River Tiber: Tiny Desk Concert

River Tiber: Tiny Desk Concert with tags npr, npr music, national public radio, live, performance, tiny desk, tiny desk concert, tony desk, tiny concert

Bobby Carter | August 5, 2025

River Tiber's Tiny Desk is one of the most brilliant games of musical chairs I've ever seen. It may come as a surprise, considering that in the studio, he's pretty much a one-man army. Here, the Toronto native takes his turn at the piano, drums, bass and trombone while his bandmates Justin Nozuka, Dan Only and John Mavro trade instruments and sing along, pushing the barriers of what can happen in this small space.

Since I discovered River Tiber on Kaytranada's 2016 debut album, 99.9%, he's maintained a somewhat enigmatic presence — River Tiber's out-of-focus portraits on album covers and across his social media communicate a mystic aura, which lends itself to the music. When he walked into the building, it was one of the first times I got a good look at the guy. However, his profile isn't too low, as he's landed work with the likes of Travis Scott and Post Malone. At the Desk, he plays "Hypnotized," the song Kendrick Lamar sampled, along with other highlights from his latest album, Dreaming Eyes.

SET LIST

"Sent from Above"

"Inside Out"

"Taurus"

"Hypnotized"

"Not Just Anyone"

MUSICIANS

River Tiber: vocals, bass, trombone, keys, piano, drums

Justin Nozuka: keys, piano, tambourine, electronics, background vocals

John Mavro: guitar, piano, drums, background vocals

Dan Only: keys, synths, bass, background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM

Producer: Bobby Carter

Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant

Audio Technical Director: Josephine Nyounai

Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter

Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Zayrha Rodriquez

Audio Engineer: Josh Newell

Production Assistants: Dhanika Pineda, Dora Levite

Series Editor: Lars Gotrich

Tiny Desk Team: Kara Frame, Felix Contreras

Photographer: Michael Zamora

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#nprmusic #tinydesk #rivertiber

Tiny Desk Giveaway. No purchase or donation required for entry. Void where restricted or prohibited by law. 18yrs or older. Deadline September 12, 2025, 11:59PM PT. ARV: $3,800. Links to the entry page and official rules can be found at NPR.org/TinyDeskGiveaway

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