest sense: S. Carey performs these four songs surrounded by household appliances and a handful of his closest collaborators. Carey's fourth solo album, Break Me Open, lends itself perfectly to confined intimacy. The record came out of an intense stretch of Carey's life in which the singer got divorced, lost his father and embarked on a period of deep introspection. But it's a record about growth as well as grief.
From the line up of traditional Colombian instruments to the card playing interlude, every second of Feid's Medellín, Colombia pool hall performance invokes the feeling of charlando and cantando, chatting and singing, with friends. Seamlessly anchoring all five tracks with a bass-emulating acoustic guitar and cajón-driven dembow, the new guard reggaeton royal brings unique instrumentation and culturally significant visuals to this Tiny Desk (home) concert for a deeply authentic portrait of a star on the rise baring a sonic piece of his soul to the world.
Rather than use the stage at Feinstein's/54 Below, the cast of A Strange Loop cram into a booth for their Tiny Desk (home) concert. The protagonist of the musical is an usher, so performing in the crowd makes sense. 54 Below played a pivotal role in the musical's rise when, in 2016, composer Michael R. Jackson performed a concert version for New Musicals at 54. Little did anyone know that the show would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2020. The cast reunited at "Broadway's Supper Club" to sing a five-song medley led by the show's author to celebrate their opening at the Lyceum Theater on Broadway.
Roger Eno's home is part of what once formed an 11th-century abbey called St. Wilmott's, situated on the border of Norfolk and Suffolk near England's southeastern coast. The bucolic setting mirrors Eno's quiet, slowly evolving music which, for this Tiny Desk (home) concert, features five pieces from his new album The Turning Year.
To appreciate the magic of a performance from Thee Sinseers, you have to understand the co-mingling of Chicano and African American communities in post-World War II, Southern California. Living in the same neighborhoods, these communities created a virtual symphony of R&B, mariachi and boleros. And what you hear in this California band's Tiny Desk (home) concert, as they perform among plants in a flower shop, builds on a legacy of music that became known as "oldies but goodies" in the Chicano community.
The velvety sapphire of what may be the most recognizable curtains in jazz are the backdrop for this special Tiny Desk (home) concert. Dapper and distinguished in matching ties, legendary bassist Ron Carter and the members of his trio sit comfortably on the prestigious stage of The Blue Note in Manhattan. This is jazz with a capital J, complete with cocktails and "Candlelight." The first tune in this set romances us, inviting deep sighs as the lushness of the trio's intricate interplay carries us away to moments spent gazing deeply into the eyes of a lover.
Composer Alan Menken beams with pride as he introduces the Little Shop of Horrors Tiny Desk (home) concert. May 6, 2022 marks the 40th anniversary of the show's first production. Menken is joined by the stellar cast of the current off-Broadway revival, which swept the Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Drama League Awards for Best Musical Revival. They perform a joyful medley of five earworm-filled tunes from the cult classic. Over the course of the tiny concert, Menken shares anecdotes about collaborating with the show's late lyricist Howard Ashman. It's obvious how much they loved working together hearing him reminisce.
Ideally, musicians recording Tiny Desk (home) concerts adhere to the series’ core concept and perform behind some sort of desk, tiny or otherwise. But, barring that, it helps to make bookshelves your backdrop. When Aoife O’Donovan assembled her band at Portsmouth Book & Bar in Portsmouth, N.H., she made sure to note her surroundings: “It’s great to be here, surrounded by all these books.” The Bostonian singer-songwriter, who these days splits her time between a solo career and her work with the Grammy-winning supergroup I’m With Her, has a sound nicely suited for bookish locales: O’Donovan’s warm folk-pop music conjures memories of the Northeast folk boom of the ’90s, the soaring plaintiveness of Indigo Girls and the winsome lilt of modern bluegrass, elevated by a voice that’s searching and friendly.
The conflicts between Russia and Ukraine reach far and wide, even deep into this Tiny Desk (home) concert performed by the ARC Ensemble — artists from Canada's Royal Conservatory in Toronto. They offer music by the neglected composer Dmitri Klebanov, a Ukrainian Jew whose career was sidelined by the Stalin regime when his First Symphony was denounced in 1949. Klebanov wrote his Fourth String Quartet — from which the ensemble plays excerpts — three years earlier. He dedicated it to his compatriot, the composer Mykola Leontovych who, as a Ukrainian separatist, was murdered by the Soviet secret police in 1921.
"Tiny Desk at home? I kinda live on the road!" the legendary Buffy Sainte-Marie exclaims one song into her high-spirited set recorded a few miles outside Toronto at the beginning of the 81-year-old's umpteenth tour. Sainte-Marie has always been a wandering soul with a fierce sense of direction. The four songs she performs here with her touring band span her nearly 60-year career, connecting her righteous protest songs – including "Universal Soldier," as relevant today as it was when it became an anthem during the Vietnam War – to the love songs that have soundtracked countless slow dances. This set is a kind of Sainte-Marie primer, touching on her early days as the 1960s folk revival's brashest innovator and her mid-career turns writing country and pop hits like this set's smooth closer, "Up Where We Belong," which won her an Academy Award for best original song in 1983.
Filmed in Chicago’s beautiful brick Irish American Heritage Center during a recent tour, this four-song set begins with Fontaines D.C. singer Grian Chatten in the stacks at the center’s library, playing a button accordion and singing the mordant ballad “The Couple Across the Way” as cellist Maureen Dunne and violist Isaac Henry accompany him. An emotional touchstone on the band’s latest album, "Skinty Fia," it’s a taste of an unfinished Fontaines project: the Irish group originally planned to release a double set with half traditionally-styled tunes and half the searing, atmospheric post-punk that makes this third LP the band’s best.
I first saw IDK perform in 2017. An infectious ball of energy, he captivated the audience with every vigorous bar and step; his personality filled the large stage that he only shared with a DJ. There's a similar vibe at his (home) concert, actually recorded at his house, with a live audience of neighbors and friends and a palpable feeling of genuine hospitality and gratitude. Look at the deep blue paint on the walls IDK carefully selected, along with other adornments in his lovely Los Angeles home. Visually, the room is vivid yet calm, and sonically, his music has that same kind of feeling.
