Makaya McCraven

"Lullaby" is beautiful, yeah. I don't know Hungarian folk music at all, but I assume that's the "eastern" influence there? (given his family background & interest in it). Very cool how differently people are hearing this

ridiculously good album

Really is. Such a nice progression from Universal Beings and the songs have a feel razor sharp feel to the editing and composition, yet sound soft as a feather.

Yeah, this is pretty incredible. I can see how someone looking for Universal Beings II might find this too mellow, but this really is gorgeous. "Dream Another" and "Lullaby" is where I really started to fall for this record, by "Seventh String" and "So Ubuji" I was convinced that this is a damn near masterpiece.

I've been listening to it almost every day.

was too burned out from a show on Wednesday to go see him last night, love the new album

Dream Another is superb. I'm going to be spending a lot more time with this record.

yes this is fantastic. also, enjoyed his version of I'm New Here far more than the Jamie XX

and it seemed to get totally ignored/not talked about last year?

"This Place That Place" is a song I have come back to again and again this year. I appreciate how well constructed his songs and albums are, but I wouldn't hate to hear a bit more of his drumming let loose.

live show I caught this past fall was amazing, and McCraven definitely was less reined in than on the record — band was Jeff Parker, Junius Paul and D'Sean Jones, just nonstop grooves.

his live drumming really is phenomenal. I wouldn't mind the next album being looser, though he's not set a wrong foot yet

...enjoyed his version of I'm New Here far more than the Jamie XX

― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Saturday, October 22, 2022 2:41 AM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

and it seemed to get totally ignored/not talked about last year?

― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Saturday, October 22, 2022

I mentioned it upthread and on ballots:

... in 2020, this made several of my ballots---from blogged comments:

Gil Scott-Heron/Makaya McCraven, We're New Again: A Reimagining By Makaya McCraven---Still haven't heard the original album, or Jamie xx's reworking, but the unmistakable sound and sensibility of classic Gil come through: sharp, reflective glints in the dark, rough-edged and fluid, lyrical and realist, searching and on point, thematic and grooving---jazzwise, yet "blues is a feeling" the overall. Only thing is, some of the originals are really short, like down to 37 seconds: golden kernels of potential and realization---McCraven is def. not showboating, but I wish he extended these--maybe he was required to stick to the original track times? I'd like a bit more---Anyway, it's all good, though faves are mostly because they have longer to make an impression: "New York is Killing Me," "I'll Take Care of You," "Me and the Devil"--yes, Scott-Heron and Robert Johnson and Mr. D. riding the Greyhound, seems natural. Speaking voice is worn but clear, singing voice not that different from 1970s.

Seeing him tonight and am awfully excited to finally get to watch him play live. Major bonus that Meshell Ndegeocello, Greg Ward, and Brandee Younger are part of the ensemble.

Meshell! Is it the In These Times large group, or something less?

I must have posted on it on another thread, but I got to see the large group at a theater a few months ago and it was very special. It was pretty much the exact group on the record except for Jeff Parker.

Not sure but you can see the performers at the bottom here: https://cso.org/performances/23-24/scp-jazz/makaya-mccraven/

I know Hill, Paul, and Younger all played on the album.

I'd be interested to know how much of a feedback loop there is between his live performances and recordings. Some of his most striking albums come from live recordings that have been heavily edited and manipulated. I'm wondering if he then tries to reproduce the sound of those albums in his live shows.

He definitely did for the ITT show. It sounded almost exactly like the record, but I think that was unusual because of the effort and expense that goes into getting such a large ensemble together (there was also a string quartet). And that record felt a lot more planned out than some of the more stitched-together ones. I've also seen him with a trio that involved a lot more stretching out, they were playing his tunes but I didn't really recognize much.

I've seen him twice (both before ITT came out) and neither time did he try to reproduce the albums.

Reporting back. Magical show. One of the best I've seen in a long long time. Jeff Parker played, too! Meshell came out for the second half of the set, and they did her version of "Waterfalls," Makaya's reimagining of Gil Scott-Heron's "I'll Take Care of You," and Brandee Younger's version of Dorothy Ashby's "Dust." It was one of those sets where you just feel blessed to be in the presence of such talent. Will look for every opportunity to see McCraven again.

Somehow I found an extremely cheap minty copy of in the moment on vinyl a few days ago, it's pretty outstanding. Would love to catch him live sometime.

Amazed at how active and dynamic McCraven's drumming is, yet never anything close to overpowering or showy. If anything I was hoping to see him let loose -- don't believe he took a solo all night.

Saw McCraven last night at big Strathmore Hall in a Washington DC suburb. Band included Brandee Younger on harp, Deshawn Jones, Graham Ward, Marquis Hill, Julius Paul, a cellist whose name I didn't get and 3 women violinists whose names I sadly also missed. Mostly In these times songs, but also an encore -the title track from his Gil Scott-Heron album, with some sampled Scott-Heron vocals, then the bassist took over on vocals. Lots of harp and subtle McCraven drumming on that.

A guy I know who had seen McCraven at Big Ears, said this show seemed more sedate than that one. This was my first time seeing McCraven. One cut got noisy , and McCraven was hiphop meets James Brown funky on others, but some cuts were sublime and kinda Curtis Mayfield meets old school Miles Davis ethereal with the violins, flute, and harp taking prominence and I liked that (more than my buddy). Giovanni Russonello, NY Times jazz critic who's working on a book about Scott-Heron, did a powerpoint with video presentation about McCraven in a smaller room there beforehand. Gio posted quotes from an interview he had done with McCraven the day before, added in video clips of Ahmad Jamal, Pete Rock, mentions of J Dilla, and quotes from musicologists and others I didn't know. Was reiterating the message about how McCraven likes to re-do projects live and not keep things static, and how he likes to include human error.

That sounds like a great show! Quick tip for anybody: his "Highly Rare" and "Where We Come From" LPs are half-priced ($12) on Bandcamp through this weekend.

FYI the cellist in McCraven's group is Lia Kohl--a fantastic composer in her own right who is based in Chicago. I reissued her first album on my label last year:

https://florabelle.bandcamp.com/album/too-small-to-be-a-plain

Oh thanks

FUCK, I never pay enough attention to the Strathmore calendar.

Quick tip for anybody: his "Highly Rare" and "Where We Come From" LPs are half-priced ($12) on Bandcamp through this weekend.

― daily growing, Saturday, February 24, 2024 1:54 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Wow thanks for the heads up! I have not heard either. What are they like?

Highly Rare is a chopped-up beat tape made from a four-track live recording of McCraven with Nick Mazzarella on alto sax, Ben Lamar Gay on cornet and diddley-bow, and Junius Paul on electric bass. It's good, and/but very raw — deliberately so.

Where We Come From is also live, and a little less primitively recorded; it's from London and features Soweto Kinch and Nubya Garcia on saxes, Theon Cross on tuba, Joe Armon-Jones on Fender Rhodes and Kamaal Williams on keyboards. Then some other people overdubbed additional instruments later. It's really good, one of my favorite of his albums in fact.

Thank you!

Those two might be my favorite Makaya records. Highly recommend both.