SOUNDTRACK: RAE KHALIL-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #171 (February 18, 2021).
Rae Khalil was a contestant on Netflix’s music competition show, Rhythm + Flow. I distrust anyone who wins a music TV show, but I really liked Khalil’s music.
She is recording in Harun Coffee in the historic Leimert Park neighborhood of South Los Angeles. Khalil’s set is a colorful explosion of talent, perfectly complimenting the funky patchwork and textures of her attire.
She calls her band The ill, and they are pretty great, in particular the fantastic bass work from both Dominick Cruz and special guest Kelsey Gonzalez of The Free Nationals (they switch mid set).
“Way Down” opens with retro keys from Elyzr and grooving bass (from Gonzalez) and a fiddly guitar solo from Takoda Barraza (on a nifty green Steinberger guitar). Khalil has a great delivery throughout–quiet, understated and yet powerful too. Drummer Nico Vasquez sets a killer rhythm throughout, too.
“Tiny Desk! Happy Black History Month!,” rapper, singer and songwriter Rae Khalil exclaims before gliding into “FATHER,” from her LP Fortheworld.
“FATHER” has a lengthy jazzy keyboard intro from Elyzr. When Khalil sings, her delivery is understated on this one as well, although she occasionally lifts her voice into a kind of croon. Dominick Cruz plays a jazzy guitar solo.
Sticking to the “inspiration” theme of our Black History Month celebration, she recites an excerpt from Langston Hughes’s “Let America Be America Again.” The 86-year-old words still read painfully relevant for many Black people in this country today.
Her reading of this poem is really good. I wasn’t familiar with it and I can’t believe it is 86 years old. I thought it was quite possible she had just written it, it felt so disturbingly contemporary.
The Torrance, California native’s musical theater background shines through here; she exudes an array of emotions in a span of minutes on tracks like “UP LATE” and “MARIA,” making it impossible to look away.
“UP LATE” has an outSTANDING bass line from Dominick Cruz. Rae starts the song singing softly , but with speedy delivery. Then she takes off! Dramatically singing/rapping/laughing/pausing and then on a drop of a hat, “MARIA” shifts tones and she starts scatting along to the gentle jazzy music.
Vasquez get a few mini drum solos in the middle before the song takes off again and then ends with a jazzy bass solo from Cruz. It’s fun watching her dance in he big bell bottoms.
This was a really great Tiny Desk and while it won’t get me to watch any reality music programs, I will acknowledge the success of this performer (although she didn’t even come in the top 8, so the heck with that).
[READ: March 30, 2021] Charlie Thorne and the Lost Island
This is the second book in the Charlie Thorne series. I had not read the first one but S. told me that I would love it and that the first book wasn’t necessary for the enjoyment of this book. And that was absolutely true. This story does follow that one, but it is wholly independent and anything that needs to be filled in from the previous adventure is dealt with pretty handily.
So who is Charlie Thorne? She is a genius. She is a fugitive. She is not yet thirteen.
I have not read any Stuart Gibbs before (except for one short story), but I understand his Spy School is a great series. I have to hand it to him right away for writing such a cool and compelling protagonist for this series. And also for having a story with so much fascinating information included.
As the book opens, Charlie is surfing off a small island near the equator. She chose this location because it is very remote. She needs to be remote because of what happened in the previous book (she has a piece of information that everyone from the CIA to a dozen other international cartels would kill for).
She assumed she was safe, but knew she wouldn’t be for very long–nowhere was totally hidden. But while she’s here, she’s going to learn to surf.
Gibbs using surfing to show off Charlie’s brain power. She has never surfed before but because she is so smart–so good at using numbers to read nature–she never misses a wave and never wipes out. The locals think she might be a demon. I enjoyed the way he uses her skill at figuring out angles and pacing and such in several later scenarios. (more…)