Korean-American rapper pH-1 radiates much of the same visual warmth of his setting. It disperses around him, highlighting his bandmates, who are planted in the fringes of an intense blue backdrop. The contrast lends a sentimentality that's emphasized by the opening lines of his 2018 hit, "Homebody." Perhaps the setting — a nod to his parents who, after immigrating to the United States, found stable work in a dry cleaning business — makes the artist just a bit more wistful than usual. The song builds around its hook with cascading keys and airy guitars, insisting that hanging out at home is just as fulfilling as going out to party. This tenderness anchors all three performances for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month edition of the Tiny Desk (home) concert series.
Ada Lea's Tiny Desk (home) concert opens just as her 2021 album, one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden, does: with the careening, beautiful track "damn." It's the story of a turbulent New Year's Eve party, told through songwriter Alexandra Levy's stream-of-conscious delivery. Here, she and her band lean into the song's slowly simmering tension and frustration, ending on an extremely close shot of Levy's expressive face in the song's final moments.
Svaneborg Kardyb’s Tiny Desk (home) concert was recorded in the countryside of Djursland, Denmark. “You have to drive for a while on a gravel road, and then you come to a lovely old house surrounded by hills and a stream on one side and a very flat landscape on the other, where you can see 10 miles away,” the band wrote to us, describing the location of the shoot. It’s this place that inspired Svaneborg Kardyb’s second album, Haven. “‘Haven’” (means garden in Danish). Haven celebrates places we like to be,” the duo writes.
It surely was a day of joyful tears. And those joyful tears for Alisa Amador, the winner of the 2022 Tiny Desk Contest, came at a time when she had been considering putting her music career on hold. For the staff of NPR and the Tiny Desk crew, it was our first Tiny Desk concert with an audience in over 800 days, and Alisa’s captivating music surely intensified our spinning emotions. Alisa Amador opened with her Contest-winning entry “Milonga accidental,” a song about embracing your contradictions. It’s a song that our judges — iLe, Big Krit, Michelle Zauner (of Japanese Breakfast), Raveena, Nate Chinen (of member station WBGO), Tiny Desk producer Bobby Carter and I — all found to be so filled with passion. I often fall for a song because of the lyrics, and this is the first Tiny Desk Contest winner whose winning song is in Spanish. Despite the fact that I don’t speak Spanish, I felt the conflict, the yearning and the song's questioning.
Attention passengers: Please make sure your seat belts are fastened and tray tables are stored away as Adekunle Gold is ready for takeoff. The shape of the Nigerian singer-songwriter's Tiny Desk (home) concert mimics a flight pattern sonically and energetically, starting off laid back and ascending to greater heights that'll make you dance and move your feet. AG's career first picked up steam after the release of his debut single "Sade," a highlife cover of One Direction's "Story of My Life," in 2014; then, he released his debut album Gold in 2016. Three albums later, the Yoruba sensation's sound has evolved from highlife to Afropop.
A smile, laughter and a candle burning beside a delicate flower arrangement welcome us into the warm studio that is the set of James Francies’ Tiny Desk (home) concert. The young Houstonian and Blue Note recording artist begins with the hypnotic grooves of “713” — one of our picks for the best songs of 2021. This tune allows Francies’ virtuosic playing to shine, as he masterfully scales the keys during his solo. After a quick greeting, we’re whisked away by the luscious string ensemble that introduces “Rose Water.” Performed by vocalist Elliott Skinner, we’re lifted by Skinner’s voice as he sings beautifully of hope, support and growth: “I wish that you could see the light / That radiates in everyday…All the trials inside my mind / Shape me.”
The eight winners of the Tiny Desk Contest — our annual search for a great unsigned artist to play a Tiny Desk concert — have all gone on to do great things, from performing on world tours to winning Grammy Awards. Today, we're taking a moment to highlight one of these artists: the beloved Gaelynn Lea, winner of our 2016 Contest. The Duluth, Minn., native won with a video of her song "Someday We'll Linger In The Sun," which she recorded on her phone in the space where she taught fiddle lessons. Gaelynn Lea makes music unlike anyone else. Her beautiful folk melodies are often rooted in the sounds of Irish fiddle tunes. She also has brittle bone disease, which makes it necessary for her to play her instrument in an inventive and unique style.
British-Nigerian pop star Naira Marley opens his set with a sly smile and softly says “Marlians,” the name for his stans, a loyal group of followers who call Marley their president. Then, the first song kicks right in with a bouncy dance beat that just might get you dancing, wherever you are. It’s OK that you might not know what Marley is actually speaking about. His casual rapping style, defined by lexical tones in the Yoruba language, is enough. The first song, “Ayewada,” means “where is the time and space” and has an English language line: “They are calling you thief / You are dancing wit de goat.”
To see her is to appreciate a rare portrait. To watch her dance and hear her sing is to fall, entranced, into an uncanny haze. Both snake and its charmer, British Jamaican multidisciplinary artist FKA twigs is a new-age priestess. Surrounded by flames of offering in the hallowed halls of London's St. Matthias Church, the Grammy-nominated artist and her three-piece supporting band deliver a sermon on the perils of devotion. In her three-song Tiny Desk (home) concert -- featuring soul-baring ballads like “home with you” and “cellophane” -- she honors the strength of vulnerability; her operatic soprano ignites and delivers catharsis.
Larry June is the indie-rap hustle personified. His graduation from the streets has made way for his true purpose in rhyme: healthy living. The organic fruits and juices on the table in this performance indicate the lifestyle fervently pushed in his music. The two cell phones sitting beside him remind us that business is booming. He starts with a few signature adlibs before imploring, "Don't check me / Check the air quality." This lavish living room setting, with the Los Angeles night sky as a backdrop, sets the proper mood for Larry June's Tiny Desk (home) concert.
Hearing Ravyn Lenae’s voice resonate from behind the Tiny Desk for one of our first concerts back in the building had me entranced. With her voice raw and unamplified, Lenae and her dynamic band transformed our office into a funky, futuristic space where she was completely in her element. Hailing from Chicago, Lenae dropped her first EP, Moon Shoes, in 2015. Since then, she’s released two more EPs, her sound permeating the world of contemporary R&B and blurring the lines between soul, funk and R&B. This year Lenae reemerged with the release of her debut full length, HYPNOS, already shaping up to be one of the best albums of 2022.
Almost 30 musicians, choir members and staff of the contemporary worship music collective Maverick City Music entered the NPR lobby and crowded the security desk to undergo COVID protocols. Even through the dull process of checking vaccination cards and test results, there was a real feeling of excitement for what was about to happen. Some of the choir members were eager not only for the upcoming Tiny Desk concert but for later that evening, when they were scheduled to perform at a sold-out 20,000-seat arena nearby. A few of them had only previously performed with Maverick City Music in small venues and couldn't wait to move from the Tiny Desk to a big stage. Once upstairs, the group's enthusiasm grew during the set up and sound check. Even the NPR production staff was buzzing because we had not recorded such a large ensemble in our office in more than two years.
It's only right to think "New Monica!" when her Tiny Desk (home) concert begins. Surrounded by candlelight, dressed in pink, Monica stands ready to deliver a vibrant vocal masterclass. With her rich alto, Monica broke onto the music landscape in 1995 with her debut album, Miss Thang. In her class of '90s artists, the singer brought a mature sound, yet still tempered by youth, that made her relatable to audiences of any age who were growing into their own. Monica's albums are grounded in the here and now, the ups and the downs of life and love. For fans, she feels like a longtime friend to root for, not only for her talent, but because her realness is valued — an energy she brings to this performance.
Mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges is a rising star who recently won a Grammy Award and other accolades too long to list here. We're glad she accepted our invitation to record this Tiny Desk (home) concert, which features Damien Sneed on piano, Nolan Nwachukwu on bass and Christian Xavier McClendon McGhee on drums. She opens with "Habanera" from Carmen by Georges Bizet, a character she calls "one of the strongest women in all of opera." She also performs "Prayer" by Carlos Simon, a close collaborator, and "Heaven" by Duke Ellington, before closing out her set with the hymn "His Eye Is on the Sparrow."
After taking a sip of his tea towards the end of his six-song set, Denzel Curry turns to his band and exclaims: “We lowkey breezed through this b****! That’s great for two rehearsals!” From the moment Curry and his people stepped foot into NPR headquarters to record their Tiny Desk concert, the vibes were right. With a 10-piece configuration — consisting of drums, bass, keys, guitar, horns and percussion — the rapper put on a flawless and inspired live performance of songs off his latest LP as well as some of his biggest hits, all freshly arranged for the Tiny Desk.
"We celebrate Black Music Month. This has been Black magic." Truer words may have never been spoken behind the Tiny Desk as R&B goliath Usher caps off our month-long celebration of Black music, highlighting a catalog chock-full of hits spanning 25 years. It's been over two years since NPR headquarters was abuzz with chatter of a legend in the building. After an early morning rehearsal for his set at the Something in the Water Festival in Washington, D.C., he made his way over to deliver an unforgettable performance.
Amador entered the Contest 5 times before winning, becoming the first artist in over 800 days to play a concert at the Tiny Desk with an audience; she also headlined our cross-country Tiny Desk Contest On The Road tour. This is Alisa Amador’s journey.
Fantastic Negrito has gone on to headline world tours, win 3 Grammy Awards and release 4 albums. NPR Music recently caught up with him to hear about how his life has changed since winning the Contest.
Thanks for watching! Here's to the next 1000!
Dakh Daughters create an atmosphere of a French saloon, where Mireille Mathieu befriends Marilyn Manson. On occasion, armed with a full set of strings, keyboards and percussion, the women shake the audience with a roar in the manner of the group Laibach, but can swiftly exchange anger for kindness, turning into fun-loving, Hollywood beauties of the 1950s who dream of tropical vacations in the Caribbean.
Khadija El Warzazia’s Bnat el Houariyat & Esraa Warda is a pairing composed entirely of women artists: Bnat el Houariyat from the heart of Marrakech performs women’s celebratory and trance music, including chaabi and houara. The group’s percussion and call-and-response singing and complex polyrhythms build into a deeply transporting sonic experience. It is accompanied by the mesmerizing Algerian-American dancer Esraa Warda, a “rebellious spirit” known for her profound performances of the trance-like jedba hair-swaying dance.
The most influential rock musician in China is Beijing-born, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist Cui Jian. The former leader of Chinese rock band Ado, Jian's solo music is continually embraced by new generations: his albums having sold more than 10 million copies in Asia. The Wall Street Journal said, "Cui Jian continues to be an inspiration for China's disenchanted youth." However, Jian's prime inspiration comes not from politics, but from personal issues. He said, "I talk about serious things in my heart and people's lives, including, of course, love. But, mostly it's about Chinese culture, the modern culture. They're not political songs. It's just the truth, the modern truth. I talk about our life in China."
Septeto Santiaguero was founded in 1995 by members of Melodías de Ayer, a group formed in the early 1960s, together with the Estudiantina Invasora and the Cuarteto Patria, had for over three decades animated many a day and night at the Casa de la Trova in Santiago de Cuba. In 1993 and 1994, a number of young musicians from other septets — such as Sones de Oriente and Septeto Luz — joined Melodías de Ayer, and Fernando Dewar, a tres player, took over the leadership of the group. Seeking to return to their roots, the group decided to give up the mambos and stick to the discipline of the traditional septet: guitar, tres, bongo, clave, maracas, acoustic bass and trumpet, with the addition of the drum, which it retained in honor of Arsenio Rodríguez. In the Santiago de Cuba style, the two singers maintain the first and second harmony with equal emphasis. The group preserves and pays homage to one of Cuba’s most important musical forms.
Bia Ferreira is a Brazilian singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and activist. Her music, which she defines as "MMP — Música de Mulher Preta," discusses topics such as feminism, anti-racism and homophobia. She makes music that harnesses a combination of funky beats, reggae and soulful ballad grooves while lyrically pushing her listeners toward the discomfort that generates "movemente,” or action. Her lyrics have been described as "escrevivência,” a term Conceição Evaristo uses to “tell our stories from our perspectives.” It represents the subjectivity of a Black woman in Brazilian society.
