Tag: NPR

This Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 NPR Music celebrates artists from all corners of Latinidad with an ‘El Tiny’ takeover. Felix Contreras | September 16, 2024 From the moment Colombian superstar Juanes started singing “Nada Valgo Sin Tu Amor,” we know we were in for something special. He usually performs in arenas and stadiums all over the Spanish speaking world, but he brought his intensely personal songs to the Tiny Desk — and none of them lost their power of speaking directly to the heart. A highpoint for me was when he converted his popular song “La Luz” into a [See More…]

Stephen Thompson | August 27, 2024 Lainey Wilson took a long, winding path to country-music stardom, beginning with a high school stint as a Hannah Montana impersonator. That path led the Louisiana native to a Grammy for best country album earlier this year — for her terrific 2022 breakthrough, Bell Bottom Country — and it continues with Whirlwind, which dropped Friday. Just days before the new album’s release, Wilson took yet another victory lap at the Tiny Desk, where she performed three songs from Whirlwind before closing with the first single from Bell Bottom Country, “Heart Like a Truck.” Though [See More…]

Mitra I. Arthur | August 23, 2024 Have you ever been in a room where you can feel a palpable, collective swooning? Welcome to a Maxwell Tiny Desk. The crooner’s sensual falsetto and rooted baritone have seduced audiences since his debut album dropped in 1996. One of the leading voices in the resurgence of soul music during the late ’90s, Maxwell’s albums are full of tender songs recounting love, life and heartbreak that have resonated with generations of fans looking for ways to be vulnerable. Clad in soothing neutrals, Maxwell charmingly admitted his nervousness at being at the Desk, stating [See More…]

Ann Powers | August 14, 2024 Sierra Ferrell is the May Queen of American roots music — no matter what month it is. For her summertime stop at the Tiny Desk, the West Virginia native adorned herself in garb befitting Florence Pugh’s star turn in Midsommar, a trail of cloth pansies encircling her eyes. Ferrell, whose 2024 album is appropriately called Trail of Flowers, quickly showed that her finery wouldn’t get in the way of a stellar musical performance; her fiddling in this set’s first song “I Could Drive You Crazy” anchored both the band and the entire performance in [See More…]

Suraya Mohamed | August 7, 2024 We almost never post Tiny Desk (home) concerts anymore. But to have the glorious Brazilian musical icon Milton Nascimento with his gifted friend and collaborator, esperanza spalding, be an exception is perhaps the opportunity of a lifetime. Nascimento is 81 years old now and has difficulty traveling out of Brazil. It’s hard to explain the gravity of Nascimento’s career and his significant influence on all genres of music. Performing for more than 60 years, the singer, musician and songwriter’s discography includes more than 40 albums. In his prime, his rich voice spanned many octaves. [See More…]

Bobby Carter | August 2, 2024 Experience with a live band is a prerequisite for most artists who want to play the Tiny Desk. The space isn’t kind to groups who aren’t locked in with each other and it will fully expose a lack of preparation. In the case of The LOX, chemistry has allowed the group to prevail in any environment. It’s the primary element of the trio’s longevity, so we all took a chance to build this performance from scratch. It took the audience a second to figure out what was happening, but the “woos” in tandem with [See More…]

Alanté Serene | July 31, 2024 When I first heard Kehlani’s debut mixtape, it was a comfort that reminded me of home. The proud Oakland, Calif. native was 19 years old when that project dropped, and so was I. The tracklist was exactly what I needed as a new Washington, D.C. transplant, thousands of miles away from all of my loved ones in the Bay Area. Over the past decade I’ve followed Kehlani along their journey, growing with them as we both experienced young adulthood. Vulnerability is their superpower, and that power was put to the test at the Tiny [See More…]

Mitra I. Arthur | July 22, 2024 “I finally made it to Tiny Desk,” singer-songwriter Norah Jones excitedly declares during her performance. Her first Tiny Desk experience was a solo piano and vocal (home) concert, which reflected all the meditative, sonic hallmarks of performing in isolation. Since her juggernaut debut album, Come Away With Me, was released in 2002, she has crafted intimate songs that showcase her beguiling vocals. In the course of building her genre expansive catalog, she has racked up nine Grammy awards and collaborations with as varied a group as you can imagine, from Herbie Hancock and [See More…]

Anamaria Sayre | July 19, 2024 Puerto Rican rapper Álvaro Díaz’s fresh take on his greatest hits at the Tiny Desk brought all the sal and soul of the Isla to NPR. Opening with jazzy piano and synth riffs that evoked a sweet ocean breeze on “Todo Bien,” he quickly set the tone for the concert, throwing a shout-out to his mama, the inspiration for the track. Switching to “Chicas de la Isla,” he used smooth, electric guitar and stunning background vocals for a rendition of the first song he ever made, conveying a relaxed energy fit for a jam [See More…]