This performance was recorded on March 11, 2020. We will continue releasing Tiny Desk videos of shows that had already been taped. In light of current events, NPR is postponing new live tapings of Tiny Desk Concerts. In the meantime, check out Tiny Desk (home) concerts! They’re recorded by the artists in their home. It’s the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space.
June 22, 2020 | Bob Boilen -- Sudan Archives is a truly singular artist, inspired by Irish and African music, especially Sudanese music. The first time I saw her was in a crowd of people at Cheer Up Charlies during SXSW in March of 2018. The show was wild and wonderful: effects pedals transformed her violin into a full-on band, with electronic beats keeping it all moving.
She came not with an array of electronics, but with violinist Jessica McJunkins, violist Dominic Johnson and cellist Khari Joyner. The new arrangement at the top of "Confessions" was the perfect tension queller. And those arrangements also heighten the lyrics. Listening again three months later, three weeks into police brutality protests, the words — "There is a place that I call home / But it's not where I am welcome / And if I saw all the angels / Why is my presence so painful?" — take on new meaning.
SET LIST
"Confessions"
"Glorious"
"Nont For Sale"
MUSICIANS
Sudan Archives: vocals, violin; Dominic Johnson: viola; Jessica McJunkins: violin; Khari Joyner: cello
CREDITS
Producers: Bob Boilen, Morgan Noelle Smith, Jack Corbett; Creative director: Bob Boilen; Audio engineers: Josh Rogosin, Natasha Branch; Videographers: Bronson Arcuri, Jack Corbett, Kara Frame, Melany Rochester; Associate Producer: Bobby Carter; Executive producer: Lauren Onkey; VP, programming: Anya Grundmann; Photo: Kisha Ravi/NPR