Moonlight Benjamin describes her music as a blend of vodou and rock and roll. Born in Haiti and living in France, she is both a vodou priestess and a powerful singer-songwriter with an impressive vocal range. Benjamin’s sounds are both thrilling and thoughtful.
After more than three decades of relentlessly touring all over the world, the founding members of Taraf de Haidouks reunited for a new project: Taraf de Caliu. The musicians from Clejani, Romania are the last generation of “lautari” that carry on this authentic traditional music from southern Romania, the music that defined them as one of the best gypsy bands in the world. Under the lead of Caliu, the iconic violinist of the taraf, they are on the road again.
Noura Mint Seymali is Mauritania's defining artist on the international stage. Drawing on the timeless repertoire of the Moorish griot, a hereditary class of musical poets / historians, her band conjures "a full blown sandstorm of hypnotic grooves, melding traditional Mauritanian instruments within an electrified psychedelic rock band.” Expanding a sound born of Arab and Sub-Saharan roots, Noura Mint Seymali bends the arc of Moorish musical tradition to fit our contemporary moment.
Justin Adams & Mauro Durante released an award-winning debut album, Still Moving, in 2021, moving from serene minimalism to wild catharsis. Adams (producer of Tinariwen’s breakout albums and guitarist with Robert Plant) plays with a post-punk guitar approach enriched by his passion for Arabic music and African trance blues, while Durante is a sought-after violinist and percussionist and leader of southern Italy’s acclaimed Canzionere Grecanico Salentino, who performed its iconic taranta and pizzica dance songs at globalFEST in 2012.
A thrill of recognition passed through the crowd gathered around the Tiny Desk when the Indigo Girls began the first song of this set of stone-cold classics. It's "Closer To Fine" — arguably the singalong song of the '90s (it was released in 1989) and still a signature for the duo that's been offering life lessons to its fervent fans for nearly four decades. "Closer to Fine" "Look Long" "Go" "Kid Fears"
Tye Tribbett brings his high energy praise music to the Tiny Desk in a set of six inspiring songs.
Andress writes songs that have a way of digging up clear-headed truths; here, she performs three tracks from across her catalog.
This magical, four-song set is an Athens, Ga., insider's dream.
The New Zealand band writes sparkling indie pop underpinned by empathy. At the Tiny Desk, you can hear that support and camaraderie in the band's stripped-down arrangements and dry banter.
In her Tiny Desk, Tivel's empathy elevates her folk-based, jazz-touched compositions from mere stories to secular prayers.
The singer and rapper displays the subtle breadth of his music in this Tiny Desk (home) concert.
2023's Tiny Desk Contest unique, winning band performs a range of emotional and creative songs.
The Indonesian artist Nicole Zefanya brings a tiny toy piano and sleek songs to this Tiny Desk debut.
The band's Tiny Desk performance featured songs that leaned right into its incalculability.
The old-school funk and R&B artist tells a tale of "two Charlies" in his Tiny Desk performance.
Joined by top-tier talent — Tank, Chanté Moore and Avery Wilson — Babyface came out swinging. From the songs that put him on the map, to those he wrote or produced for other icons, around the room hit after hit was met with swoons, sighs and not a few tears. (Ok, maybe that was just me.) Babyface is a titan of the music industry: with numerous top 10 hits, 12 Grammys (50 nominations) and a jaw-dropping roster of collaborations. In 2022, he assembled a stellar ensemble of women for one of my favorite albums of the year, Girls Night Out. To watch this master of pen and sound behind the Tiny Desk was truly epic and nothing short of a dream come true. SET LIST "Two Occasions" "Whip Appeal" "Superwoman" "Take A Bow" "Not Gon' Cry" "Can We Talk" "Change the World" "Thnks fr th Mmrs" "I'll Make Love To You" "End Of The Road" "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)"
Backed by the phenomenal Florida-based MVP Band, along with a trio of famed background vocalists — singer-songwriter-actor Luke James, singer Brooke Valentine and songwriter/producer Lonny Bereal — we got a taste of the songs that not only established Tank as a pillar in R&B, but hits he wrote and produced for other notable artists such as Jamie Foxx, Omarion, Marques Houston and LeToya Luckett. Full of buttery smooth runs and yearning melodies (along with the occasional, witty HR joke), Tank's Tiny Desk concert is a stellar display of how powerful the allure of R&B can be, and perhaps a masterclass for any youngin' learning how to woo. SET LIST "Slowly" "Coldest" "Do What It Do" "O" "Naked" "Regret" "When We" "Dirty" "Can't Let It Show" "Slow" "See Through Love" "Maybe I Deserve" "I Deserve" "Please Don't Go"
The set opened with a surprise collaboration. Adam's mentor, the legendary DJ and producer Jazzy Jeff, joined the band and sprinkled in the jazz bop, "Brother J," with one of the key elements of hip-hop: the scratch. Then Adam introduced one of his favorite vocalists, Blakely, who captivated the office with a heartfelt rendition of Thelonius Monk's "'Round Midnight." The jazz vibe continued with a silky smooth composition by trumpeter Melvin Jones called, "The Storm Will Pass." Taking time to reflect on his early career, Adam shared how one session with a certain artist changed his life. To the surprise and delight of those gathered, that person was none other than Musiq Soulchild, who performed two of his hit songs, "teachme" and "Just Friends (Sunny)." SET LIST "Brother J" "'Round Midnight" "The Storm Will Pass" "teachme" "Legacy" / "Just Friends (Sunny)"
Accompanied by a dynamic band composed mostly of Tiny Desk alums, Ambré sets the tone with "3 Peat," from her sophomore EP 3000º. The EP is a salute to NOLA's finest — Lil Wayne and Juvenile, who'll be closing out our Black Music Month celebration. She then smoothly transitions into "Wild Life..." a love letter to the 504 before hitting "plenty" and "band practice" from her debut EP Pulp. It was only right that she closed out the show with "I'm Baby," perhaps her most beloved track and her first No. 1 entry on the Billboard R&B charts. The recording of this performance couldn't have come at a better time — she found out she was nominated for the BET Awards for Best New Artist right after the shoot, all while gearing up to release her follow-up EP who's loving you?, which is out now. If this Tiny Desk happens to be your introduction to Ambré, be prepared to be enraptured. SET LIST "3 Peat" "Wild Life..." "plenty" "band practice" "AMBRÉ'S INTERLUDE" "I'm Baby"
Born in the Bronx but hailing from Accra, Ghana, Amaarae's appearance on NPR Music's Black Music Month lineup proves how far the sounds of West Africa have stretched to influence the U.S. and, more implicitly, just how much the music defies catch-all labels like "Afrobeats." Fountain Baby, the album that's home to most of the songs Amaarae performs at the Desk, represents what she does best. While it may be categorized as "pop" by streaming services, as an experience, Fountain Baby is an overflowing stream of genre-swerving liquid dopamine, lulling and surprising its listener in waves. Pulling influence from a grab bag of global incantations, Amaarae makes African percussion flirt with baile funk and alté, pop punk and garage, resulting in one of most triumphant albums and Tiny Desk Concerts of 2023 so far. SET LIST "Reckless & Sweet" "Wasted Eyes" "Disguise" "Big Steppa" "Co-Star" "HELLZ ANGEL" "SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY"
Expanded into a septet, MUNA used the setting as an opportunity to lean into its moodier side. "Loose Garment" placed Naomi McPherson at the piano as Gavin applied subtle effects to her own plaintive voice. And "Stayaway," a highlight from 2019's Saves The World, placed such a demand on the three voices at MUNA's core — Gavin, McPherson and Josette Maskin — that they practically exploded with relief when it was over. MUNA's appearance happened to coincide with a loosening of pandemic restrictions at the Tiny Desk — most notably the hard cap on the number of audience members who could attend. It was hard to miss the sense of liberation, and the surge of energy, in the sheer size of the crowd. SET LIST "Loose Garment" "Stayaway" "Silk Chiffon"
Today, as Eastman's music is being brought into the spotlight by Wild Up and others, he's celebrated as an experimental visionary who brandished his own provocative way of getting the listener to think about sound and context. For this performance, the band plays a 15-minute arrangement of a longer piece from 1973 called Stay On It. The music is nothing less than an exuberant house party unto itself, infectious and revelatory. To perform Eastman's works, Rountree says, can be transformational. "They're the kind of pieces you breathe in as a musician, and they do their work on you," he explains. "And when you breathe them out again, you're breathing not only the piece but also a different version of yourself." SET LIST Stay On It
For her Tiny Desk, Younger presents some of her newest entries into the jazz harp canon. "Brand New Life" and "Moving Target" feature vocalist Tatiana "LadyMay" Mayfield's ethereal voice perfectly complimenting the transcendental tones of the harp, which is expanded into a one woman choir of sound through the use of vocal pedals. Younger closes with "Unrest I" and "Unrest II," composed during the height of both the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020's Black Lives Matter protests. In these two movements, Younger, drummer Allan Mednard and bassist Rashaan Carter stunningly convey a maelstrom of tension, confusion, upheaval and release, emotions undoubtedly present in many who similarly witnessed a world in confusion outside their windows at this time. SET LIST "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" "Brand New Life" "Moving Target" "Unrest I" "Unrest II"
The pressure to deliver was palpable in the planning stages but as the band was assembled, my expectations were exceeded. Tiny Desk alumni and New Orleans natives Trombone Shorty and Alvin Ford were brought into the fold. Another Tiny Desk vet from New Orleans, Jon Batiste, flew in from London just to be a part of the set. Juvenile sourced The Amours from right here in D.C. to handle background vocals, along with string players from the Louisiana Philharmonic for the grand finale. The architect of the Juvenile/Cash Money Records sound, DJ Mannie Fresh, became the glue that pieced it all together. The result was one of the most rambunctious experiences at the Desk. The Hot Boy coasted through highlights from a decades-long, groundbreaking career, concluding with a performance of "Back That Azz Up," so exuberant that the audience demanded an encore and the band obliged. A Tiny Desk first.
We've had hundreds of different voices and instruments behind the Tiny Desk over the years, but to my ears the performance that featured Omar Sosa and Seckou Keita sounded as if it was dropped directly from the heavens of musical compatibility right into our laps.
You gotta love a band that names itself after siblings that don't exist, and under a name that doesn't match anyone in the band. At least I do. I've been a fan of the edgy sonic traditions of the Meridian Brothers for a while now, and jumped at the chance to bring the duo's space age cumbia direct from Bogotá, Colombia to the Tiny Desk. And band leader Eblis Alvarez did not disappoint.
Drones abound, and a pensive atmosphere filled the office when Lisa O'Neill and her bandmates began one of my favorite songs of 2023, "Old Note." The deep, harmonic drones comprise a bowed hammer dulcimer, a shruti box, a harmonium and a bowed upright bass. Then the Irish singer's plaintive voice tells a tale she describes as "orality" and "how we communicated before we started writing stuff down. It's a song also about hearing the music in nature.
As captivating as birds who sing in sync, MARO's guitar trio brought an almost imperceptible, natural beauty to her Tiny Desk, characteristic of an artist truly in her element.
When Alice Sara Ott walked into our Tiny Desk office space she was fascinated by all the knickknacks and doodads musicians have left on the shelves over the years. She immediately got to work, folding an origami swan, which would be her own contribution. But first, it was given pride of place atop our trusty Yamaha upright — a talisman of good things to come.
As the band of intergalactic monsters strapped guitars to their battle-worn bodies, thunder and rain pounded the NPR building outside. As if the late Oderus Urungus was pissing his blessing from Valhalla, the prophecy had finally been fulfilled: GWAR came to destroy the Tiny Desk once and for all.
It's hard for me to comprehend what a newcomer to Sparks would make of seeing brothers Ron and Russell Mael for the first time. Ron, the mustached one behind the keys, looks like he once was a silent film star and just fell off the silver screen (and is a bit grumpy about it.) On the other hand, Russell, with his upbeat posture, sings about a girl crying in her latte. Hopefully, by the time Russell introduces us to the second tune, about a 22-hour-old child seeing the world and wishing to go back to whence he came, the innocent viewer/listener will understand the twisted humor Sparks has been dispensing for over 50 years across a few dozen albums.
