PJ Morton NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

July 2 2018 Rodney Carmichael -- Staying true to his own musical vision has always come first for PJ Morton So when he expressed his desire to squeeze a 10-piece string section behind the Tiny Desk for his three-song performance we were more than happy to oblige him Morton showed off the soulful Fender Rhodes chops that helped him earn a mentor in Stevie Wonder and membership to Maroon 5 while backed by percussion bass and the same Matt Jones Orchestra that accompanies him on his soulful solo releases Gumbo and Gumbo Unplugged He began prepping what would become his noteworthy pot of musical stew after moving back home to New Orleans from L A a couple of years ago The preacher's kid with the gospel roots wound up collecting two 2018 Grammy nominations for music from Gumbo his fourth studio LP Ironically those industry accolades came as a direct result of Morton choosing to go his own way So many people didn't want me to be myself he told the Tiny Desk crowd during the intro to Claustrophobic a song about the attempts major labels made to box him in But I decided I was going to be PJ no matter what people told me and tried to get me to do They tried some strange things too One record exec interested in signing him even suggested pairing Morton with popular West Coast hip-hop producer DJ Mustard It was so far off base he told NPR's Michel Martin last January Instead he started his independent music label Morton Records with the vision of creating a new Motown in his hometown New Orleans' musical lineage seasons the entire set of his Tiny Desk performance including the second song Go Thru Your Phone on which Morton's joined by backing vocalists The Amours All together it made for a total of 15 musicians squeezed behind Bob Boilen's desk not to mention Matt Jones conducting off-camera The industry may not have seen the vision but from where we stood it was a perfect fit SET LIST Claustrophobic Go Thru Your Phone First Began MUSICIANS PJ Morton lead vocals rhodes Brian Cockerham bass Ed Clark percussion Matt Jones Matt Jones Orchestra Conductor Clayton Penrose-Whitmore Violin Arianne Urban Violin Olya Prohorova Violin Alexandria Hill Violin Danielle Taylor Violin Istvan Loga Viola Caitlin Adamson Viola Seth Woods Cello Malik Johnson Cello Victor Ray Holms Bass Jakiya Ayanna background vocals Shaina Aisha background vocals CREDITS Producers Rodney Carmichael Morgan Noelle Smith Creative Director Bob Boilen Audio Engineer Josh Rogosin Videographers Morgan Noelle Smith Khun Minn Ohn Maia Stern Bronson Arcuri Production Assistants Catherine Zhang T a Mottolese Photo Eslah Attar NPR

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