Kany García: Tiny Desk Concert

Felix Contreras | July 24, 2023
What's an artist to do when, instead of standing and dancing before a stadium of adoring fans, she's instead sitting behind the Tiny Desk?

You do exactly what Puerto Rican vocalist Kany García does: dig deep into the intimacy of her songwriting and the musicality of one of the most distinctive voices in any form of Latin music.

The first track, "Para Siempre" perfectly embodies a seductive declaration of togetherness with lyrics like: "I want to be the desire that brings you home every night." In "Mundo Inventado," the full power of her songwriting has me lost in my feels, as she sings of the plight of all immigrants everywhere who leave the known for the unknown. (Where is my tissue? I have something in my eye.)

She closes the set with her song whose profane title can't be written out fully but is as common as the sound of traffic across Latin America: "DPM (De Pxta Madre)." In García's masterful hands it becomes a colorful way to express the ups and downs of emotions of even the briefest romantic episode.

If there was ever any doubt that García brings the skills of one of the best lyricists of Latin America to the world of Spanish pop music, this performance proves it. It feels like she is singing her very personal messages of desire and longing just for me.

Uh, I mean, for all of us.

SET LIST
"Para Siempre"
"Búscame"
"Mundo Inventado"
"DPM (De Pxta Madre)"

MUSICIANS
Kany García: lead vocals, steel guitar, ukulele
Cristian F. Rivera: music director, steel guitar, ukulele, background vocals
Olga I. González: background vocals, shaker, tambourine
Ricardo Rodríguez: classical guitar, background vocals
Antonio Alonso: drums, percussion, background vocals
Bryan Pérez: bass
José M. Gómez: keyboard, accordion, background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM
Producers: Felix Conteras, Anamaria Sayre
Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
Creative Director: Bob Boilen
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Elizabeth Gillis, Michael Zamora
Audio Assistant: Neil Tevault
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Estefania Mitre
Tiny Desk Team: Suraya Mohamed, Hazel Cills, Kara Frame
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

#nprmusic #tinydesk #kanygarcía