Universal Beings, by Makaya McCraven

Universal Beings

by Makaya McCraven

supported by

Max DeGenova I'm so proud to be from the same city as this dude. Favorite track: Atlantic Black.

pandr1900 I was brought here after listening to a live performance of Makaya's on you tube. I instantly loved the song Holy Lands so much that I had to see if the album version was the same rendition as the live one. Then I listened to the whole album! Universal Beings is a just a groove... It's a mix of traditional and something new, very nice. Favorite track: Holy Lands (feat. Brandee Younger).

jez-lysaght I took far far far too long to buy this album, it is simply fantastic choosing a fav is impossible so blind picked. Favorite track: The Newbies Lift Off (feat. Ashley Henry).

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Two black vinyl LPs inside a heavyweight reverse-board *gatefold jacket* with flooded black inside pockets. Package includes a 4-page insert booklet, IARC obi strip & dome patterned inner sleeves.

*Sold Out in US & EU. Remaining copies ship from UK*

Includes unlimited streaming of Universal Beings via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 24-bit/44.1kHz.

ships out within 7 days

Purchasable with gift card

$32 USD or more
Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

Download available in 24-bit/44.1kHz.

$9 USD or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Two shiny compact discs inside a matte-finish bespoke Tip-On gatefold sleeve.

*Ships from US & EU*

Includes unlimited streaming of Universal Beings via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 24-bit/44.1kHz.

ships out within 7 days

Purchasable with gift card

$15 USD
IARC0022 - Black in Bone Colored Vinyl Gatefold Double LP
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Two Black in Bone Colored Vinyl disks inside a heavyweight reverse-board *gatefold jacket* with flooded black inside pockets. Package includes a 4-page insert booklet, IARC obi strip & dome patterned inner sleeves. Limited edition of 333 colored vinyl copies.

Includes unlimited streaming of Universal Beings via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 24-bit/44.1kHz.

Sold Out
IARC0022 Test Pressing
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Original 2xLP Test Pressing from Pallas. First pressing.

*Ships from Chicago. All Sales Final*

Includes unlimited streaming of Universal Beings via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 24-bit/44.1kHz.

Sold Out

1.	A Queen's Intro 00:32	buy track
2.	Holy Lands (feat. Brandee Younger) 05:14	buy track
3.	Young Genius (feat. Joel Ross) 05:32	buy track
4.	Black Lion (feat. Dezron Douglas) 02:56	buy track
5.	Tall Tales (feat. Tomeka Reid) 04:16	buy track
6.	Mantra 03:48	buy track
7.	Pharaoh's Intro 01:58	buy track
8.	Atlantic Black 09:10	buy track
9.	Inner Flight 03:02	buy track
10.	Wise Man, Wiser Woman (feat. Shabaka Hutchings) 03:13	buy track
11.	Prosperity's Fear (feat. Junius Paul) 06:11	buy track
12.	Flipped OUT 02:40	buy track
13.	Voila (feat. Daniel Casimir) 05:00	buy track
14.	Suite Haus (feat. Nubya Garcia) 05:09	buy track
15.	The Newbies Lift Off (feat. Ashley Henry) 06:19	buy track
16.	The Royal Outro 01:44	buy track
17.	The Count Off (feat. Carlos Niño) 01:09	buy track
18.	Butterss's (feat. Anna Butterss) 02:59	buy track
19.	Turtle Tricks (feat. Jeff Parker) 04:15	buy track
20.	The Fifth Monk 08:01	buy track
21.	Brighter Days Beginning (feat. Josh Johnson) 02:32	buy track
22.	Universal Beings (feat. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson) 04:08	buy track

about

Paris-born, New England-raised, long-time Chicago-residing Makaya McCraven has been at the forefront of genre-redefining movements in jazz since 2015, when he introduced the world to his unique brand of ‘organic beat music’ on the breakout album In The Moment. Culled, cut, post-produced & re-composed by Makaya using recordings of free improvisation he collected over dozens of live sessions in Chicago, through incubation & experimentation In The Moment established a procedural blueprint that he has since been sharpening & developing.

Honing this process on narrower sets of source material, Makaya followed up In The Moment with 2 mixtape releases – 2017’s Highly Rare, a lo-fi free-jazz-meets-hip-hop suite he made from a live 4-track recording, and June 2018’s Where We Come From (CHICAGOxLONDON Mixtape), which he produced using live recordings from London jazz hub Total Refreshment Centre (captured at a showcase called CHICAGOxLONDON).

Now, after 4+ years of refining his approach, Makaya McCraven puts forth an ambitious new work – Universal Beings – a culmination of concepts conceived by In The Moment, and his most elegant & articulated work yet.

Spurred by a desire to connect with old friends & new collaborators in places where similar spirits & diasporic jazz innovations are thriving, Makaya worked with International Anthem across late 2017 & early 2018 to setup intimate live sessions in New York & Chicago, and pop-up “studio” sessions in London & Los Angeles. Though the contexts and logistics were D.I.Y. (as they almost always are with IARC), the friends & friends-of-friends that Makaya was able to enlist are top tier players across the board. Some might call them super groups of “new” jazz musicians from their respective cities, with Makaya as a common denominator. But more importantly, collectively they make an inspiring display of the organic global inter-connectedness of the Black American music tradition in 2018.

Physically spanning national & international borders to create an album that musically spans deep spiritual jazz meditations, pulsing post-bop grooves & straight-ahead boom-bap, Makaya McCraven defies the simplifications of revisionism & regionalism while celebrating the sounds, settings & stories that define the provenance of his work. Universal Beings projects an all-encompassing message of unity, peace & power by embracing transcendence in all its expressions.

credits

released October 26, 2018

Tracks 1-6 (New York Side) recorded live @ H0L0,
Ridgewood, Queens, NY, August 29th, 2017.
Brandee Younger (harp)
Joel Ross (vibraphone)
Tomeka Reid (cello)
Dezron Douglas (double bass)
Makaya McCraven (drums)

Tracks 7-11 (Chicago Side) recorded live @ Co-Prosperity Sphere,
Bridgeport, Chicago, IL, September 2nd, 2017.
*Shabaka Hutchings (tenor saxophone)
Tomeka Reid (cello)
Junius Paul (double bass)
Makaya McCraven (drums)

Tracks 12-16 (London Side) recorded @ Total Refreshment Studios,
Stoke Newington, London, UK, October 19th, 2017.
Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone)
**Ashley Henry (Rhodes piano)
Daniel Casimir (double bass)
Makaya McCraven (drums)

Tracks 17-22 (Los Angeles Side) recorded @ Jeff Parker's house,
Altadena, Los Angeles County, CA, January 30th, 2018.
Josh Johnson (alto saxophone)
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (violin)
Jeff Parker (guitar)
Anna Butterss (double bass)
Carlos Niño (percussion)
Makaya McCraven (drums)

*Shabaka Hutchings appears courtesy of Verve Label Group
**Ashley Henry appears courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited

Recorded & Mixed by David Allen & Dave Vettraino
Artwork by Damon Locks
Insert Portrait by Fabrice Bourgelle
Insert Design by Craig Hansen
Produced by Makaya McCraven
Executive Production by Scott McNiece

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International Anthem Chicago, Illinois

International Anthem is a Chicago-born recording company that produces and promotes progressive media.

Founded in 2014, the IARC label has grown to embody a global community of like-minded artists, musicians, and cultural workers dedicated to craft as a means of discovering truth and celebrating humanity. ... more

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