River Tiber: Tiny Desk Concert

Bobby Carter | August 5, 2025
River Tiber's Tiny Desk is one of the most brilliant games of musical chairs I've ever seen. It may come as a surprise, considering that in the studio, he's pretty much a one-man army. Here, the Toronto native takes his turn at the piano, drums, bass and trombone while his bandmates Justin Nozuka, Dan Only and John Mavro trade instruments and sing along, pushing the barriers of what can happen in this small space.

Since I discovered River Tiber on Kaytranada's 2016 debut album, 99.9%, he's maintained a somewhat enigmatic presence — River Tiber's out-of-focus portraits on album covers and across his social media communicate a mystic aura, which lends itself to the music. When he walked into the building, it was one of the first times I got a good look at the guy. However, his profile isn't too low, as he's landed work with the likes of Travis Scott and Post Malone. At the Desk, he plays "Hypnotized," the song Kendrick Lamar sampled, along with other highlights from his latest album, Dreaming Eyes.

SET LIST
"Sent from Above"
"Inside Out"
"Taurus"
"Hypnotized"
"Not Just Anyone"

MUSICIANS
River Tiber: vocals, bass, trombone, keys, piano, drums
Justin Nozuka: keys, piano, tambourine, electronics, background vocals
John Mavro: guitar, piano, drums, background vocals
Dan Only: keys, synths, bass, background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Bobby Carter
Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
Audio Technical Director: Josephine Nyounai
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Zayrha Rodriquez
Audio Engineer: Josh Newell
Production Assistants: Dhanika Pineda, Dora Levite
Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Tiny Desk Team: Kara Frame, Felix Contreras
Photographer: Michael Zamora
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#nprmusic #tinydesk #rivertiber