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NPR Music: Tiny Desk Concerts
Tiny Desk Concerts from NPR's All Songs Considered features your favorite musicians performing at Bob Boilen's desk in the NPR Music office. This is the AUDIO only archive.Are you a fancy A/V nerd and need video? Visit our new Tiny Desk Concert video channel. Eye-popping video and all of the music you've come to expect.

Asaf Avidan: Tiny Desk Concert

By Bob Boilen
Published March 2, 2014 at 8:14 AM MST

So I'm driving down the road when I hear this incredible voice coming out of my car speakers — part Janis Joplin, part Nina Simone — and I wonder, "Who is she?"

That day, I'd ripped a number of CDs onto my phone and didn't remember which record this was. Upon a quick glance at my phone during a traffic light, I discover the name Asaf Avidan. Next traffic light, I look it up and I see a picture of a skinny, handsome white male. I figure that's a mistake — that I must have typed the wrong name — so I wait to get home.

What I discovered floored me. Asaf Avidan is a 33-year-old, very well-known Israeli singer, formerly with a folkish rock band with gold records called Asaf Avidan & The Mojos. He's now on his own with a solo record and no U.S. record label to put it out, but he's on a solo tour that's stunning. He stopped us all cold when he began to sing at the Tiny Desk. There's a disconnect, when you watch this, between what you see and what you hear. And those songs that he writes? Well, he truly understands his voice, and they're just some of the best tunes I've heard in a long time.

Set List

  • "My Latest Sin"

  • "Different Pulses"

  • "Reckoning Song"

    • Credits

    Producers: Bob Boilen, Denise DeBelius; Editor: Olivia Merrion; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Gabriella Garcia-Pardo, Olivia Merrion; photo by Jim Tuttle/NPR

    Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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    Tiny Desk Concerts
    Bob Boilen
    In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.
    See stories by Bob Boilen
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