{"product_id":"makaya-mccraven-off-the-record","title":"Makaya McCraven - Off The Record","description":"\u003cp\u003eInternationally acclaimed drummer, producer, and sonic collagist Makaya McCraven releases four distinct yet interconnected EPs—Techno Logic, The People’s Mixtape, Hidden Out!, and PopUp Shop, compiled on a 2xLP physical release titled \u003cem\u003eOff the Record\u003c\/em\u003e, released via International Anthem \/ Nonesuch \/ XL Recordings. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTogether they mark McCraven’s first recorded offerings since 2022’s \u003cem\u003eIn These Times\u003c\/em\u003e (“McCraven’s most ambitious set of music” —GRAMMY.com) and a deep return to the signature “organic beat music” approach that Makaya first debuted on his 2015 album I\u003cem\u003en The Moment\u003c\/em\u003e and further developed across subsequent releases \u003cem\u003eHighly Rare\u003c\/em\u003e (2017), \u003cem\u003eWhere We Com\u003c\/em\u003ee From (2018), and\u003cem\u003e Universal Beings\u003c\/em\u003e (2018). Built from live recordings, the music is later reshaped by McCraven via extensive editing, overdubs, and post-production at his home studio in Chicago.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe source material from each EP is drawn from moments of pure improvisation, recorded live in performance, shaped as much by the room and audience as by the musicians themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTechno Logic\u003c\/em\u003e features Ben LaMar Gay and Theon Cross, and draws from performances in London (2017), Berlin (2024), and New York (2025), showcasing nearly eight years of developing rapport between the three musicians, starting with their very first session at Worldwide FM’s former North London studio.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe People’s Mixtape\u003c\/em\u003e has its foundation in a live recording from Brooklyn’s Public Records in January of 2025, where McCraven celebrated the 10 year anniversary of In The Moment with an intentional return to the improvisational language he developed over that album’s sessions. For the occasion, McCraven played with bassist Junius Paul and trumpeter Marquis Hill (two musicians who are majorly present on In The Moment), as well as vibraphonist Joel Ross (who has been a regular collaborator of McCraven’s since the 2017 sessions for Universal Beings), and synthesist Jeremiah Chiu (marking the first occasion for McCraven to play with the SML co-leader and International Anthem labelmate).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHidden Out! \u003c\/em\u003eis built off recordings from McCraven’s June 2017 residency at The Hideout in Chicago, where he improvised weekly with a revolving cast including bassist Junius Paul; Tortoise member, International Anthem label mate, composer, and guitarist Jeff Parker; and SML co-leader, GRAMMY Award–winning producer and alto saxophonist Josh Johnson.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePopUp Shop\u003c\/em\u003e was created from recordings of McCraven’s Los Angeles debut at Del Monte Speakeasy in 2015, where McCraven took part in the King Hippo and Grown Kids Radio produced event RAWS:LA, and improvised with guitarist Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Justefan, and bassist Benjamin J. Shepherd.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eOff the Record\u003c\/em\u003e vinyl LP and CD compilation is not just a collection of these recordings, but a tactile document celebrating creative, communal, IRL moments of musical gathering.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpeaking on the record, McCraven says: “In a time where we’re increasingly connected through phones, in a virtual world where you can’t really tell what’s real or what’s fake, there’s something special where we come together and share space, there is something special where we are sharing music, art. I want to create an energy that amplifies the magic in the underground moments where we come together and we experience something wild, different, off the cuff, human. What I’m trying to present is a dreamlike alteration of that energy, which only exists in the recorded realm. But to actually have been there, in real life, is the special thing.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMakaya McCraven, who has been aptly called a “cultural synthesizer” and “beat scientist,” has a unique gift for collapsing space, destroying borders and blending past, present, and future into poly-textural arrangements of post-genre, jazz-rooted 21st-century folk music. Profiled in the New York Times, Vice, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, the Guardian, and NPR, among other publications, Makaya and the music he makes today is what Passion of Weiss says “is part of a necessary conversation about the next evolution of the Black improvised music known colloquially as ‘jazz.’ He’s found the threads connecting the past with the present, and is either wrapping them with new colors and textures, or he’s plucking them gleefully like the strings of a grand instrument.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBorn in Paris in 1983 to Hungarian singer and flutist Ágnes Zsigmondi and African-American expat jazz drummer Stephen McCraven, Makaya was raised in a vibrant, creative community in the Northampton, Massachusetts, area, where his father worked with artists like saxophonist and ethnomusicologist Marion Brown, multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef, and saxophonist Archie Shepp. In 2006, McCraven moved to Chicago, where he is still based today. — (via \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.nonesuch.com\/journal\/four-new-makaya-mccraven-eps-out-now-also-compiled-two-lp-record-2025-10-31\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eLabel\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e—\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGathering and reworking a decade’s worth of blistering live jams, this compilation of four dynamic new EPs captures the recombinant spirit of the jazz drummer, bandleader, and beatmaker.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMakaya McCraven’s music is a process of transmutation: In his hands, improvisation turns into composition and then back again. Like most brilliant ideas, it’s simple to explain and devilishly difficult to pull off. McCraven plays live with one of his groups, usually consisting of some of the best musicians of his generation. Then, he meticulously edits recordings of those performances into new songs, bringing a dexterous hip-hop production technique into the world of jazz. When he tours, McCraven arranges that material for the band to develop further. None of the constituent parts of this model are particularly novel—Teo Macero pioneered the studio-as-jazz-instrument in the 1960s, with Miles Davis—but it’s only possible with McCraven’s inimitable combination of a jazz drummer’s soul and a hip-hop producer’s mind.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eOff the Record\u003c\/em\u003e, a collection of four new EPs that have also been released separately, is a useful introduction to McCraven’s evolution since his landmark 2015 album \u003cem\u003eIn the Moment\u003c\/em\u003e, when he began his experiment in jazz\/hip-hop hybridization. Rather than a chronological narrative of the growth of the artist, the new set presents a composite portrait: Turn from one EP to the other and you see a wholly different facet of McCraven’s identity, from deft percussionist to bold beatmaker. Much of the variety comes from his choice of collaborators, who range from veteran guitarist Jeff Parker to eclectic folklorist Ben LaMar Gay. The shared characteristic that unites all four releases, though, is McCraven’s uncanny ability to alchemize hip-hop from jazz, structure from freedom, a collective effort into a singular vision. — (via \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/pitchfork.com\/reviews\/albums\/makaya-mccraven-off-the-record\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003ePitchfork\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" data-testid=\"embed-iframe\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/768dTvGf2c479ASY1S0DAu?utm_source=generator\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" data-testid=\"embed-iframe\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/2QAnwt6ZkJLEy7RHnLFoKU?utm_source=generator\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" data-testid=\"embed-iframe\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/7iJ6dtqkJhxxKe0nBZy2Ef?utm_source=generator\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" data-testid=\"embed-iframe\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/4tzwQULs9JHJseXAP3fXI8?utm_source=generator\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e↓\u003cbr\u003eLabel: International Anthem Recording Company, XL Recordings\u003cbr\u003eFormat: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation\u003cbr\u003eReleased: 2025\u003cbr\u003eGenre: Jazz\u003cbr\u003eStyle: Modern \/ Future Jazz\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFile under: Jazz \/\/ Modern\/Future Jazz\u003cbr\u003e⦿\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"International Anthem Recording Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46179901112478,"sku":"191404158814","price":60.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0584\/5434\/3838\/files\/a_5919cf04-5d0f-41a9-8861-3a0a3d8c88ca.jpg?v=1762785434","url":"https:\/\/theanalogvault.mom\/products\/makaya-mccraven-off-the-record","provider":"The Analog Vault","version":"1.0","type":"link"}