The first thing I noticed as Cypress Hill strolled into NPR headquarters was Sen Dog cradling his signature bucket hat. I asked him if my assumptions were correct; it was indeed the original hat seen in all the videos from the early '90s. Before I could process that confirmation, B Real asked me, "Yo, is your greenroom a greenroom?" We got everything we expected and more from Cypress Hill at the Tiny Desk.
What's an artist to do when, instead of standing and dancing before a stadium of adoring fans, she's instead sitting behind the Tiny Desk? You do exactly what Puerto Rican vocalist Kany García does: dig deep into the intimacy of her songwriting and the musicality of one of the most distinctive voices in any form of Latin music.
Peter One's tender voice has a storied past. These are passion-filled songs often with references and connections to his past.
Hardyman tells NPR the song was written during the time her mother-in-law was in hospice care. The melody came to Hardyman as she and her husband Nathan Hardyman, who is also part of Little Moon, drove from Utah to Idaho to visit his mother. During this difficult time, Emma and Nathan Hardyman were also in the process of leaving the Mormon church in which they had grown up.
During the show, I witnessed my colleagues go from wiping away tears to bouncing and clapping within a matter of minutes. That emotional balance is Obongjayar’s Tiny Desk in a nutshell. He gave us everything.
One of the many musical manifestations of the history of Latin America is the arrival of the European accordion. And in the hands of Colombian musician Gregorio Uribe, the accordion is both a melodic and rhythmic wonder.
Bam Bam, primarily known as a rapper, has turned his passion for food, clothing, sneakers, wrestling, writing, fitness and painting into bonafide professions. Never veering too far away from the booth, he's consistently dropped projects since 2011.
The last time Swedish band Little Dragon performed for Tiny Desk, the group wasn't actually at the Desk. Like a number of Tiny Desk alum who played between 2020 and 2022, Little Dragon delivered its debut Tiny Desk as a (home) concert in the band's Gothenburg studio. That performance provided a comforting balm to many during the early and confusing months of the global pandemic. Finally hosting the quartet in our Washington, D.C. office was the ultimate goal, and in this in person Tiny Desk, Little Dragon delivers a performance awash with upbeat and optimistic melodies balanced by a grounded presentation. Since the band's debut album in 2007, Little Dragon created a blend of R&B, soul, electronica and dance pop that pushes the boundaries of simplistic genre classification. The whimsical whistling of drummer Erik Bodin in "Tumbling Dice" is the perfect complement to singer Yukimi Nagano encouraging us to "make it worth every step as we go." The cosmic pop tones of "Ritual Union'' are s
The Tiny Desk has hosted plenty of major pop, rock and hip-hop stars in its 15-plus years, but you'd be hard-pressed to find one more agreeable or self-effacing than Austin Richard Post. Whether lamenting the state of his singing voice, joking about his nerves or sitting slack-jawed in awe of the fantastic band his people had assembled for this show, Post had the bearing of a lottery winner who wouldn't even give himself credit for buying a ticket. Before, during and after the show, Post Malone was a joy to have around. But he also just happened to bring a few of the biggest pop hits of the 21st century: Set-opener "Sunflower," for example, has been certified eighteen-times platinum by the RIAA since its release in 2018 — that's an all-time record — while the 2017 single "I Fall Apart" and 2019's "Circles" lag behind at a mere ten-times platinum apiece. "Enough Is Enough," which closes this set, enjoys no such designation, but give it time: A track from Post Malone's new album Austin,
Shrouded in all black, flamenco garb and flanked by his very own angelitos at the Tiny Desk, Spanish singer Omar Montes is the shining embodiment of the contrasts he constantly plays with. Dancing along the border of tradition and modernity — flamenco and hip hop — the artist recounts his story as a kid of Roma heritage growing up on the streets of Madrid, over the melodic heartbeat of clapping hands. Opening the show with “Patio de la Cárcel,” he trades synthetic beats for transitive horns and lays bare his soul with vivid bars about life in his barrio. Locking in his audience with a heart-thumping trombone line, he switches to flamenco-driven “Metió en un Lío.” Settling back into the beat of clapping hands, he and his band dance through the up-tempo “La Llama del Amor.” Omar Montes walked into the building on a video call with his grandma — one of the most important people in his life. He closes out his performance with “Conmigo,” infused with the kind of romance you’d imagine hi
Pianist Sarah Cahill commands a near godlike status among fans of contemporary classical music. She's commissioned dozens of new works from today's top composers including John Adams, Julia Wolfe and Terry Riley. But when she sat down at the piano behind Bob Boilen's desk, she was focused not so much on new music but instead the plight of women composers. While compositions by women are being heard slightly more often in concert halls over the past three years, historically the numbers have been pitiful. (In the 2018-19 season, both the Philadelphia and the Chicago Symphony Orchestras presented music by 55 different composers — none were women.) Cahill is doing her part to remedy the situation. For this performance, she offers a sampler of The Future is Female, her multi-volume project that collects piano music by a staggeringly wide swath of women composers over a four-century span. A spirited prelude by the short-lived Czech composer Vítězslava Kaprálová opens the set. She managed
If you close your eyes at the beginning of this Tiny Desk concert, you could easily imagine yourself at a party somewhere along the Texas-Mexican border around the 1930s, just after the guitars come out. But open your eyes and you'll see Yahritza y Su Esencia, a trio of musicians from Washington's Yakima Valley, belting out songs about lost love and longing. Such is the magic of the current wave of Mexican regional music. Yahritza Martínez's voice on "Soy El Unico" speaks to a new generation of Mexican music fans as deeply as some of us old timers. Surrounded by her brothers Armando, on 12-string guitar, and Jairo, on bass, Martínez's impassioned vocals speak of loving someone who does not return the favor. There is an art to singing the kind of impassioned lyrics that are found in the corridos and rancheras of the best Mexican regional music and Yahritza does it again on "Dejalo Ir," another song she wrote when she was 13 years old. I was doing okay until the group hit its stride wi
The groove is funky too. For almost eight years, McBride and his bandmates — trumpeter Josh Evans, Marcus Strickland on woodwinds and drummer Nasheet Waits — have been playing exploratory post-bop music without a polyphonic instrument — one that can easily play more than one note at a time — like a piano or a guitar. This makes for a genuinely distinct sound, one that's less dependent on strict harmonic understructures and more creative interplay between instrumentalists.
