Paris-born, New England-raised, long-time Chicago-residing Makaya McCraven has been at the forefront of genre-redefining movements in jazz since 2015, when he introduced the world to his unique brand of ‘organic beat music’ on the breakout album In The Moment. Culled, cut, post-produced & re-composed by Makaya using recordings of free improvisation he collected over dozens of live sessions in Chicago, through incubation & experimentation In The Moment established a procedural blueprint that he has since been sharpening & developing.

Physically spanning national & international borders to create an album that musically spans deep spiritual jazz meditations, pulsing post-bop grooves & straight-ahead boom-bap, Makaya McCraven defies the simplifications of revisionism & regionalism while celebrating the sounds, settings & stories that define the provenance of his work. Universal Beings projects an all-encompassing message of unity, peace & power by embracing transcendence in all its expressions. 

TRACKLIST :

A1. A Queen's Intro

A2. Holy Land

A3. Young Genius

A4. Black Lion

A5. Tall Tales

A6. Mantra

B1. Pharaoh's Intro

B2. Atlantic Black

B3. Inner Flight

B4. Wise Man, Wiser Woman

B5. Prosperity's Fear

C1. Flipped Out

C2. Voila

C3. Suite Haus

C4. The Newbies Lift Off

C5. The Royal Outro

D1. The Count Off

D2. Butterss's

D3. Turtle Tricks

D4. The Fifth Monk

D5. Brighter Days Beginning

D6. Universal Beings