Anna Calvi: Tiny Desk Concert

Bob Boilen — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:57:00 +0000

Anna Calvi is a brilliant guitar player, and if it stopped there, I'd still be captivated by her music. But Calvi's playing is only the underpinning of the superb songs she writes and sings — and that's saying nothing of her incredible voice.

Calvi's music has roots in the 1950s, but that's a bit misleading. Nostalgia isn't a driving force in her work; but it's more like the spare sound you might hear in the guitar twang of Duane Eddy. It's the passion of Elvis Presley or Edith Piaf that feeds this music.