Universal beings
| Universal beings | ||||
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| Studio album by Makaya McCraven | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | International Anthem | |||
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Format (s) |
2 LP, 2 CD |
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Title (number) |
22nd |
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running time |
1:29:47 |
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Makaya McCraven, Scott McNiece |
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Location (s) |
Co-Prosperity Sphere, Bridgeport, Chicago; H010, Ridgewood, Queens, New York; Jeff Parker's House, Altadena, California; Total Refreshment Studios, Stoke Newington, London |
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Universal Beings is a jazz album by Makaya McCraven . It was recorded in four cities (New York, Chicago, London and Los Angeles) with four ensembles between August 2017 and January 2018. The recordings were released on October 24, 2018 as a double LP or CD on the International Anthem label .
background
On an August 2017 evening, a crowd crowded into a barely-advertised show by Chicago-based drummer Makaya McCraven at the crowded H0L0 , a sparse little basement club in Ridgewood, Queens. His band consisted of a group of New York musicians with whom McCraven had hardly played before, Giovanni Russonello noted in The New York Times . “What they were playing was totally improvised, but with Mr. McCraven's subtle controls, the audience had room to feel comfortable and fall into the music. His fat snare drum splashed against the notes of Joel Ross ' vibraphone pattern, creating an elliptical groove . Sometimes Brandee Younger's harp plucking would lead Mr. McCraven to a lively, driving beat. Elsewhere he restricted himself and let Dezron Douglas' bass lead the rhythm. ”The resulting recording was the first part of the album Universal Beings , which is based on live performances, which in the four cities each with prominent young musicians predominantly from the local scenes were created.
The four sessions - each with different staff - and the resulting grooves formed the basis for the pieces that were then mixed. “The lively, intimate element is captured and not watered down at all during the mixing process,” wrote S. Victor Aaron, “and the retention of audience noise, stage jokes and even excerpts from casual conversations between the musicians ensures this, even with the occasional bumpy overdub in the Teo Macero style. ”Continuously improvised performances were digitally looped, cut, spliced and processed into completely new compositions. McCraven has been developing the approach for some time, which he achieved with the 2015 album In the Moment , which selected from almost 48 hours of improvised live performance at a single venue over a year and then processed and remixed into 19 individual pieces has been.
In “Pharaoh's Intro” there is a saxophone played by Shabaka Hutchings ; For this live session in the Chicago studio, McCraven used exotic Afro rhythms and interwoven Hutchings' saxophone with Tomeka Reid's cello. Another ensemble in London, here with Nubya Garcia on saxophone, played soul / jazz grooves ("Flipped OUT", "Voila", "Suite Haus", "The Newbies Lift Off"), mainly on the basis of the electric piano by Ashley Henry relaxed and McCravens pulse. The band for the fourth and final session, recorded in Los Angeles, is Jeff Parker , a local Chicago legend on guitar that was performed in Parker's garage. The titles "The Count Off" and "Turtle Tricks" were created; Saxophonist Josh Johnson is a soloist in "The Fifth Monk".
Track list
- Makaya McCraven: Universal Beings (International Anthem Recording Co IARC 0022)
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CD 1
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CD 2
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Sessions
- Brandon Younger (harp), Tomeka Reid (cello), Joel Ross (vibraphone), Dezron Douglas (b); McCraven (dr). New York City, August 2017.
- Shabaka Hutchings (tenor saxophone), Tomeka Reid (cello), Junius Paul (bass, percussion), McCraven (dr). Chicago, September 2017.
- Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone), Ashley Henry (keyboard), Daniel Casimir (bass), McCraven (dr). London, October 2017.
- Josh Johnson (alto saxophone), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (viola), Jeff Parker (guitar), Anna Butterss (bass), Carlos Nino (percussion), McCraven (dr). Los Angeles, January 2018.
reception
S. Victor Aaron wrote in Something Else, “At a time when there are few true musical innovators, Makaya McCraven stands out among those few. Instead of rethinking how to play an instrument or write an arrangement, McCraven begins with recorded improvisations and cleverly shapes them into compositions. "
According to Thom Jurek , who gave the album 4½ (out of five) stars in Allmusic , the method, which is not far from the strategy of Teo Macero and Miles Davis at Bitches Brew and the subsequent recordings, is the way to go control the wavy, polyrhythmic, genre-ambiguous flow of drummer Makaya McCravens with constantly developing "organic beat music". Universal Beings is unique compared to any other jazz recording of 2018, the author praises; it combines virtuoso musicality, technological know-how, a keen ear for creative inspiration and an abundance of omnipotent grooves.
Ken Micallef wrote in JazzTimes that while you could drop the turntable needle anywhere on Universal Beings for an interesting moment, the one-hour suite is like a trip through a desert, a city and a sea. Ride the wavy serpentine of sound. The hype was great when London's insurgent world jazz scene collided with Kamasi Washington's west coast jazz-hop, which challenged New York's old guard. Universal Beings is the first album to bring all of this together in a cosmic, groovy collage.
Garry Booth wrote in the Jazz Journal that New York recordings with harp, cello and vibraphone looked like they had produced "a blissful update from Alice Coltrane ". The Chicago pieces, led by the radical British tenor saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, were reminiscent of an M-Base meeting, mixed with Afrobeat and the Kronos Quartet . The outstanding session, according to the author, was the one that took place in London. "With luminous harmonies of Ashley Henry's Fender Rhodes and Garcia's Coltrane-like runs, it's a three-dimensional sound, but just as hypnotic." Nonetheless, the spiky, spontaneous jam session in Los Angeles, led by Jeff Parker's guitar, is also a pleasure.
For Anthony Dean-Harris, who reviewed the album in Nextbop, this release is designed to be like listening to four albums at the same time. McCraven let the music flow, “anything with the potential to be contagious because the root of these configurations is the aura that McCraven brings with him as a band leader. He's a vibe who consistently plays drums over flowing beats, doing the slightest variation on his style of playing where he can be noticeable when time demands. Remarkable restraint is required for something that sounds so free flowing, but this is the case with Makaya McCraven's craft. "
Nick Metzger gave the album the highest rating of five stars on the Free Jazz Blog and wrote, “The key to what makes all of this so compelling to me is the succinct, minimalist hip-hop style that underpins the whole undertaking, and the restrained recording technique in which McCraven only uses a few room microphones to capture the performances. The way he cuts and throws the results together to shape them into his signature sound is a unique approach that works wonderfully. ”The fact that the improvisations are expanded in the studio makes McCraven's music unique in that it makes the overall performance is a group, the author praises, even if the maestro always has the last word. Anyway, this is an exciting and innovative time for Chicago jazz and the International Anthem label is doing a phenomenal job of recording it.
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Martin Arendts ( Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ) praised: “He succeeded in creating a multifaceted album that moves beyond sterile crossover obviousnesses. McCraven doesn’t try to touch up the boisterousness of the live moments. But its post-processing gives the improvisations coherence: Samples disappear and suddenly reappear elsewhere - or they form transitions. ”While Kamasi Washington's work draws its strength from the unbridled advancement of all instrumentalists, McCraven has the modular principle of hip-hop even deeper anchored. Thinking in samples and loops already shapes his live improvisation. Solo virtuosity is seldom exhibited here, and ecstasy is almost always avoided. Instead, McCraven juxtaposed atmospheres, shading and intensifying the band's sound with patience and discipline. As “Universal Being”, he masterfully harmonizes the diverse input of his colleagues - and seems quite relaxed.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Giovanni Russonello: Makaya McCraven lake the Future of Jazz Through Layers of History. The New York Times, November 30, 2019, accessed June 15, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c S. Victor Aaron: Makaya McCraven - 'Universal Beings' (2018). Something Else, November 25, 2018, accessed June 17, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved July 1, 2020.
- ↑ Makaya McCraven: Universal Beings at Discogs
- ↑ Ken Micallef: Makaya McCraven: Universal Beings (International Anthem). JazzTimes, December 17, 2018, accessed June 17, 2020 .
- ↑ Garry Booth: Makaya McCraven: Universal Beings. Jaz Journal, February 24, 2019, accessed July 17, 2020 .
- ↑ Makaya McCraven - 'Universal Beings' (Album Review). Nextbop, October 25, 2018, accessed June 17, 2020 .
- ↑ Nick Metzger: Makaya McCraven - 'Universal Beings'. Free Jazz Blog, January 18, 2019, accessed on July 17, 2020 .
- ↑ Do you have all of this in the box? Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, November 6, 2018, accessed on June 7, 2020 (English).