Ten years ago, sometime after Speedy Ortiz transformed itself from a Sadie Dupuis solo project into a functioning rock band, its jagged and clever early singles caught the attention of NPR Music's Lars Gotrich. So we reached out to inquire about a Tiny Desk concert, only to learn that the timing wasn't quite right: The group didn't have any days off and its members were concerned they wouldn't sound their best, so they responded to our request with a question of their own. "Can we do it later?
Chlöe Bailey and her band were scheduled to fly in the day before this show. But with thousands of flights delayed or canceled at the start of the 4th of July holiday weekend, one member couldn't make it into town. Because the arrangements were designed for two background vocalists, it didn't make sense to have just one and the team decided the ensemble would go without.
When violinist Anne Akiko Meyers walked into NPR headquarters, I half expected her to be flanked by bodyguards. After all, she was carrying a very rare instrument. Her Guarneri del Gesù “Vieuxtemps” violin, built in 1741, is worth at least $16 million. Instead, Meyers arrived only with a pair of publicists and the perceptive pianist Max Levinson. She seemed nonchalant about the fact that her fiddle is worth a fortune.
Hiromi Uehara arrived at NPR wearing comfortable sweats, her chic hair already styled and perfectly coiffed for the performance. A keyboard gig bag was strapped on her back with her Nord Lead A1 analog modeling synthesizer, a versatile instrument loaded with her programmed patches. Its buzzy, modular sound started the show with a funky melodic line that sets up this highly energetic and joyful set.
It's not exactly typical for artists at the Tiny Desk to share their future burial plans, but that's exactly what Indigo de Souza does halfway through her performance. "I wrote this song about my love for nature," the singer-songwriter says, introducing the track "Not My Body." "I think that when I die ... what I want is to be composted and to become soil, and for that soil to be used to plant a tree, and I want that tree to be so big and strong."
On an August evening in Seoul, South Korea, a newly formed production crew was setting up cameras and microphones as the eight-member session band warmed up and rehearsed. Most of the musicians had flown in from the U.S. just for this performance; a few were already based in Seoul. The special occasion was one of the first concerts for Tiny Desk Korea, a brand new series based halfway around the world from NPR's offices in Washington, D.C. It was an exciting moment for everyone in the room as we awaited the arrival of Kim Tae-hyung, 김태형, who most know as V from BTS.
The Venezuelan group brings its infectious energy and beach-infused sound to the Tiny Desk.
Broadway stars Alyssa Fox and McKenzie Kurtz defy gravity, accompanied by composer Stephen Schwartz to celebrate 20 years of Wicked.
J Noa came to the Tiny Desk to show the world what a girl from her barrio is capable of.
The Chicano singer brings a grounded sense of reflection to the Tiny Desk.
The singer's Tiny Desk performance is a joy to behold.
Alex Cuba weaves evocative imagery into musical arrangements that conjure his native country.
Antillano shows why she's one of the most exciting voices in Latin trap and reggaeton right now.
Haters may say it's AutoTune, but when Caroline Polachek sings live, it's clear that the impressive range and control you're hearing is all her.
"La Caballota" herself gives a performance for the girls.
The stripped down sound of some of Becky G's biggest hits offered a rare view of her artistry.
If there was ever an artist the word "legend" applies to, it would be Smokey Robinson.
The Colombian superestrella brought his mesmerizing vocals and a few proud tears to the Tiny Desk.
The R&B singer performs a set of his most beloved musical moments.
The two artists perform a set of music full of yearning, joy and history.
As the ringleader of the CHIC experience, Rodgers crams a lifetime's worth of nightlife into every strum of his guitar.
It's hard to get past the significance of this performance by the Indian jazz fusion band, Shakti. Initially formed in 1973 by jazz guitarist John McLaughlin with virtuoso traditional Indian musicians, the band opened the doors for others to expand their musical appreciation beyond Western music. 50 years later, as guitarist McLaughlin reunites with tabla player Zakir Hussain to take Shakti on another world tour, the group stopped by for a magically inspiring performance behind the Tiny Desk. "Shrini's Dream" sets the stage with both melodic and rhythm instruments, before vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and McLaughlin each take turns calling out to the muse for inspiration. The entire set is a drummer's dream given Hussain is considered a master tabla player both within and outside the tradition.
The boys of Tomorrow X Together, or TXT, began as the only act in the immediate orbit of the K-pop titans BTS. Created by the masterminds at Big Hit Music, the group has always had to manage certain expectations — even as a standout of K-pop's fourth generation, it seemed to be searching for an identity separate from the art-rap reputation established by its label. TXT's most recent album, The Name Chapter: Freefall, captures its sprawling ambitions: from new wave-y retro-pop to bassy, beaming dance music; the mildly grungy to flat-out nu metal. The group's performance of three songs from the release for Tiny Desk Korea brings these modes into something resembling a coherent vision, playing into its signature rock band aesthetics while giving their music a soft-focus feel. With two guitarists at their backs, seated all in a row, the boys seem in their element.
The singer-songwriter returns, bringing a handful of songs from her wildly fun sophomore album to the NPR Music office. "It's much cooler to be here," Rodrigo says. "I was saying earlier, I've never been starstruck by a room before." Many of the songs on GUTS, which earned a special recommendation on NPR Music's Best Albums of 2023 list, blow out Rodrigo's sound into colorful, grungy pop-rock fit for a stadium, like "love is embarrassing," performed here with Rodrigo on jangly acoustic guitar. But the artist builds her set out with GUTS cuts that fit the intimate setup, like the searing "vampire," her backup vocalists cooing eerily around each of her lines, or the potent ode to female jealousy, "lacy," which Rodrigo explains started out as a poetry exercise in a college class. By the end of her set, she's completely alone at the piano for the sobering "making the bed," and it's not difficult to see why she's one of pop's most promising rising performers.
