Alessio Bax: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

June 17, 2016 by TOM HUIZENGA • The practice of lulling a child to sleep through music must be about the oldest tradition imaginable. All parents have wanted their children to sleep at some point, if only to have a little peace and quiet — and to plot strategies for getting their own shuteye. Pianist Alessio Bax knows all about sleep — and lack thereof. He’s a first-time parent, and his 22-month-old daughter Mila is, like any child that age, a handful, not to mention impossibly cute. For Father’s Day, we invited Bax and his daughter behind Bob Boilen’s desk for a few lullabies from the award-winning pianist’s recent album Lullabies For Mila. Sensing attention from the crowd and the cameras, Mila is anything but sleepy. On the contrary, with her own running commentary — and some fast fingering on a toy keyboard — she does her best to steal the show. Bax begins with a rendition of J.S. Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze,“ explaining that the composer asks the performer to do three things at once, which is not un