Lee Fields: Tiny Desk Concert

File:Lee Fields & The Expressions (Haldern Pop 2013) IMGP3917 smial wp.jpg

What Is It?

The YouTube video Lee Fields: Tiny Desk Concert by the YouTube channel NPR Music:

Lee Fields: Tiny Desk Concert

Here is the description for this video:

This year’s Black History Month celebration at the Tiny Desk features a carefully crafted lineup spanning many genres, generations, and walks of life.

Each artist represents the best in their class and will be performing at the Tiny Desk for the first time.

Stephen Thompson | February 10, 2023
You can’t see it on the screen, but there’s a piece of paper taped to the Desk in front of Lee Fields throughout the R&B, blues and soul veteran’s long-awaited Tiny Desk debut.

It’s got the set list, of course, but also an instruction to the singer: “NO AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION!!!!”

It speaks to Fields’ legendary showmanship — he’s often been dubbed “Little JB” due to his similarities to the hardest-working man in show business — that his team felt a need to rein in his generous impulse to work any crowd before him, knowing the time constraints of a Tiny Desk concert.

It speaks further to Fields’ showmanship that he ended up ignoring the directive: By the time he got to the set-closing “Two Jobs,” which features a call-and-response listing the hours in the day, he was yelling, “I want y’all to count the hours!”

Though pandemic-era protocols limit the size of the Tiny Desk crowds these days, Fields got the shouts of approval (and participation) he was seeking, as he barreled through three songs from last year’s Sentimental Fool and one relative oldie from a career that stretches all the way back to the late ’60s: the self-explanatorily titled “Ladies,” from his 2009 album My World.

SET LIST
“Forever”
“Ladies”
“What Did I Do”
“Two Jobs”

MUSICIANS
Lee Fields: vocals
Benjamin Trokan: guitar
Jason Colby: trumpet
Frederick DeBoe: sax
Toby Pazner: keys
Evan Pazner: drums
Jacob Silver: bass

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Bob Boilen
Director: Kara Frame
Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault
Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Audio Mixing: Josh Rogosin
Videographers: Kara Frame, Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Sofia Seidel
Editor: Sofia Seidel
Audio Assistant: Brian Jarboe
Production Assistant: Jill Britton
Tiny Desk Team: Suraya Mohamed, Marissa Lorusso, Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer
VP, Visuals, and Music: Keith Jenkins
Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

#leefields #nprmusic #tinydesk

Dakh Daughters: Tiny Desk Meets GlobalFEST 2023

Dakh Daughters: Tiny Desk Meets GlobalFEST 2023

What Is It?

The YouTube video Dakh Daughters: Tiny Desk Meets GlobalFEST 2023 by the YouTube channel NPR Music:

Dakh Daughters: Tiny Desk Meets GlobalFEST 2023

Here is the description for this video:

For the third year, Tiny Desk concerts team up with globalFEST for a thrilling online music festival — Tiny Desk meets globalFEST.

Bob Boilen | January 27, 2023
Hosted by Angélique Kidjo, the series echoes globalFEST’s live flagship event in spirit but is centered in the framework of the Tiny Desk concert series.

This collaboration presents exclusive video performances from nine artists filmed in their respective homelands, on the road and in exile all over the world.

There will be three nights of concerts, each featuring three bands, on consecutive nights beginning Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. ET.

The globalFEST team wrote the following biographical information about each performer.

Dakh Daughters, Ukraine
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.

SET LIST
“Viyna”
“Fellini”
“Umry”

MUSICIANS
Solomiia Melnyk: vocals, cello, accordion
Ruslana Khazipova: vocals, drums/percussion
Natalka Halanevych: vocals, piano, double bass
Ganna Nikitina: vocals, guitar
Natacha Charpe (Zo): vocals, violin

CREDITS
Director: Vladyslav Troitskyi
Art Manager: Iryna Gorban
Audio: Anton Ocheretyanyy
Video: Nayan Ducruet
Special thanks to Theatre Le Préau and Lucie Berelowitsch

TINY DESK TEAM
Creative Director: Bob Boilen
Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Editing: Joshua Bryant
Tiny Desk Team: Marissa Lorusso, Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer

GLOBALFEST TEAM
Co-Directors: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, and Bill Bragin
2023 Curators: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, Bill Bragin, and Meera Dugal
Event Producer: Ian Thake
Host: Angélique Kidjo
Legal Services: Tamizdat
Legal Services: Duane Morris
Video Production: Karim Tabbaa

FUNDERS:
The Mellon Foundation
The National Endowment for the Arts
NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

SPECIAL THANKS:
Ken Umezaki
Fabian Alsultany
Steven Kirkpatrick
David Komar

Soccer Mommy: Tiny Desk Concert

Soccer Mommy: Tiny Desk Concert

What Is It?

The YouTube video Soccer Mommy: Tiny Desk Concert by the YouTube channel NPR Music:

Soccer Mommy: Tiny Desk Concert

Here is the description for this video:

Andrew Flanagan | January 18, 2023

When Sophie Allison says to our friends and coworkers assembled around the desk, “We’re finally doin’ it,” she really means it.

A little less than exactly three years ago, Allison had just released the wonderful Color Theory as Soccer Mommy; it’s an album that marked significant strides in her songwriting and production.’

A big year was doubtless in store for her and her bandmates… and we all know how that went.

The band’s visit to the Tiny Desk, scheduled for March 30, 2020, was the first of many to be canceled due to the pandemic.

That time in history required a lot of lemonade-making from all of us; we at NPR Music and beyond were lucky that, not too long after lockdown had sunk its teeth in, Soccer Mommy was the first to record a Tiny Desk (Home) performance for us.

It was an early, much-needed sign that life might still be waiting for us on the other end.

But, as we’ve learned well, there’s no replacement for proximity.

With all of that indelibly in mind, it was particularly lovely and emotional welcoming Sophie, guitarist Julian Powell, keyboard player Rodrigo Avendano, bassist Nickolas Widener and percussionist Rollum Haas, finally, to the Tiny Desk.

Their four-song set, with work from each era of Soccer Mommy’s catalog, is beautifully performed and contoured. Welcome back to your debut, Soccer Mommy.

SET LIST
“Shotgun”
“Circle The Drain”
“Newdemo”
“Still Clean”

MUSICIANS
Sophie Allison – vocals, guitar
Julian Powell – guitar
Rodrigo Avendano – keyboards
Nickolas Widener – bass
Rollum Haas – drum machine

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Bob Boilen
Director/Editor: Maia Stern
Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault
Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel, Kara Frame
Audio Assistant: Brian Jarboe
Production Assistant: Jill Britton
Tiny Desk Team: Suraya Mohamed, Josh Rogosin, Marissa Lorusso, Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

#nprmusic #tinydesk #soccermommy

Ezra Collective: Tiny Desk Concert

Ezra Collective: Tiny Desk Concert

What Is It?

The YouTube video Ezra Collective: Tiny Desk Concert by the YouTube channel NPR Music:

Ezra Collective: Tiny Desk Concert

Here is the description for this video:

Suraya Mohamed | November 10, 2022

The day before The Ezra Collective’s Tiny Desk concert, the band members practiced for hours at a nearby community music space and the next morning, they walked in the door giddy and ready to go.

The warm-up was good, but once we started to record, a crazy intensity and energy spilled out into the room.

They were fierce and fun, and all of their solos were on fire.

The band makes amazing jazz music and mixes it with a fusion of other genres like Afrobeat, hip-hop and grime.

The London-based band was supposed to play this Tiny Desk concert in 2020, but then, as bandleader and phenom drummer Femi Koleoso put it, “the world collapsed.”

Here it is now, rockin’ hard with the highest level of musicianship and technique.

Before coming to NPR, Koleoso had just finished a world tour with the group Gorillaz.

He met up with his bandmates in Washington, D.C., to play this concert and kick off promotion for the band’s newly released sophomore album, Where I’m Meant To Be.

He explained on Instagram that he loves the album title because it’s vague and specific at the same time, just like his band, a multifaceted complement of contrasting attributes.

The first two songs in this set are from that new album, while the last, “Chapter 7,” is from the group’s 2016 EP.

Throughout the set, watch how keyboard player Joe Armon-Jones barely stays on his seat and hear how the audience couldn’t keep quiet.

After the concert, the spirit of the music lingered for a long time and the day ended with pictures, hugs, and plenty of smiles.

SET LIST
“Victory Dance”
“Welcome To My World”
“Chapter 7”

MUSICIANS
Femi Koleoso: drums
TJ Koleoso: bass
Joe Armon-Jones: keys
James Mollison: saxophone
Ife Ogunjobi: trumpet

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
Creative Director: Bob Boilen
Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Sofia Seidel
Audio Assistant: Andie Huether
Production Assistant: Jill Britton
Tiny Desk Team: Marissa Lorusso, Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer
VP, Visuals, and Music: Keith Jenkins
Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

#nprmusic #tinydesk #ezracollective

Music

SONG: Victory Dance

ARTIST: Ezra Collective

ALBUM: Where I’m Meant To Be

LICENSES: [Merlin] Liberation Music, PIAS, WMG (on behalf of Partisan Records)

Girl Ultra: Tiny Desk Concert

Girl Ultra: Tiny Desk Concert

What Is It?

The YouTube video Girl Ultra: Tiny Desk Concert by the YouTube channel NPR Music.

Here is the description for this video:

From Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, Tiny Desk is celebrating Latinx Heritage Month with an “El Tiny” takeover, featuring Jessie Reyez, Susana Baca and more musicians from all corners of Latinidad.

Stefanie Fernández | Sept. 21, 2022
Girl Ultra’s music is never one thing for long.

After coming up in Mexico City’s alt R&B scene, Mariana de Miguel built on that premise with experiments in house, bolero, pop and punk, fused with her own distinct glint.

Her El Tiny performance is an effortless flash of all she is capable of and of the commanding performance she’s finessed over her career.

Even the onomatopoeic chorus of house track “BOMBAY” translates seamlessly to the desk.

Slowed and acoustic as it is, the El Tiny version of “Punk” captures the frenetic rush of the original, itself an alt transfiguration of Gwen Stefani’s “Bubble Pop Electric” that interpolates its pop chorus and tailors it to the allure of going out in the south side of Mariana de Miguel’s hometown of Mexico City.

“Dime tú que voy a hacer con este feeling,” (“You tell me what I’m going to do with this feeling”) she asks, ostensibly of the person she’s singing about.

But it’s also a question that speaks to the mutability of her performance: effusive and commanding, but never lacking a controlled restraint as it evolves.

As she sings in “DameLove,” “feelings always come and go.”

She begins her El Tiny performance of that song by playing a few moments of the recorded version.

Cuco’s voice and hers float in from the drum machine, warped, as she flutters her fingers in front of her face, cultivating mystery against the familiarity of the setting for a solo rendition of the song that feels even more intimate.

She describes the final song of her set, “Ella Tú y Yo” from 2019’s Nuevos Aires, as “about finding a third one in a relationship – which is pretty common these days.”.

Here, she reworks the R&B ballad into a simmering indie rock churn, its titular phrase whispered with a soft wince.

Just one album and an EP into her career, Girl Ultra has already commanded change — as necessary and sometimes difficult as it can be — as a driver of expression.

Here, it’s thrilling.

SET LIST
“BOMBAY”
“Punk”
“DameLove”
“Ella Tú y Yo”

MUSICIANS
Girl Ultra: vocals, guitar
Sami Mendoza: drums
Andrea Martínez: bass
Santiago Mijares: keys

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Anamaria Sayre
Audio Engineer: Natasha Branch
Audio Mix: Josh Rogosin
Director: Kara Frame
Creative Director: Bob Boilen
Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Editor: Michael Zamora
Videographers: Kara Frame, Joshua Bryant, Michael Zamora
Audio Assistant: Hannah Copeland
Production Assistant: Jill Britton
Tiny Desk Team: Suraya Mohamed, Marissa Lorusso, Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer, Maia Stern
VP, Visuals, and Music: Keith Jenkins
Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann