Alessio Bax: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

June 17, 2016 by TOM HUIZENGA The practice of lulling a child to sleep through music must be about the oldest tradition imaginable. All parents have wanted their children to sleep at some point, if only to have a little peace and quiet and to plot strategies for getting their own shuteye. Pianist Alessio Bax knows all about sleep and lack thereof. He s a firsttime parent, and his 22monthold daughter Mila is, like any child that age, a handful, not to mention impossibly cute. For Father s Day, we invited Bax and his daughter behind Bob Boilen s desk for a few lullabies from the awardwinning pianist s recent album Lullabies For Mila. Sensing attention from the crowd and the cameras, Mila is anything but sleepy. On the contrary, with her own running commentary and some fast fingering on a toy keyboard she does her best to steal the show. Bax begins with a rendition of J. S. Bach s Sheep May Safely Graze, explaining that the composer asks the performer to do three things at once, which is not un