New Makaya McCraven Live EP out now on Qobuz // Makaya EU Tour starts today // In These Times in stores worldwide !!!
MAKAYA MCCRAVEN
INTERNATIONAL ANTHEM @ PUBLIC RECORDS
(VOLUME 3)
On September 19th, 2022, just days ahead of the release of In These Times, Makaya McCraven assembled a special chamber ensemble to do pared down versions of tunes from his new album, for the third installment of our quarterly residency at Public Records. Working with Junius Paul (bass guitar), Brandee Younger (harp), De'Sean Jones (woodwinds), Lia Kohl (cello), Marta Sofia Honer (viola), Zara Zaharieva (violin), and Macie Stewart (violin), the drummer McCraven led an expert performance.
Today we are happy to share a live EP – International Anthem @ Public Records (Volume 3) – featuring select recordings from that night, with art created for the event by Mark Rice of Goatmother Industrial. Available exclusively for streaming in Hi-Res on Qobuz.
Director Matthew Edginton had his team on hand that night at Public Records to capture video of the performance, and we're happy to share the first bit of that today as well.
!!! VOLUME 4 !!!
December 10th w/ Photay, Carlos Niño & Friends
The next edition of our quarterly residency at Public Records is Saturday, December 10th. There will be two sets - the first by Carlos Niño & Friends featuring keyboardist Surya Botofasina and special guest Adam Rudolph. The second will be by Photay with Carlos Niño, who celebrate their new IARC release An Offering in performance with Will Logan, Surya Botofasina, and special guest Laraaji. Intermittent DJ sets by our own King Hippo will keep the place warm. As always, the night is co-presented by our folks at Qobuz.
ARTWORK & SCREEN PRINT POSTERS BY MARK RICE of GOAT MOTHER INDUSTRIAL
All of the shows as part of our residency at Public Records come with limited run screen printed posters by our bud Mark Rice on the merch table. And whatever we don't sell at the show goes up on our Bandcamp page. There are still a few left from our first three shows, get them while you can!
EU TOUR DATES
Makaya's EU/UK tour starts today in Switzerland. He's traveling with his ace quartet featuring Junius Paul (bass), Marquis Hill (trumpet), and Matt Gold (guitar). Full list of dates below!
November 4 - Lausanne, Switzerland
JazzOnze+ / Casino de Montbenon
November 5 - Turin, Italy
C2C Festival / OGR
November 7 - Cologne, Germany
Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld
November 8 - Dortmund, Germany
Jazztage / Domicil
November 9 - Berlin, Germany
J.A.W / Festsaal Kreuzberg
November 10 - Mannheim, Germany
Enjoy Jazz Festival / Alte Feuerwache
November 11 - Hamburg, Germany
Überjazz / Kampnagel
November 12 - Zurich, Switzerland
Moods
November 13 - Prague, Czech Republic
Prague Sounds The Festival / La Fabrika
November 14 - Budapest, Hungary
Müpa
November 16 - Paris, France
Trabendo
November 17 - The Hague, The Netherlands
PAARD
November 18 - London, United Kingdom
Islington Assembly Hall
November 19 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
SuperSonic Jazz / Paradiso
November 20 - Madrid, Spain
Villan@s del Jazz / Teatro Pavón
Makaya McCraven - In These Times
co-release with Nonesuch & XL Recordings
LP/CD/Digital out now
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.
*Deluxe Vinyl Package*
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.
International Anthem x Nonesuch Records
North & South American distribution
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 )))
