The Industry dot Biz: 
Watch August Greene's NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert with Common, Robert Glasper, & Karriem Riggins
New Group Comprised of Common, Robert Glasper, & Karriem Riggins
Tiny Desk Concert Also Features Special Guests
Brandy, Maimouna Youssef, and Andra Day
August Greene's Self-Titled Amazon Originals Album is out 3/9
On March 9th, Golden Globe, GRAMMY, Academy Award-winning activist, actor and artist Common, four-time GRAMMY Award-winning pianist/producer Robert Glasper, and drummer/producer extraordinaire Karriem Riggins will release their debut Amazon Originals album as August Greene.
Today, NPR Music released August Greene's Tiny Desk Concert, featuring performances of their two previously released singles “Optimistic (ft. Brandy)” and “Black Kennedy,” along with two previously unreleased tracks “Practice” and “Let Go.” The group also performed Common's GRAMMY and the Oscar-nominated song “Stand Up For Something” with Andra Day.
Watch the Tiny Desk Concert here: https://n.pr/2oo2b2K
Last week, August Greene released their second single “Black Kennedy,” which was praised by Vibe, Consequence of Sound, Billboard, Rolling Stone, and The FADER, who said “Riggins' drums feel like the human body as metronome, a sturdy backbone for Glasper's dreamscape piano and Common's sharp storytelling.”
August Greene's first single “Optimistic” was praised by NY Times, Pitchfork, XXL, Stereogum, and NPR Music, who said of the Sounds of Blackness cover “[Brandy's] voice has aged like the finest of wines, layering harmonies all over Glasper's signature keys and Riggin's rapid drums… Common's bars serve as the proverbial cherry on top while a choir lends a hand to close the jam out.”
The band recently released their video for “Optimistic,” which was filmed in Jackson, Mississippi over Martin Luther King Day weekend. Directed by B+, the video features the Jackson-area activists Hollis Watkins, Frankye Adams Johnson, Dr. Cindy Ayers Elliott, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, and the Maddrama Performance Group.
In 2017, Common, Glasper, and Riggins collectively won the Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics on the strength of their song “Letter To The Free,” which was recorded for Ava DuVernay's documentary 13th. The longtime friends and musical collaborators felt the time was right to release music from August Greene, which has themes of optimism and black excellence. They have found a sound that does not solely fit into one genre, but is truly an invigorating hybrid of R&B, hip-hop, and jazz.
August Greene will be available to stream and for digital purchase on Amazon Music starting March 9. Connect with August Greene on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Tiny Desk Concert Setlist:
1. Black Kennedy
2. Practice (featuring Maimouna Youssef)
3. Optimistic (featuring Brandy)
4. Stand Up For Something (featuring Andra Day)
5. Let Go
About NPR Music
For more than a decade, NPR Music's robust music journalism and award-winning original video programming has delighted millions of music fans from all genres. NPR Music collaborates with NPR's newsmagazines, public radio Member stations and the passionate listener community to celebrate exceptional music and discover emerging artists. Visit NPRMusic.org to find the complete Tiny Desk concert series, live music, extensive archives of performances, interviews and music reviews. Connect with NPR Music on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Tiny Desk Concerts
Since its launch in 2008, nearly 700 performances have been recorded at the Tiny Desk—Boilen's festive workspace at NPR Headquarters, adorned with years of music mementos and memorabilia. The series has provided a stage for artists from across the genre spectrum and at every phase of their careers — pop balladeer Adele, R&B sensation T-Pain, hip-hop star Chance the Rapper, country singer Maren Morris, astounding pianist and composer Daniil Trifonov, veteran jazz percussionist Nate Smith and even actor (and talented banjo player) Steve Martin.
