Album Review: Makaya McCraven - Universal Beings

Makaya McCraven

Universal Beings

***and1/2 out of *****

Makaya McCraven is a jazz drummer who is not afraid of playing in the moment and then going back, chopping editing and creating a new flow. He has been doing this since his 2015 debut and now his most confident and best release is presented on Universal Beings.

The Chicago based McCraven, literal spanned the globe as he constructed this record from four pop up sessions (with the help of International Recording Company) based in London, NYC, Los Angeles and his home base of Chicago. Each live recording had a completely different band around Makaya as different themes and modes were explored. The most Impressive thing about Universal Beings may just be it's overall feel as a cohesive offering, which could have moved in four very different directions.

First up is NYC (of course) with Brandee Younger (harp) Joel Ross (vibraphone) Tomeka Reid (cello) Dezron Douglas (double bass) McCraven (drums) and this session proves to be the most fruitful of them all. The recording took place on April 29th in Ridgewood and moves from gloriously beautiful (Younger's harp on "Holy Lands" and Ross' vibes during "Young Genius") to ominous (Douglas' bass on "Black Lion") around the strings and pulsing rhythms laid down by McCraven; his closing run on "Black Lion" in particular is a whirlwind, but his nuanced beat pushes the rolling "Mantra" in restrained fashion as well.

Next up is Chicago as McCraven is joined in his hometown by Shabaka Hutchings (tenor saxophone) Tomeka Reid (cello) and Junius Paul (double bass). This set gets trance laden and hypnotic with it's centerpiece "Atlantic Black" which uses loops and doubling of cello and sax to disorientate around the ever pulsing rise of the beat. While the ten minute outing might not be for everyone the session "Inner Flight" pulls back in the cool groove.

Jumping across the pond the musicinas in London, Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone) Ashley Henry (Rhodes piano) Daniel Casimir (double bass) join in the fun as McCraven leads them around skittering beats and procedures. The session is more trance orientated with the repitition of "Voila" setting the stage, while "Suite Haus" continues that thought but in a more post-bop fashion. The lounge based "Newbies Lift Off" is the most satisfying of the England excursions, but this stop is the least affecting on the world tour and dulls in the middle of the record.

The album wraps up with Los Anglese as Josh Johnson (alto saxophone) Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (violin) Jeff Parker (guitar) Anna Butterss (double bass) Carlos Niño (percussion) all contribute to the wide ranging session. The chaos of "The Count Off" gets jarringly shifted to the mellow trip hop beats of "Butterss's" before the smooth jazz of "The Fifth Monk" but it is the album closing title track which highlights the west coast portion of the album with it's groove and fluttering horns, lush bass and odd squawks. It is a fitting way to wrap up an overall successful record.   

There is post bop, hip hop, avant garde and free/cool jazz, all blending around an impressive collection of moving excursions. Universal Beings is a testament to McCraven's ear for organic beat music and his teammates for adding to the blissful ride.   
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Ending Jazz January on a high note here at RtBE, thanks for getting cool with us. Support the artist, buy the album, stream it on bandcamp or below and peep some video:

Album Review: Makaya McCraven - In These Times

Makaya McCraven

In These Times

**** out of *****

Makaya McCraven has already established a strong foothold in the modern jazz scene and In These Times continues his ascent with a kaleidoscope of sounds around a thematic core.

The album was recorded back over seven years in 5 different studios and 4 live performance spaces, but that was not the finished product. McCraven then engaged in extensive post-production work from home to sonically weave the tapestries together. The end result is a strong collection of what McCraven calls his edit-heavy “organic beat music”, there are stops and starts, tons of sounds yet the project plays like a cohesive whole. 

Full Show Friday - Makaya McCraven - Live KEXP 2022

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing). This week...Makaya McCraven! 

It's Jazzy January again here at RtBE, so get ready to kick off 2025 with some different styled shows every Friday. For this series we skew into new (or more recent) jazz lands. Keeping it current proves there is amazing live jazz still being performed no matter what Ken Burns says.

Year In Review 2022 - Favorite Albums of 2022

Here are our all of our favorite albums of 2022. This is the year end review, all in one place.

You can click the links to also find our favorite album cover art, RtBE's favorite archive releases and picks for best live shows. 

Below are our picks for RtBE's favorite albums of the year. It starts with our honorable mentions then moves into our top ten albums of the year. There is a short blurb about the album and a song from it, click on the title to read our full review of the selected records. The focus here is on full albums, not singles, but long playing releases you can slap on and listen to all the way through.

We worked with the Glide Staff on their list as well, so there may be a few overlaps if you read that already. 

Thanks for reading. Until next year....

Year In Review 2022 - Favorite Albums Part 1 (Honorable Mentions and Let Downs)

Another year is finishing up and @RockBodElec wouldn't be a proper music site if we didn't end the year with a "Best Of" list, so RtBE presents 2022's Favorite Albums Part 1 (Honorable Mentions and Let Downs):

In the instance that RtBE has reviewed the album, either on this site or elsewhere, we will link to that review and just give a quick summation; click on the name/title and you can read our full opinion. RtBE also worked with the Glide Team to give input on their Top 20 so you can expect some overlap if you already have seen that list.

Again the focus here is on full albums, not singles, but long playing releases you can slap on and listen all the way through. We know these are a dying breed, but it still is the way we consume music, no shuffle, Spotify playlists or streaming for us.

These are the albums that just missed out on being included in our top ten favorite for the year (coming soon). After some very excellent albums we have a few releases from artists we dig, which we were let down by. 

Like all of our lists or 'best of'' these are meant to start conversations, not end them...

Album Review: Junius Paul - Ism

Junius Paul

Ism

***and 1/2 out of *****

From the opening of the intense "You Are Free To Choose" Junius Paul and his fellow players announce that they are a force of nature, kicking off Ism with an intense flurry of notes and scales. The track is overloaded with sounds as the acoustic bass player leads the charge but there are horns, pianos and drums all contributing to the maelstrom.

Throughout Ism Paul plays with a host of Chicago (and beyond) Jazz players from various years past, but the most recent band, which started off the record, just may be the strongest as Vincent Davis, Justin Dillard & Corey Wilkes all show their range. The foursome get super funky during the striding gallop of "Georgia", avant garde with the noise collection of "Twelve Eighteen West", frantic on the scattering speed of "Collant Denier" and let the low end rumble for "Two Minute Warnings" complete with soaring horn lines.

Other older live outings are interjected around these tracks as Paul proves a vital jazz musician on the scene playing all sorts of styles as tracks from various bands blend into each other over the course of these seventeen songs. "Ma and Dad" incorporates Tomeka Reid's cello with ease while "Sprouts" find Paul expertly pairing with Makaya McCraven for deep beats.

Other highlights include the hypnotic "View From The Moon", the grooving "Bakers Dozen" and the rollicking "The One Who Endures" which is propelled forward by Vincent Davis powerful drumming. Two extended numbers also need to be mentioned as "Paris" pushes Paul's bass work directly to the forefront while the searching and exploratory "Spocky Chainsey Has Re-Emerged" stretches out to almost twenty minutes in exciting fashion.   

Ism captures Paul at various times making intricate and complex music that also engages and grooves. A vital part of the current Chicago Jazz scene, Paul and company deliver the goods on Ism.
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Support the artist, buy the record, stream it on bandcamp or below and peep some video: