Makaya McCraven thinks of jazz as an open system between improvisation, sampling and collective memory. With Off The Record, he bundles four EPs into a collection that impressively documents his signature style: retro hip-hop beats, psychedelic jazz and digital post-production flow together to form a dense amalgam. But it’s not just about studio aesthetics – McCraven celebrates the live setting as a creative space in which every evening sounds different. A splendid catalyst for collective improvisation.
The EP ‘Techno Logic’ is based on three sessions with Ben LaMar Gay, who plays horn, makes synths bleep and forms a playful, powerful trio together with tuba player Theon Cross. ‘PopUp Shop’ takes us back to 2015: McCraven’s Los Angeles debut at the Del Monte Speakeasy opens the album – alongside Jeff Parker (Tortoise), Justefan on vibraphone and Benjamin J. Shepherd on bass.
Parker also appears again on ‘Hidden Out!’ – a documentation of the club residency at The Hideout in Chicago (2017), where changing guests were invited to an open exchange. The most recent of the four EPs is ‘The People’s Mixtape’: In January 2025, McCraven celebrated the tenth anniversary of his album ‘In the Moment’ with a concert in Brooklyn, accompanied by companions such as Junius Paul and new impulses from synthesiser wizard Jeremiah Chiu, who opens up new spaces with his organic textures.
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Off The Record
