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Silvana Estrada (with Daniel, Me Estás Matando): “Tenías Que Ser Tú” (2018) Mexican singer and songwriter Silvana Estrada, winner of the Best New Artist Latin Grammy Award, was born to parents who were both luthiers. She plays a Venezuelan cuato onstage that was built by her father. Silvana was singing as soon as she could talk and was writing songs and playing a variety of instruments by the…

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Portuguese classical pianist Maria João Alexandre Barbosa Pires demonstrates her level of ability when, after having prepared for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, the orchestra begins playing Piano Concerto No. 20 instead. With the conductor’s sympathetic encouragement, she overcomes her panic and plays the piece from memory, with no sheet music.

Laufey: “Silver Lining” (2025) “Silver Lining” was the lead single from the third studio album by Icelandic singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Laufey (pronounced LAY-vay). Seldom does anything this refined and tasteful sniff the pop charts in this country. And, well, “Silver Lining” didn’t. But each of her albums has outperformed the previous and A Matter of Time went top ten in at…

Greeicy: La Carta (2022) Quoting her Amazon.com artist bio: Greeicy is the professional name of Colombian pop singer, songwriter, and actress Greeicy Rendon, whose sound melds cumbia, Latin pop, tropical, and urban styles. Her sultry, always supremely melodic alto adds dimension and warmth to even the grittiest urbano jams. It’s the “melodic” in that descriptions that brings her here, melody…

Robbie Fulks: Revenge! (2007) Countercountry singer/songwriter/wiseass Robbie Fulks is an unconventional guy. And Revenge! is a typically unconventional live album. The double-length CD package is divided into discs labeled “Standing” and “Sitting”. The first, with opening cut “We’re On the Road” setting up the premise of the live album in amusing fashion, features full electric performances…

Keola Beamer: “Lei ‘Awapuhi (Yellow Ginger Lei)” (1995) Repeating the words of my previous Beamer post: Keola Beamer is a fifth-generation musician and master of the Hawaiian slack key guitar style. He’s also the composer of “Honolulu City Lights”, one of Hawaii’s biggest-selling songs of all time. Moe’uhane Kika: Tales from the Dream Guitar was produced by George Winston and distributed by…

Andrew Bird: “The New Saint Jude” (2016) “Ever since I gave up hope I’ve been feeling so much better” is Andrew Bird’s dose of backhanded optimism. Hopefully we can all appreciate this tune on a sardonic and not a literal level.

Spanish singer Amaia is walking contradiction. She’s a multi-instrumentalist, easily traipsing between piano, chair flute and — not featured in this Tiny Desk performance — her signature harp. But all of this hardly compares to a voice that dances between ferocity and softness.

Matt Duncan: Soft Times (2013) Lots of contemporary artists are touted for their retro 70’s sound. Seldom does their music actually summon the aura of that decade. Yacht rock mostly-tribute band Yacht Rock Revue released an excellent album of all original material a few years back, but to this listener’s ears the aptly titled Soft Times captures the 70’s feel in a more authentic way. Maybe the…

Julieta Venegas: “Tu Historia” (2022) The title track from Julieta Venegas’ 2022 Tu Historia (“Your Story”) is an exhortation to own your mistakes and carry them forward as part of your life’s journey. By this time the Latin music icon had moved on a bit from the irresistible Mexican indie pop of her early career to a more measured, mature, reflective style. Some fans clamored for a return to…

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Duncan Browne: Give Me Take You (1968) The 1968 cult classic Give Me Take You was birthed when producer Andrew Loog Oldham requested that Duncan Browne, formerly of failed folk rock band Lorel, record a solo record for Oldham’s Immediate Records label. Collaborating with lyricist David Bretton, Browne crafted a baroque folk pop gem of a record, albeit not one with mass appeal. Give Me Take You…

Joe Dolce: “Shaddap You Face” (1980) Joe Dolce’s “Shaddap You Face” spent Mothers’ Day on the charts in 1981 and will serve as our tribute to moms today. Though it missed the top 40 in the US (peaking at #53) the song’s popularity elsewhere is astounding. It went to number 1 in 12 countries and was Australia’s top-selling record of all time up to that time. Inspired by phrases Dolce heard his…