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Universal Beings

by Makaya McCraven

supported by
pandr1900
pandr1900 thumbnail
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
jez-lysaght thumbnail
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).
Carsten Pieper
Carsten Pieper thumbnail
Carsten Pieper Drummer, band leader, sound collagist Makaya McCravens 2nd opus magnum. Material from 4 different purely improvised live sets in 4 cities, recomposed into new compositions/collages. To astonishing results, I have to add.
more... more...
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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.

    *Ships from US, UK & EU*

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

      $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.
    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.

    Sold Out

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Mantra 03:48
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Inner Flight 03:02
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Flipped OUT 02:40
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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.

The IARC mission is to make positive contributions to the changing state of the music industry, and to vitalize the demand for boundary-defying music by presenting unique sounds in appealing packages to untapped audiences.
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