George Clinton & The P-Funk All Stars — NPR Tiny Desk, 2018

Released on January 31, 2018, this Tiny Desk Concert filmed at NPR’s Washington office welcomes George Clinton and his P-Funk All Stars, the living embodiment of the psychedelic funk built since the 1970s with Parliament and Funkadelic. In a tightened format — no horn section, no Sir Nose, no dancers — the funk patriarch assembles a well-drilled family lineup: Dwayne Blackbyrd McKnight and Garrett Shider on guitars, Lige Curry on bass, Danny Bedrosian on keyboards, Benzel Cowan on drums and a trio of backup singers led by his granddaughters. The groove stays relentless and the sense of transmission is palpable, from the veterans (McKnight and Curry have played with Clinton since 1978) to the heirs. This multi-song live capture condenses half a century of P-Funk into the tiny Tiny Desk space, with the ease of a bandleader who invented an entire language. An essential filmed live concert for understanding the roots of funk and its immense influence on hip-hop.