British guitarist/producer Tom Misch was the latest participant in NPR Music‘s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series, where he was joined by drummer Yussef Dayes.
The celebrated multi-instrumentalist also welcomed bassists Tom Driessler and Rocco Palladino, vocalists Joel Culpepper and Jordan Rakei, as well as a surprise guitar solo from John Mayer.
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Misch and company recorded their parts separately as the video kicks off with “Nightrider” from Misch and Dayes’s 2020 What Kinda Music collaborative LP, as the musicians set up a smooth rhythm as the groundwork of the song.
Mayer then shows up to sit in on the closing guitar solo, just as he did at 2019’s Crossroads Guitar Festival. He sparingly provides his instrumental input, but what it may lack in notes it more than makes up for in terms of the soul of the music as he melds comfortably into the R&B feel. At points, the guest guitarist is actually outshone by the expert drum work from Dayes as the musicians are able to enter into a rhythmic groove that makes you briefly forget all their parts were recorded separately.
Dayes once again steals the show on the opening of “Tidal Wive”, where Misch’s delicate guitar notes provide the perfect accent for percussion work utilizing a hollow woodblock. While Mayer does not appear on this second song, the focus here is the groove that these musicians are able to craft together, as eventually they become a singular chorus of instruments rather than separate musicians.
Watch Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes perform for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series, featuring special guest John Mayer below.
Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes — Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
[Video: NPR Music]