From the very first note, Sunny Jain’s music promotes the idea of not just crossing boundaries but obliterating them all together. The percussionist, composer and bandleader has roots in South Asia and his band and album Wild Wild East are expertly adept at infusing the sounds and melodies of that part of the world into an intense yet joyful performance. There are references to his parents’ journey to the U.S., Sufi dance music and the mash-up of Bollywood and the Italian westerns of the 1960s. Sunny Jain’s latest musical exploration is another road taken from his days leading the Brooklyn bhangra band Red Baraat (which did an explosive Tiny Desk concert in 2017) and if you listen closely you’ll hear how unique his musical vision is. In fact, if his musical projects were actual travel junkets, I would whip out my passport and jump on board as soon as I could.
It is difficult to merely take in a performance by the Rwandan group known as The Good Ones. The pathos of the band and the country’s recent history permeates the duo’s existence and its music. Adrian Kazigira and Janvier Havugimana were taught music by the latter’s older brother, who then perished during the country’s brutal genocide. They formed a band as a way to process their nation’s trauma and also bring together Rwanda’s three tribes: Tutsi, Hutu, and Abatwa. From the start, the simple guitar fingerpicking style and very sparse rhythm guide the plaintive vocals into a trance-like meditation. The music is a fascinating mix of guitar strumming that combines the kind of cyclical song form you hear on the West African kora and vocal harmonizing common to many African musical traditions. The group’s origin story may be tragic, but The Good Ones’ determination to spread its musical message is an inspiration.
The Japanese House, a.k.a. the recording project of U.K. singer-songwriter Amber Bain, put out my favorite album of 2023: In the End It Always Does is an irresistible electro-pop record full of warmly relatable songs about desire, regret and the fear that no one will ever love you as much as the dog nestled in your lap. It's a wonderful record that's buoyed by impeccably chosen guests — MUNA's Katie Gavin, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, two members of The 1975 — and a pervasive mood of low-key dreaminess. At the Tiny Desk, Bain recasts four of In the End It Always Does' songs in fresh arrangements that swap out the synths while highlighting the more organic sounds of brushed drums, a violin, a spare piano and the occasional baritone sax. And, though she closes with the album's effervescent lead single "Boyhood," Bain also uses her set to center the album's softer material — particularly the lush gem "Baby Goes Again," which has no business languishing as a deep cut.
The BLK ODYSSY aesthetic ignites all of the human senses and it's impossible to nail down exactly what type of music he makes after one, two or even three listens. When he arrived at NPR headquarters, Juwan Elcock, aka BLK ODYSSY, pulled out a lifelike severed human head made of silicone and placed it on the Desk. It's the same head seen in the hands of a woman on the cover of his latest album, DIAMONDS & FREAKS, a project that depicts love and lust as addictive vices.
Hania Rani makes beautiful music that’s haunted, yet enchanted. The Polish pianist and composer blurs the lines of ambient, classical and house — submerged beats pulse under ripples of piano, synths and her delicate voice. She regularly performs in concert halls across Europe, but during an American tour she brought the cinematic, yet intimate songs of her album Ghosts to the Tiny Desk.
San Diego-based trio Thee Sacred Souls made its mark at the Tiny Desk with satin vocals and vintage melodies. Paying homage to southern California Latino culture meeting American soul roots, the group's sweet fusion melodies brought history and love into the space.
Cordae has always shined as a masterful storyteller. On The Crossroads, he graduates from origin and neighborhood tales to the adjustment of newfound fame and fatherhood — most of this set comes from that album. But he does take us back to his early days on "06 dreamin," a song about his mother's aspirations as a singer that samples one of her original recordings. In a rare and sweet Tiny Desk moment, he shares his big break and brings his mom, Jennifer Dunston, up to sing with him.
Chocolate Droppa walked into the office with a laser focus and a clear mission. He didn’t ask for much during soundcheck, just a preview of beats from The Band of Brothas and a shot of espresso. He was about to do something that had never been done at Tiny Desk before — freestyle an entire set “off the dome.” It’s been over nine years since Droppa dropped his debut mixtape, which featured heavy hitters like Migos, Big Sean, Nick Jonas and more. “Every time I see people,” the rapper shares during his set, “the first thing they say is ‘Droppa where you been? When you gonna give us more?’ ” Well, the answer is now. Those who aren’t hip may recognize the emcee as his alter-ego, Kevin Hart, who’s become a household name in comedy and acting. But this unscripted set proves that Chocolate Droppa’s rap game is equally entertaining. There’s really no need to compare him to any other performer you’ve seen, because as Droppa puts it himself, he’s “not them.”
From the very first song, there is no question that we are immersed in the rich and vibrant sound of Colombia's Caribbean coast. Led by co-founders and lead vocalists Johanna Castañeda and Ronald Polo, the members of REBOLU dig deep into their roots to captivate audiences everywhere they play, including the Tiny Desk. Grounded in the musical traditions of the African diaspora, REBOLU's performance reflects both the uptempo and the slow grooves that have evolved in Colombia — what makes their music, and this Tiny Desk, stand out is how they incorporate contemporary rhythms like reggae and funk into their sound. You may not have known them before, but once you do, REBOLU will have you coming back for more.
Carín León is an old soul. There is no other way to account for the power of the emotion in his voice. His 16-piece band tests the limited space behind the Tiny Desk, but when the brass takes over to punctuate a performance, Leon's commanding presence shows why he's one of the best at what he does. Regional Mexican music is based upon song forms from another era, but León's lyrics add a new spin on heartbreak and love lost. This set opens with "Ese Vato No Te Queda," followed by two songs from the 2024 album Palabra De To's. Previously, León premiered "Primera Cita" for his Tiny Desk (home) concert, which became a major hit. That song "left a mark on our lives and completely shaped our careers," he shares. For good luck, León here premieres "Por la Suave," which was also written by Alejandro Lozano. "A poem that I love," León says.
