The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music's Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It's the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space.
Suraya Mohamed | January 7, 2022 Enter into esperanza spalding's safe space for healing through music and song with a Tiny Desk (home) concert of selections from her Songwrights Apothecary Lab, (S.A.L.) project. A constant iteration of evolutionary ideas, her songwriting workshop is both a bold examination of human existence and resilience and a guided research collaboration with a collective of musicians and researchers in the practices of neuroscience, psychology and music therapy.
"All Formwelas (songs) from the S.A.L. are created through our research, divination, intuition, musicianship, taste, inspiration, and collaborative effort to design songs that enhance a specific salutary affect," spalding writes on her project site, along with brief descriptions for each of the three Formwelas performed here.
"Formwela 3":"a re-membering with the sun's vast and perpetual blessing as evidenced by one's own aliveness and capacity for creating within self and community an un-corruptible home-planet"
"Formwela 4": "the articulation of needs streaming oxygenation through your ancestral vessel/vein of infinite life"
"Formwela 8": "a sound at ease, with no urge to move from that comfort place"
spalding's performance here is outstanding, and her top notch band, Loving presences (aka singers) and the Magical dance presence (aka dancer) add a dimension of creativity that amplifies the music's message and nourishes the spirit. Green-screened walls explode to reveal a constellation of imagery that complements the flow of this seductive music. Be sure to watch until the end.
SET LIST "Formwela 3" "Formwela 4" "Formwela 8" "Formwela 3"
MUSICIANS esperanza spalding: vocals, bass Vuyo (Vuyolwethu) Sotashe: vocals Safa Ishmel-Muhammad: vocals Corey King: vocals, guitar Matthew Stevens: guitar Leo Genovese: piano, Farfisa, Rhodes Aaron Burnett: saxophone Francisco Mela: drums
LOVING PRESENCES Donna Hope: vocals Jeff Tang: vocals Lileana Blain Cruz: vocals Mariza Scotch: vocals Lisa Lamothe: vocals Diery Prudent: vocals Adobuere Ebiama: vocals Shamel Pitts: dancer
CREDITS Director: Adrien GYSTERE Peskine Producer: esperanza spalding Recorded and mixed by Fernando Lodeiro Concept, Direction, Creative Direction, Sets, Editing, Foley, Choreography: Adrien GYSTERE Peskine Production: Héloïse Darcq Additional Production, Set Design: Anthony Peskine Additional cameras: Jessica Cochran, Daniel Santos, Meg Stacker Assistant Sound Engineer: Quinn McCarthy Sudan Pyramids Footage: Alexis Peskine Wardrobe: JOJO ABOT Recorded at The Creamery Studio
TINY DESK TEAM Producer: Suraya Mohamed Video Producer: Kara Frame Audio Mastering: Andy Huether Tiny Production Team: Bob Boilen, Bobby Carter, Maia Stern, Josh Rogosin, Joshua Bryant, Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis Executive Producer: Keith Jenkins Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann
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