Drummer, producer, and sonic collagist Makaya McCraven releases four distinct yet interconnected EPs—Techno Logic, The People’s Mixtape, Hidden Out!, and PopUp Shop—October 31 via International Anthem / Nonesuch / XL Recordings. All four are compiled on the two-disc Off the Record, due October 17. Built from live, improvised performances, the music is later reshaped by McCraven via extensive editing, overdubs, and post-production at his home studio. Each EP is drawn from moments of pure improvisation, recorded live in performance, shaped as much by the room and audience as by the musicians themselves, including Ben LaMar Gay and Theon Cross (Techno Logic); Junius Paul, Marquis Hill, Joel Ross, and Jeremiah Chiu (The People’s Mixtape); Paul, Jeff Parker, and Josh Johnson (Hidden Out!); and Parker, Justefan, and Benjamin J. Shepherd (PopUp Shop).
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Internationally acclaimed drummer, producer, and sonic collagist Makaya McCraven returns to announce four distinct yet interconnected EPs—Techno Logic, The People’s Mixtape, Hidden Out!, and PopUp Shop—to be released on all music platforms October 31. The four EPs are also compiled on a 2xLP and 2xCD physical release titled Off the Record, available for preorder here and in stores October 17 via International Anthem / Nonesuch / XL Recordings. Together they mark McCraven’s first recorded offerings since 2022’s In These Times (“McCraven’s most ambitious set of music” —GRAMMY.com) and a deep return to the signature “organic beat music” approach that Makaya first debuted on his 2015 album In The Moment and further developed across subsequent releases Highly Rare (2017), Where We Come From (2018), and Universal Beings (2018). Built from live recordings, the music is later reshaped by McCraven via extensive editing, overdubs, and post-production at his home studio in Chicago.
The source material from each EP is drawn from moments of pure improvisation, recorded live in performance, shaped as much by the room and audience as by the musicians themselves.
Techno Logic features Ben LaMar Gay and Theon Cross, and draws from performances in London (2017), Berlin (2024), and New York (2025), showcasing nearly eight years of developing rapport between the three musicians, starting with their very first session at Worldwide FM’s former North London studio.
The People’s Mixtape has its foundation in a live recording from Brooklyn’s Public Records in January of 2025, where McCraven celebrated the 10 year anniversary of In The Moment with an intentional return to the improvisational language he developed over that album’s sessions. For the occasion, McCraven played with bassist Junius Paul and trumpeter Marquis Hill (two musicians who are majorly present on In The Moment), as well as vibraphonist Joel Ross (who has been a regular collaborator of McCraven’s since the 2017 sessions for Universal Beings), and synthesist Jeremiah Chiu (marking the first occasion for McCraven to play with the SML co-leader and International Anthem labelmate).
Hidden Out! is built off recordings from McCraven’s June 2017 residency at The Hideout in Chicago, where he improvised weekly with a revolving cast including bassist Junius Paul; Tortoise member, International Anthem label mate, composer, and guitarist Jeff Parker; and SML co-leader, GRAMMY Award–winning producer and alto saxophonist Josh Johnson.
PopUp Shop was created from recordings of McCraven’s Los Angeles debut at Del Monte Speakeasy in 2015, where McCraven took part in the King Hippo and Grown Kids Radio produced event RAWS:LA, and improvised with guitarist Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Justefan, and bassist Benjamin J. Shepherd.
The Off the Record vinyl LP and CD compilation (available for preorder here) is not just a collection of these recordings, but a tactile document celebrating creative, communal, IRL moments of musical gathering.
Speaking on the record, McCraven says: “In a time where we’re increasingly connected through phones, in a virtual world where you can’t really tell what’s real or what’s fake, there’s something special where we come together and share space, there is something special where we are sharing music, art. I want to create an energy that amplifies the magic in the underground moments where we come together and we experience something wild, different, off the cuff, human. What I’m trying to present is a dreamlike alteration of that energy, which only exists in the recorded realm. But to actually have been there, in real life, is the special thing.”
Makaya McCraven, who has been aptly called a “cultural synthesizer” and “beat scientist,” has a unique gift for collapsing space, destroying borders and blending past, present, and future into poly-textural arrangements of post-genre, jazz-rooted 21st-century folk music. Profiled in the New York Times, Vice, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, the Guardian, and NPR, among other publications, Makaya and the music he makes today is what Passion of Weiss says “is part of a necessary conversation about the next evolution of the Black improvised music known colloquially as ‘jazz.’ He’s found the threads connecting the past with the present, and is either wrapping them with new colors and textures, or he’s plucking them gleefully like the strings of a grand instrument.” Born in Paris in 1983 to Hungarian singer and flutist Ágnes Zsigmondi and African-American expat jazz drummer Stephen McCraven, Makaya was raised in a vibrant, creative community in the Northampton, Massachusetts, area, where his father worked with artists like saxophonist and ethnomusicologist Marion Brown, multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef, and saxophonist Archie Shepp. In 2006, McCraven moved to Chicago, where he is still based today.
Four New Makaya McCraven EPs Due October 31; 'Off the Record' Two-LP Compilation Due October 17
Internationally acclaimed drummer, producer, and sonic collagist Makaya McCraven returns to announce four distinct yet interconnected EPs—Techno Logic, The People’s Mixtape, Hidden Out!, and PopUp Shop—to be released on all music platforms October 31. The four EPs are also compiled on a 2xLP and 2xCD physical release titled Off the Record, available for preorder here and in stores October 17 via International Anthem / Nonesuch / XL Recordings. Together they mark McCraven’s first recorded offerings since 2022’s In These Times (“McCraven’s most ambitious set of music” —GRAMMY.com) and a deep return to the signature “organic beat music” approach that Makaya first debuted on his 2015 album In The Moment and further developed across subsequent releases Highly Rare (2017), Where We Come From (2018), and Universal Beings (2018). Built from live recordings, the music is later reshaped by McCraven via extensive editing, overdubs, and post-production at his home studio in Chicago.
The source material from each EP is drawn from moments of pure improvisation, recorded live in performance, shaped as much by the room and audience as by the musicians themselves.
Techno Logic features Ben LaMar Gay and Theon Cross, and draws from performances in London (2017), Berlin (2024), and New York (2025), showcasing nearly eight years of developing rapport between the three musicians, starting with their very first session at Worldwide FM’s former North London studio.
The People’s Mixtape has its foundation in a live recording from Brooklyn’s Public Records in January of 2025, where McCraven celebrated the 10 year anniversary of In The Moment with an intentional return to the improvisational language he developed over that album’s sessions. For the occasion, McCraven played with bassist Junius Paul and trumpeter Marquis Hill (two musicians who are majorly present on In The Moment), as well as vibraphonist Joel Ross (who has been a regular collaborator of McCraven’s since the 2017 sessions for Universal Beings), and synthesist Jeremiah Chiu (marking the first occasion for McCraven to play with the SML co-leader and International Anthem labelmate).
Hidden Out! is built off recordings from McCraven’s June 2017 residency at The Hideout in Chicago, where he improvised weekly with a revolving cast including bassist Junius Paul; Tortoise member, International Anthem label mate, composer, and guitarist Jeff Parker; and SML co-leader, GRAMMY Award–winning producer and alto saxophonist Josh Johnson.
PopUp Shop was created from recordings of McCraven’s Los Angeles debut at Del Monte Speakeasy in 2015, where McCraven took part in the King Hippo and Grown Kids Radio produced event RAWS:LA, and improvised with guitarist Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Justefan, and bassist Benjamin J. Shepherd.
The Off the Record vinyl LP and CD compilation (available for preorder here) is not just a collection of these recordings, but a tactile document celebrating creative, communal, IRL moments of musical gathering.
Speaking on the record, McCraven says: “In a time where we’re increasingly connected through phones, in a virtual world where you can’t really tell what’s real or what’s fake, there’s something special where we come together and share space, there is something special where we are sharing music, art. I want to create an energy that amplifies the magic in the underground moments where we come together and we experience something wild, different, off the cuff, human. What I’m trying to present is a dreamlike alteration of that energy, which only exists in the recorded realm. But to actually have been there, in real life, is the special thing.”
Makaya McCraven, who has been aptly called a “cultural synthesizer” and “beat scientist,” has a unique gift for collapsing space, destroying borders and blending past, present, and future into poly-textural arrangements of post-genre, jazz-rooted 21st-century folk music. Profiled in the New York Times, Vice, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, the Guardian, and NPR, among other publications, Makaya and the music he makes today is what Passion of Weiss says “is part of a necessary conversation about the next evolution of the Black improvised music known colloquially as ‘jazz.’ He’s found the threads connecting the past with the present, and is either wrapping them with new colors and textures, or he’s plucking them gleefully like the strings of a grand instrument.” Born in Paris in 1983 to Hungarian singer and flutist Ágnes Zsigmondi and African-American expat jazz drummer Stephen McCraven, Makaya was raised in a vibrant, creative community in the Northampton, Massachusetts, area, where his father worked with artists like saxophonist and ethnomusicologist Marion Brown, multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef, and saxophonist Archie Shepp. In 2006, McCraven moved to Chicago, where he is still based today.
Four New Makaya McCraven EPs Due October 31; 'Off the Record' Two-LP Compilation Due October 17
Internationally acclaimed drummer, producer, and sonic collagist Makaya McCraven returns to announce four distinct yet interconnected EPs—Techno Logic, The People’s Mixtape, Hidden Out!, and PopUp Shop—to be released on all music platforms October 31. The four EPs are also compiled on a 2xLP and 2xCD physical release titled Off the Record, available for preorder here and in stores October 17 via International Anthem / Nonesuch / XL Recordings. Together they mark McCraven’s first recorded offerings since 2022’s In These Times (“McCraven’s most ambitious set of music” —GRAMMY.com) and a deep return to the signature “organic beat music” approach that Makaya first debuted on his 2015 album In The Moment and further developed across subsequent releases Highly Rare (2017), Where We Come From (2018), and Universal Beings (2018). Built from live recordings, the music is later reshaped by McCraven via extensive editing, overdubs, and post-production at his home studio in Chicago.
The source material from each EP is drawn from moments of pure improvisation, recorded live in performance, shaped as much by the room and audience as by the musicians themselves.
Techno Logic features Ben LaMar Gay and Theon Cross, and draws from performances in London (2017), Berlin (2024), and New York (2025), showcasing nearly eight years of developing rapport between the three musicians, starting with their very first session at Worldwide FM’s former North London studio.
The People’s Mixtape has its foundation in a live recording from Brooklyn’s Public Records in January of 2025, where McCraven celebrated the 10 year anniversary of In The Moment with an intentional return to the improvisational language he developed over that album’s sessions. For the occasion, McCraven played with bassist Junius Paul and trumpeter Marquis Hill (two musicians who are majorly present on In The Moment), as well as vibraphonist Joel Ross (who has been a regular collaborator of McCraven’s since the 2017 sessions for Universal Beings), and synthesist Jeremiah Chiu (marking the first occasion for McCraven to play with the SML co-leader and International Anthem labelmate).
Hidden Out! is built off recordings from McCraven’s June 2017 residency at The Hideout in Chicago, where he improvised weekly with a revolving cast including bassist Junius Paul; Tortoise member, International Anthem label mate, composer, and guitarist Jeff Parker; and SML co-leader, GRAMMY Award–winning producer and alto saxophonist Josh Johnson.
PopUp Shop was created from recordings of McCraven’s Los Angeles debut at Del Monte Speakeasy in 2015, where McCraven took part in the King Hippo and Grown Kids Radio produced event RAWS:LA, and improvised with guitarist Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Justefan, and bassist Benjamin J. Shepherd.
The Off the Record vinyl LP and CD compilation (available for preorder here) is not just a collection of these recordings, but a tactile document celebrating creative, communal, IRL moments of musical gathering.
Speaking on the record, McCraven says: “In a time where we’re increasingly connected through phones, in a virtual world where you can’t really tell what’s real or what’s fake, there’s something special where we come together and share space, there is something special where we are sharing music, art. I want to create an energy that amplifies the magic in the underground moments where we come together and we experience something wild, different, off the cuff, human. What I’m trying to present is a dreamlike alteration of that energy, which only exists in the recorded realm. But to actually have been there, in real life, is the special thing.”
Makaya McCraven, who has been aptly called a “cultural synthesizer” and “beat scientist,” has a unique gift for collapsing space, destroying borders and blending past, present, and future into poly-textural arrangements of post-genre, jazz-rooted 21st-century folk music. Profiled in the New York Times, Vice, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, the Guardian, and NPR, among other publications, Makaya and the music he makes today is what Passion of Weiss says “is part of a necessary conversation about the next evolution of the Black improvised music known colloquially as ‘jazz.’ He’s found the threads connecting the past with the present, and is either wrapping them with new colors and textures, or he’s plucking them gleefully like the strings of a grand instrument.” Born in Paris in 1983 to Hungarian singer and flutist Ágnes Zsigmondi and African-American expat jazz drummer Stephen McCraven, Makaya was raised in a vibrant, creative community in the Northampton, Massachusetts, area, where his father worked with artists like saxophonist and ethnomusicologist Marion Brown, multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef, and saxophonist Archie Shepp. In 2006, McCraven moved to Chicago, where he is still based today.
Robert Plant and Saving Grace will release a vinyl EP, Saving Grace: All That Glitters..., on Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record stores, taking place on Saturday, April 18. The record follows Plant's recent critically acclaimed album, Saving Grace; both feature singer Suzi Dian and a band of musicians from the English countryside that Plant calls home. The EP's four tracks, recently recorded especially for RSD, explore the folk and Americana songs that Plant and the band love: the traditional tunes "The Blackest Crow" and "Two Coats," arranged by Robert Plant and Saving Grace, as well as Gillian Welch's "Orphan Girl" and Bert Jansch's "Poison." Plant and the band resume their US tour in March.
The fifteenth anniversary edition of Carolina Chocolate Drops' 2010 Grammy Award-winning album Genuine Negro Jig is out now on Nonesuch. The reissue, featuring founding band members Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, and Justin Robinson, includes the original Joe Henry–produced album and nine bonus tracks: seven previously unreleased tracks plus a 2025 remaster of “City of Refuge” and a 2025 mix of “Memphis Shakedown.” This release marks the album’s first time on vinyl since its original pressing in 2010. “A moment of reclamation and revelation,” says Uncut, naming the new edition of Genuine Negro Jig its Archive Album of the Month.
