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The East L.A. band's mix of old and new sounds from across Mexico and the U.S. will penetrate the intellect even as it makes your hips sway. The resulting sound inspires as much as it entertains.

A monster saxophonist and clarinet player returned to New York from his teaching post in Tennessee. He found his band awaiting him, ready to play his knotty tunes with fire. Tardy's quintet performs in a live concert broadcast from lower Manhattan.

The great drummer made his debut at the club with Sonny Rollins in the late '60s. Foster has been a sideman to the stars ever since, and now he leads his own band of young guns.

A keyboardist and singer who started out working solo on his laptop, Passion Pit's Michael Angelakos makes Technicolor electro-pop with monster hooks. But his songs are sturdy, versatile things, as this performance indicates.

Patrick Watson put out one of 2012's most magical records. On Sept. 5, the singer and pianist took his sprawling group of touring musicians to Washington, D.C., for an emotional live set.

The Innocence Mission, ever the most careful cultivators of quiet, encouraged us to come closer, to discover the "thing beautiful enough" in the moment it's delivered.

Inspired by Toumani Diabate, the classically trained South African guitarist performs songs originally written for the kora.

The Austin singer-songwriter showcases his high, lonesome voice and atmospheric storytelling in three songs — one unreleased and one from his gorgeous new album, Pearls To Swine.

One of the newest Grammy winners stops by the Tiny Desk to share her winking, sometimes tongue-in-cheek songs.

Grant's music doesn't mess around, with lyrics that function as darts of retort and thought. Here, the singer performs three songs, accompanied by a piano and an acoustic guitar.

Watch the singer and violinist who stood out from 6,000-plus entries in NPR's Tiny Desk Contest. Gaelynn Lea performs two of these four songs with fellow Duluth, Minn., musician Alan Sparhawk of Low.

Performing songs they recorded on a recent train journey across the U.S., the two songwriters celebrate the romance and vitality of the modern railroad.

Robert Ellis somehow finds wide-eyed wonder in heartbreak. He and guitarist Kelly Doyle play stripped-down yet thoughtfully busy arrangements from his ambitious country record.

Landlady's music is more than sonic exploration, it's an adventure. The songs can feel a bit drugged-out – a bit high and full of curiosity – but never overly intoxicated or out-of-touch.

These are not songs to shock, but songs to remind us of our fragility, our faults, our instincts and what an extraordinary thing it is to be an ordinary phenomenal nothing.

Hear the spirited young singer-songwriter take on religion, poverty and politics, armed with just a guitar and some unrelenting hooks.

Hear McCaslin, the saxophonist and bandleader whose group backed David Bowie on Blackstar, near the anniversary of that album's release. Selections include an instrumental take on Bowie's "Lazarus."

At times conjuring Mick Jagger and David Bowie, Diane Coffee's Shaun Fleming swaggered and shimmied behind the Tiny Desk.

When you hear John Moreland's sweet voice, it's hard to believe he spent years singing in punk, metal-core and hardcore bands. He plays acoustic guitar now, but his songs are still full of passion.

Bands don't typically get to play the Tiny Desk more than once, but Wilco is a natural exception. Watch the group perform "The Joke Explained" and three songs from its late-'90s catalog.