The NPR Music offices in Washington, D. C., published 127 Tiny Desk concerts this year — 128 if you count the time we thought you…
The NPR Music offices in Washington, D. C., published 127 Tiny Desk concerts this year — 128 if you count the time we thought you’d enjoy watching our piano tuner strut his stuff on April Fools’ Day. So narrowing the year down to a Top 10 was impossible, and then it felt terribly wrong to include just 20. So here are 25 of the year’s greatest and most surprising Tiny Desk performances: the discoveries who blossomed before our eyes, the veterans who transcended mere victory laps, and just some of the gifted and generous artists who passed through and made the world feel bigger, kinder, more open.
In the year we celebrated the Tiny Desk’s 10th anniversary, we could have packed this list with nothing but power players, from rock stars ( Dave Matthews, St. Vincent) to Latin stars ( Cafe Tacvba, Jorge Drexler) to pop stars ( Florence + The Machine) to rap stars ( Big Boi, Rakim) to bluegrass stars ( The Del McCoury Band). Instead, presented chronologically, here’s an incomplete but discovery-packed survey of the year in Tiny Desk concerts — music that made us dance, cheer, tear up or otherwise feel profoundly grateful for the opportunity to share and revel in it all.
Daniil Trifonov
All the way back in January, decorated Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov helped kick off the year with an intense logistical challenge: We had to de-Tiny-fy the space behind Bob Boilen’s desk, enough to make room for a 7-foot grand piano. The international star, then 26, more than justified the extra labor, as Trifonov performed dazzling, physically taxing takes on Chopin, as well as Chopin-adjacent compositions by Schumann and Grieg.
Amadou & Mariam
Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia met as children at the Institute for the Young Blind in Mali. They’ve since married each other and enjoyed careers spanning four decades, eight albums and some of the world’s most joyful music. For their Tiny Desk concert, the pair pared their supporting cast down to a simple array: his guitar, her voice, a percussionist, a keyboardist, a backing singer and pure, infectious musical kindness.
George Clinton & The P-Funk All Stars
After more than 50 years, George Clinton still presides over one of the gaudiest, giddiest spectacles in the history of music. His P-Funk All-Stars now span several generations of Funkadelic family — Clinton’s grandchildren sing backup, while guitarist Garrett Shider is the son of the late P-Funk legend known as Starchild — but the indelible songs, gigantic musical footprint and commitment to radiant funk remain unchanged.
Barbara Hannigan
Bob Boilen’s desk may be Tiny — that’s pretty much canon at this point — but it’s big enough, figuratively speaking, to hold the Mothership and harpsichords and brass bands and the freaking Wu-Tang Clan. So what’s a little German art song to flesh out the catalog? Accompanied by pianist Reinbert de Leeuw, soprano Barbara Hannigan lends her rich, dreamy, intensely emotional vocals to pieces by Arnold Schoenberg, Alma Mahler and others.
August Greene
A supergroup featuring rapper Common and jazz polymaths Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins, August Greene was literally born to play the Tiny Desk: The band actually formed in order to play a special 2016 Tiny Desk concert recorded at the White House. Once August Greene finally set foot in NPR’s offices, it brought with it a Murderer’s Row of decorated guest vocalists: Andra Day, Maimouna Youssef, Samora Pinderhughes and Brandy.
Anna Meredith
Bob Boilen describes Anna Meredith’s Tiny Desk concert as “simply the most exhilarating one I’ve experienced,” and he’s far less wrong than usual (just kidding, Bob). The British composer and multi-instrumentalist puts on one of the most propulsive and purely entertaining live shows you’ll ever witness. Whatever you call it — neo-classical electro-dance-rock? — it’s music built to throb in your chest and make you feel alive.
John Prine
There are sentimental favorites, and then there’s songwriting all-timer John Prine, whose catalog is checkered with humble folk-rock masterpieces. At the Tiny Desk, Prine spans virtually his entire long career, as he reaches back to 1972’s “Souvenirs,” unearths a slice of delicious bitterness in 1991’s “All the Best,” and performs “Summer’s End” and “Caravan of Fools” from his first album in 13 years, this year’s tremendous The Tree of Forgiveness.
