*Announcing* MAKAYA MCCRAVEN - In These Times // brand new LP, CD, Digital album out September 23rd
*announcing* IARC0059
Makaya McCraven
In These Times
Co-release with Nonesuch & XL Recordings
LP/CD/Digital out September 23rd 2022
Photo by Sulyiman
In These Times is the new album by Chicago-based percussionist, composer, producer, and pillar of our label family, Makaya McCraven.
Although this album is “new," the truth it’s something that's been in process for a very long time, since shortly after he released his International Anthem debut In The Moment in 2015. Dedicated followers may note he’s had 6 other releases in the meantime (including 2018’s widely-popular Universal Beings and 2020’s We’re New Again, his rework of Gil Scott-Heron’s final album for XL Recordings); but none of which have been as definitive an expression of his artistic ethos as In These Times. This is the album McCraven’s been trying to make since he started making records. And his patience, ambition, and persistence have yielded an appropriately career-defining body of work.
As epic and expansive as it is impressively potent and concise, the 11 song suite was created over 7+ years, as McCraven strived to design a highly personal but broadly communicable fusion of odd-meter original compositions from his working songbook with orchestral, large ensemble arrangements and the edit-heavy “organic beat music” that he’s honed over a growing body of production-craft.
With contributions from over a dozen musicians and creative partners from his tight-knit circle of collaborators – including Jeff Parker, Junius Paul, Brandee Younger, Joel Ross, and Marquis Hill – the music was recorded in 5 different studios and 4 live performance spaces while McCraven engaged in extensive post-production work from home. The pure fact that he was able to so eloquently condense and articulate the immense human scale of the work into 41 fleeting minutes of emotive and engaging sound is a monumental achievement. It’s an evolution and a milestone for McCraven, the producer; but moreover it’s the strongest and clearest statement we’ve yet to hear from McCraven, the composer.
In These Times is an almost unfathomable new peak for an already-soaring innovator who has been called "one of the best arguments for jazz's vitality" by The New York Times, and recently, perhaps more aptly, a "cultural synthesizer." While challenging and pushing himself into uncharted territory, McCraven quintessentially expresses his unique gifts for collapsing space and transcending borders – blending past, present, and future into elegant, poly-textural arrangements of jazz-rooted, post-genre 21st century folk music.
LEAD SINGLE
"Seventh String"
Along with our In These Times announcement and preorder, the album's first lead single "Seventh String" is available on all digital music platforms today. The track features McCraven's lush string and arrangements drifting above a frenetic drum and double bass edit, a dichotomy of mood and movement that very well encapsulates the musical dimensions present across the album.
Listen to "Seventh String"
MAKAYA MCCRAVEN
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2022
June 30 - July 2 - Montreal Jazz Fest - Montreal, QB
July 30 - Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI
July 31 - Central Park SummerStage, New York City, NY
August 2 - Salt Shed - Chicago, IL
October 15 - Chan Center for the Arts - Vancouver, BC
October 17 - Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO
October 19 - Fox Theater - Boulder, CO
October 21 - Revolution Hall - Portland, OR
October 23 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA
October 25 - Earshot Jazz Festival - Seattle, WA
October 27 - Kuumbwa Jazz Center - Santa Cruz, CA
October 29 - Musical Instrument Museum - Phoenix, AZ
October 30 - Jazz Is Dead @ The Lodge Room - Los Angeles, CA
MAKAYA MCCRAVEN
EUROPEAN TOUR 2022
July 6 - Copenhagen Jazz - Copenhagen, DK
July 7 - Warsaw Jazz Days - Warsaw, PL
July 8 - North Sea Jazz Fest - Rotterdam, NL
July 9 - Kongsberg Jazz - Kongsberg, NO
July 16 - DOUR Festival - Dour, BE
July 19 - Jazz en La Costa - Granada, ES
July 20 - Teatro Trento Jazz - Trento, IT
July 21 - Casa del Jazz - Roma, IT
July 22 - Musiques en été - Geneva, CH
July 24 - Odysseus Festival - Helsinki, FI
August 5 - OFF Festival - Katowice, PL
November 4 - JazzOnze+ Festival - Lausanne, CH
November 5 - C2C Festival - Torino, IT
November 7 - CBE - Cologne, DE
November 8 - Domicil - Dortmund, DE
November 9 - J.A.W. - Berlin, DE
November 10 - Enjoy Jazz - Mannheim, DE
November 12 - Moods - Zurich, CH
November 13 - LaFabrika - Prague, CZ
November 14 - Müpa - Budapest, HU
November 16 - Trabendo - Paris, FR
November 17 - PAARD - The Hague, NL
November 18 - Islington Assembly Hall - London, UK
November 19 - SuperSonic Jazz at Paradiso - Amsterdam, NL
*Deluxe Vinyl Package*
CYMBAL SHEEN COLOR VINYL
In These Times in vinyl form is a 33rpm 160 gram LP (pressed by Smashed Plastic in Chicago) in a heavyweight reverse-board jacket, with insert sheet, IARC obi strip and dome patterned inner sleeve.
And, as always, we have a limited edition color vinyl option for the first pressing only, available via our Bandcamp page only, which is 999 copies of Cymbal Sheen color vinyl.
International Anthem x Nonesuch Records
In These Times is marketed & distributed in North & South America via our partnership with Nonesuch Records.
As Nonesuch is part of the Warner Music Group, In These Times will be distributed in North & South America by WEA. Stores, retailers, folks interested in wholesale purchases: please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions about where/how to stock these releases.
XL Recordings for Europe, UK, Japan, Australia, and ROW
In These Times is licensed, marketed and distributed by our friends at XL Recordings in Europe, UK, Japan, Australia, Asia, and everywhere else in the world outside of North & South America.
Retailers looking to purchase wholesale for all the above territories, let us know if we can help get you in touch.
Photo by Nate Schuls
