Flea brought the Honora Band to the Tiny Desk on 13 July 2026, four decades after co-founding Red Hot Chili Peppers and some way outside the job he is known for. He was touring his debut solo album, Honora, in small rooms, and the NPR office qualified.
The night before, at the Black Cat in Washington DC, he had described playing with a jazz band as an adventure. At the Desk he doubled up, taking trumpet as well as bass and spitting poetry between the two. "I'm just one part of this ensemble," he told the room.
That ensemble is not a backing band. Jeff Parker on guitar, Josh Johnson on saxophone and keys and Anna Butterss on bass have all played the Tiny Desk before, and Deantoni Parks on drums and keys rounds it out. All four carry deep catalogues across creative music.
The set ran to three pieces: Traffic Lights, Morning Cry and A Plea. Kara Frame produced the session and spoke to Flea afterwards. Working with these particular musicians had been the most exciting part, he said, describing it as jamming, connecting and feeling who they are.
Red Hot Chili Peppers remains the frame most listeners bring to him, and this set works against it. Butterss covers the bass while he takes the trumpet, which puts the most recognisable bass player in American rock music into the horn section of his own band.
Other sets from the series in our coverage include Renée Fleming and Béla Fleck on Appalachian songs and Charlie Puth reworking his hits. Our jazz hub carries the rest.
The facts
- Flea played the Tiny Desk with the Honora Band on 13 July 2026
- He was touring his debut solo album, Honora
- He played trumpet and bass and read poetry during the set
- The band was Jeff Parker, Josh Johnson, Anna Butterss and Deantoni Parks
- The set list was Traffic Lights, Morning Cry and A Plea
- He had played the Black Cat in Washington DC the night before
- He co-founded Red Hot Chili Peppers four decades earlier
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