Ashley Pointer | May 1, 2024
On a call ahead of her Tiny Desk taping, WILLOW told me that she “just wants to feel it and be in the vibe.” Many artists worry about having to tailor their music for the space, but if done right, a beautiful synergy can be achieved. With boundless energy and magnetic stage presence, the artist’s exceptional vocal range and musicality left the audience spellbound.
Despite being only 23 years old, the singer-songwriter and musician Willow Smith is a vet when it comes to this music thing. She’s been consistently making music and on a journey of sonic exploration since she was just 9 years old and is about to put out her sixth album, empathogen, in just a few days. Zach Tenorio on upright piano kicks off the show, cueing the first few bars of the jazz-infused, odd-meter vibes of “Symptom of Life” from the new album, later complimented by trippy Ebow effects courtesy of Liso Lee on guitar.
Then, a couple throwbacks: a stripped down arrangement of “Split” from the 2022 album and fan-favorite “Wait a Minute!” from her 2015 album ARDIPITHECUS, which undergoes some mind-blowing bass riffing from Mohini Dey. Dey continues with some severe stank-face on a world premiere of the funky, bass-heavy “Run!” from the upcoming album, locking in tastefully with The Pocket Queen on drums. Closing the set with “Big Feelings,” the band gets busy while WILLOW’s vocals soar, effortlessly teetering between emotive highs and lows, leaving us all wanting more.
SET LIST
“Symptom of Life”
“Split”
“Wait a Minute!”
“Run!”
“Big Feelings”
MUSICIANS
Willow Smith: vocals
Liso Lee: guitar, vocals
Zach Tenorio: keys
Mohini Dey: bass
Taylor “The Pocket Queen” Gordon: drums
TINY DESK TEAM
Producers: Ashley Pointer, Bobby Carter
Director/Editor: Maia Stern
Audio Technical Director: Josephine Nyounai
Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Alanté Serene
Audio Engineer: Hannah Gluvna
Production Assistant: Elle Mannion
Photographer: Zayrha Rodriguez
Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
#willow #tinydesk #nprmusic
0:02 – 3:31 Symptom of Life
3:34 – 7:02 Split
7:24 – 11:11 Wait a Minute!
11:18 – 14:33 Run!
15:02 – 19:10 Big Feelings
NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concerts is a popular video series featuring live, intimate music performances by diverse artists, from major stars to up-and-coming musicians, recorded in the small workspace of Bob Boilen’s NPR office in Washington, D.C.brought to you by SloppBoxx.Com.
My best decision to ever happen today is clocking on this video. Insane.
sorry me , was honnest ? NOT A LVL
NEVER i will be hard? JUST I TELL
I LOVE ANY OSE , be sure
if all was when i was first, all erase me , and was some pink
so ? BE you ? WAS ALL
Loving something that has eternally been painful and endearing and finding a world of discovery making it hard to catch a breath kinda makes you think and wonder
If love is love uncatching resovior of emotions in a spiritual walk.
Flipping through every butterfly and realizing
love no matter how you see it is a moment of pure desire no matter how far given
unrequited cut that out. I appreciate the way you cross my path spiritually
amigos o enemigos
No end to a corded connection just split ties and movement cycles.
Not sure if the tone difference is cause it keeps trying to express out though you can see the hold
which is like like …
Wait….Mohini(bass) and Taylor(drums) playing together with Willow?? Wow!