Ultra-tight, ultra jazzy neo-soul is the perfect match for the low-key stagings of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. Just ask Tyler, the Creator. Toronto soul star Daniel Caesar’s deft music fits that genre idiom, so his just released Tiny Desk show is a real treat.
Running through a brief selection of jams from the award-winning Freudian, including the hit “Get You,” Caesar and his band maintain that coveted “dinner at an upscale establishment” ambience throughout, but it’s not nearly as boring as that description suggests. The musicianship here is quietly awe-inspiring, which, duh: you can’t slack if you’re playing neo-soul, no matter how quiet it is. It also bears mentioning that despite this being the ideal music for boning, everyone here is a music nerd, as Caesar attempts to identify the extravagant chord that his pianist ends “Best Part” with (Caesar says “E major seventh,” but it’s actually an E minor seventh, which is close). Watch Daniel Caesar’s entire Tiny Desk show above.
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