The show must go on, and in the case of NPR's Tiny Desk series, the adage holds as true as ever. Following a few "at-home" variants, NPR has slowly but surely inched closer to some semblance of normalcy. Today, the long-running platform shares a new Tiny Desk Concert with the legendary Grammy-Award winning Alicia Keys, who has proven time and again that she thrives in an unplugged environment.
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For this occasion, Keys brought out a solid band, with RAII & Whitney holding it down with some lovely background harmonies. The rest of the lineup finds Ant Parrish on bass, Curt Chambers on guitar, Mike Reid on drums, and Omar Edwards on the keyboards. At times, Keys herself holds it down on the piano, capable as ever. Together, they run through a reasonable four-song setlist, letting the music breathe for nearly thirty minutes.
For her second song, Keys actually debuts some new material with a world-premiere performance, a smooth and uplifting single off her upcoming album Alicia called "Gramercy Park." After closing her originally planned set with "Underdog," the crowd all but demanded an encore, prompting the singer to acquiesce with a powerful rendition of her breakout single "Fallin." There's plenty of power to behold, and there's nothing quite like hearing a singer like Alicia Keys without any of the traditional studio bells and whistles. A rare talent, put on full display -- check out the full Tiny Desk Concert below, and sound off -- is she one of the best vocalists of the new millennium?