Rare Essence: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Suraya Mohamed | July 19, 2017 — Dominated by drive and momentum, heavy on percussion and bass, go-go music is all about the beat. Live, “songs“ can continue on for half an hour, as the percussion continues to simmer and punctuate between and across different pieces. “That’s why we call it go-go, because it goes on and goes on and goes on,“ as guitarist Andre Johnson put it in a documentary film. While the Tiny Desk doesn’t allow for that kind of expansive get-down — though they did play seven songs — this visit by Rare Essence perfectly encapsulated the genre’s incomparable meld of soul, R&B and, most importantly, funk (with a dash of Afro-Cuban influence). Rare Essence emerged not long after go-go itself did, beginning as a group in 1976 in Washington D.C. Ever since the group has kept a steady schedule playing around town and around the world — they have ten shows scheduled for the month of July alone. At the Tiny Desk, the group’s closer brought everyone home — much too soon, no matter how late — with