23-year-old singer-songwriter Daniel Caesar after recent success with his LP Freudian, being nominated for two Grammys and won two Junos. Caesar also recently did his first UK debut on TV performing ‘Best Part’ featuring H.E.R on a well-known show for up and coming artists, ‘Later… with Jools Holland’. Daniel Caesar has finally performed at NPR Tiny Desk Concert, a long-awaited performance many fans will agree on.
As NPR Tiny Desk Concerts are often short, Daniel Caesar performed three songs. Opening with ‘Japanese Denim’, the song he usually begins his set list with as it automatically brings the audience’s attention around the venue or room onto him with the sharp instrumental at the beginning. However, this performance was a different style to the originally sounding album version with the intro influenced from D’Angelo’s song, Untitled (How does it Feel), the approach was a lot more subtle, smoothing and less sharp. The music producer Matthew Burnett and the man himself Daniel Caesar decided to use a piano, despite being in an actual tiny office they created a soulful and pure atmosphere that just fit perfectly, with his soft, yet powerful vocals that he spent many years practicing in the church choir.
A quick round of applause from the crowd and a couple plucks of the bass leads onto the next song, Get You. More similar to the album recording but in this performance the piano was integrated. Powerful supporting vocals by Camille Harrison, Danah Berry and Nevon Sinclair really push the acapella verse towards the end of the song, really giving it that Daniel Caesar blissful feeling.
H.E.R steps up to perform Best Part, a surprise to fans of the Tiny Desk Concert as they beg for her own set on the show. The band full of smiles and appreciation for the great artists in front of them, including each other. The dynamic between both Caesar and H.E.R is comforting and refreshing.
All three songs the band played have reached over two hundred and forty-nine million plays as a collective on Spotify alone, not including other sources such as YouTube and Apple Music.
The show reached greater than expectations and will go on to be one of the best performances of Daniel Caesars, the band, and one of my personal favourite performances on NPR Music.
Credit is thoroughly deserved to those involved.
Gabriella Wilson (H.E.R.), Ashton Simmonds (Daniel Caesar), Adrien Bent (Drums), Saya Gray (Bass), Matthew Burnett (Piano), Nevon Sinclair (Vocals), Danah Berry (Vocals), Camille Harrison (Vocals).
By Connor Taylor-Parton
Images and video provided by NPR Music.
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