This Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, NPR Music celebrates artists from all corners of Latinidad with an ‘El Tiny’ takeover.
Adrian Quesada‘s physique of labor displays a stressed creativity. The resume for the Austin, Texas-based musician, producer and composer consists of Grupo Fantasma, Black Pumas, Brownout and any variety of collaborations. He is consistently searching for new sounds and voices.
So what does Quesada carry to the Tiny Desk? 4 singers, 4 boleros. Angélica Garcia, Flor de Toloache‘s Mireya Ramos, Trish Toledo and iLe every provide one thing distinct and private to those songs initially discovered on two volumes of Quesada’s Boleros Psicodélicos.
Bolero, a Cuban tune kind that has not modified a lot over the centuries, has at all times been a chance for vocalists to inhabit the plain drama of the lyrics. Heartbreak is an enormous deal in boleros and it is easy (and customary) for vocalists to overdo the drama with overwrought vocal gymnastics. That isn’t the case right here. Every vocalist has the self-discipline and inventive imaginative and prescient to insert simply sufficient of themselves to go away an impression, however not overstate their case.
In the appropriate fingers, and voices, vocalists can carry again reminiscences of ache and nostalgia — simply listening to a deeply significant lyric belted out in simply the appropriate method can carry a grown man to tears. Not that this occurred to me throughout these performances. I am simply saying.
SET LIST
- “No Juego (feat. Angélica Garcia)”
- “Tus Tormentas (feat. Mireya Ramos)”
- “Hoy Que Llueve (feat. Trish Toledo)”
- “Mentiras Con Cariño (feat. iLe)”
MUSICIANS
- Adrian Quesada: guitar
- Angélica Garcia: vocals
- Mireya Ramos: vocals, violin
- Trish Toledo: vocals
- iLe: vocals
- Joshy Soul: keys
- Ismael Cancel: congas, shakers
- Terin Ector: bass
- Jay Mumford: drums
- Kiku Enomoto: violin
- Andrew Griffin: viola
- Allison Seidner: cello
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Felix Contreras
- Director/Editor: Kara Body
- Audio Technical Director: Josephine Nyounai
- Host/Collection Producer: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Kara Body, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel
- Audio Engineer: Jay Czys
- Manufacturing Assistants: Dora Levite, Dhanika Pineda
- Photographer: Zayrha Rodriguez
- Collection Editor: Lars Gotrich
- Tiny Desk Group: Josh Newell, Ashley Pointer
- Govt Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Collection Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton