Drums / Double Bass / Percussion

Makaya McCraven

(1983–)

Paris, France

Makaya McCraven (b. 1983) — Drums, Double Bass. Led In the Moment, Universal Beings, Deciphering the Message. Worked with Junius Paul, Jeff Parker, Marquis Hill.

McCraven records live improvisation, then edits it afterward the way a beatmaker works — cutting, rearranging, layering. He sits exactly between jazz improvisation and hip-hop production. Out of the Chicago jazz scene, his method has proven to be one of the most original in contemporary music.

Makaya McCraven's albums

Drones

Terrace Martin · 2021

The musicians on Drones Drones DronesTerrace Martin · 2021 (2021) form the core of post-2010s jazz across LA and Chicago. Where Brainfeeder-adjacent production instincts meet collective improvisation — this is one of the defining sites of where jazz moved next.

Makaya McCraven's albums

Makaya McCraven's videos

Full KEXP studio session in support of 'In These Times,' with Jeff Parker, Junius Paul, and De'Sean Jones.

— Makaya McCraven - Full Performance (Live on KEXP), KEXP, 2022

Videos featuring Makaya McCraven

Makaya McCravenMakaya McCravenマカヤ・マクレイヴン's Universal Beings was tracked across four separate sessions in New York, Chicago, London, and Los Angeles, then edited into beats afterward. In Bandcamp Daily he described his role as less performer than "geologist of the room."

— Artist of the Week, Bandcamp Daily, 2018

Makaya McCraven said

'A live recording is material. How I cut and reassemble it — that is my composition'

On his production approach developed across his studio albums.