About this item

The 2018 release of Universal Beings, in many ways, feels like the moment that the dam broke for both Makaya McCraven and International Anthem. On one hand, it's a four-sided communal showcase of the inter-city exchange that had started to develop in the “new jazz” hubs, collecting group improvisations from New York, London, Chicago, and Los Angeles. On the other, it is an editing and post-production masterclass – the MVP of McCraven’s “organic beat music” concept – and a landmark moment where his cut-splice-reassembly chops shine as brightly as the players themselves.

The musicians on the album were a combined who’s-who and who’s-gonna-be-who of their respective scenes: Brandee Younger (harp), Joel Ross (vibraphone), Tomeka Reid (cello), Dezron Douglas (double bass), Shabaka Hutchings (tenor saxophone), Junius Paul (double bass), Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone), Ashley Henry (Rhodes piano), Daniel Casimir (double bass), Josh Johnson (alto saxophone), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (violin), Jeff Parker (guitar), Anna Butterss (double bass), and Carlos Niño (percussion). In our original press release, we called it “an inspiring display of the organic global inter-connectedness of the Black American music tradition in 2018.” Not in the press release, in our off-the-record conversations at the time, we said it was ‘like Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, but for jazz’.

TRACK LISTING

Disc 1 – Side A (New York Sessions)
1. A Queen’s Intro
2. Holy Lands (feat. Brandee Younger)
3. Young Genius (feat. Joel Ross)
4. Black Lion (feat. Dezron Douglas)
5. Tall Tales (feat. Tomeka Reid)

Disc 1 – Side B (New York Sessions Continued)
6. Mantra
7. Pharaoh’s Intro
8. Atlantic Black
9. Inner Flight

Disc 2 – Side C (London Sessions)
10. Wise Man, Wiser Woman (feat. Shabaka Hutchings)
11. Prosperity’s Fear (feat. Junius Paul)
12. Flipped OUT
13. Voila (feat. Daniel Casimir)

Disc 2 – Side D (London Sessions Continued)
14. Suite Haus (feat. Nubya Garcia, Ashley Henry)
15. Butterss’s Fly
16. The Way Home
17. Kings & Queens
18. The Loneliness