Saya Gray: Tiny Desk Concert

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

Bobby Carter | March 5, 2025

Of the 30 million people who have watched Daniel Caesar's Tiny Desk from 2018, plenty of them raved about the band, specifically the bass player. Little did we know that the young, unassuming musician named Saya Gray would be playing at the Desk seven years later, this time front and center.

Gray's pop songs are experimental in nature, so I was eager to hear how her music would cozy up to our space. That inclination to stretch out and try anything comes from her musical family: Her mother, who moved from Japan to Canada, founded Toronto's Discover Through the Arts music school, and her dad, a jazz trumpeter, studied at the Berklee College of Music.

Gray leans into the challenge of the Tiny Desk and strips elements away. Like magic, she gives us these light and soulful interpretations of songs from SAYA, plus a throwback to "IF THERE'S NO SEAT IN THE SKY (WILL YOU FORGIVE ME???)" from her 2022 debut, 19 MASTERS.

SET LIST

"SHELL ( OF A MAN )"

"..THUS IS WHY ( I DON'T SPRING 4 LOVE )"

"IF THERE'S NO SEAT IN THE SKY (WILL YOU FORGIVE ME???)"

"LIE DOWN.."

MUSICIANS

Saya Gray: vocals, guitar, bass

Lucian Gray: guitar

John Mavro: drums, bass, guitar

Ace G: keys, background vocals

Kola Rai: background vocals

Taj Sapp: background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM

Producer: Bobby Carter

Director/Editor: Maia Stern

Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell

Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Wendy Li

Audio Engineer: Andie Huether

Production Assistants: Ashley Pointer, Dora Levite

Photographer: Michael Zamora

Tiny Desk Team: Lars Gotrich, Kara Frame

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson

VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

#nprmusic #tinydesk #sayagray