The Midnight Hour: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

July 18, 2018, Sidney Madden Tiny Desk concerts usually take place in the afternoon. It might come as a surprise for a 1990sera hiphop artist and composer to deliver a sultry set of jazz fusion one that seems better suited for midnight hours in a smoky club than late afternoon in a newsroom office but keep in mind, the Tiny Desk itself was a surprise at its inception. After years of produced releases and jam sessions, A Tribe Called Quest s Ali Shaheed Muhammad and composer Adrian Younge formed The Midnight Hour in 2018 and released a 20track album of the same name that bathes fans in an elixir of hiphop, R B and jazz. For the new band s Tiny Desk, the talented pair of impresarios Younge stationed behind the keys with an undone satin bow tie and vaguely opaque glasses, Muhammad with a blue pinstriped suit and deep violet Fender guitar turned their concert into a family affair, leading a sixpiece band with interchanging vocalists through a stirring foursong set. The session started with