Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Paul Jones with Leo Sherman and Jake Robinson (2018)



Saxophonist, composer, type 1 diabetic, audio recording weekend warrior, 4 Star debut album, touring, bartender, person.

Paul Jones - tenor sax
Leo Sherman - bass and compositions
Jake Robinson - drums and compositions

All audio and artwork by Paul Jones

1. Isfahan 07:03
2. Open Ocean 07:13
3. Looking Back Again 07:35
4. The Eclipse 06:04
5. Half Nelson 05:48
6. Chagall 06:44

Big Heart Machine - Big Heart Machine (2018)


Big Heart Machine is 18 Brooklyn-based musicians dedicated to performing Brian Krock’s idiosyncratic, unclassifiable compositions. Their eponymous debut album- produced by multi-Grammy nominated composer and bandleader Darcy James Argue- features a vast range of music that explores the intersection of jazz improvisation, contemporary composition, and heavy metal aesthetics.


Miho Hazama- conducter
Charlotte Greve- soprano & alto saxophones, clarinet, flute, sopranino recorder
Brian Krock- alto saxophone, clarinet, piccolo, flute, alto flute, soprano recorder
Timo Vollbrecht- tenor & soprano saxophones, clarinet, soprano recorder
Paul Jones- tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute, alto recorder
Jay Ratmann- baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, clarinet, flute, tenor recorder
John Lake- trumpet & flugelhorn
Nolan Tsang- trumpet & flugelhorn
Cody Rowlands- trumpet & flugelhorn
Kenny Warren- trumpet & flugelhorn
Nick Grinder- trombone
Chris Misch-Bloxdorf- trombone
Isaac Kaplan- trombone
Jennifer Wharton- bass trombone
Yuhan Su- vibraphone
ArcoIris Sandoval- piano & synthesizer
Olli Hirvonen- electric guitar
Marty Kenney- electric and upright bass
Josh Bailey- drums and percussion
With invaluable assistance from Peter Lenz, Adam Neely, and Molly McAdoo

All compositions by Brian Krock, BMI

Produced by Darcy James Argue
Recorded at by Mike Marciano at Systems Two, Brooklyn on August 15 & 16, 2017
Mixed by Brian Montgomery
Mastered by Sangwook “Sunny” Nam at Jacob’s Well Mastering

1. Don't Analyze 07:18
2. Tamalpais- I. (stratus) 03:45
3. Tamalpais- II. Steep Ravine 08:53
4. Tamalpais- III. Stinson Beach 07:39
5. Tamalpais- IV. Dipsea Steps 08:02
6. Tamalpais- V. (cirrus) 04:48
7. Jelly Cat 09:04
8. Mighty Purty 10:28

Makaya McCraven - Universal Beings (INTERNATIONAL ANTHEM RECORDING October 26, 2018)


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. 

Honing this process on narrower sets of source material, Makaya followed up In The Moment with 2 mixtape releases – 2017’s Highly Rare, a lo-fi free-jazz-meets-hip-hop suite he made from a live 4-track recording, and June 2018’s Where We Come From (CHICAGOxLONDON Mixtape), which he produced using live recordings from London jazz hub Total Refreshment Centre (captured at a showcase called CHICAGOxLONDON). 

Now, after 4+ years of refining his approach, Makaya McCraven puts forth an ambitious new work – Universal Beings – a culmination of concepts conceived by In The Moment, and his most elegant & articulated work yet.


Spurred by a desire to connect with old friends & new collaborators in places where similar spirits & diasporic jazz innovations are thriving, Makaya worked with International Anthem across late 2017 & early 2018 to setup intimate live sessions in New York & Chicago, and pop-up “studio” sessions in London & Los Angeles. Though the contexts and logistics were D.I.Y. (as they almost always are with IARC), the friends & friends-of-friends that Makaya was able to enlist are top tier players across the board. Some might call them super groups of “new” jazz musicians from their respective cities, with Makaya as a common denominator. But more importantly, collectively they make an inspiring display of the organic global inter-connectedness of the Black American music tradition in 2018. 

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.

1. A Queen's Intro
2. Holy Lands (feat. Brandee Younger)
3. Young Genius (feat. Joel Ross)
4. Black Lion (feat. Dezron Douglas) 02:56
5. Tall Tales (feat. Tomeka Reid)
6. Mantra
7. Pharaoh's Intro
8. Atlantic Black 09:10
9. Inner Flight
10. Wise Man, Wiser Woman (feat. Shabaka Hutchings)
11. Prosperity's Fear (feat. Junius Paul)
12. Flipped OUT
13. Voila (feat. Daniel Casimir)
14. Suite Haus (feat. Nubya Garcia)
15. The Newbies Lift Off (feat. Ashley Henry)
16. The Royal Outro
17. The Count Off (feat. Carlos Niño)
18. Butterss's (feat. Anna Butterss)
19. Turtle Tricks (feat. Jeff Parker)
20. The Fifth Monk
21. Brighter Days Beginning (feat. Josh Johnson)
22. Universal Beings (feat. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson)

Tracks 1-6 (New York Side) recorded live @ H0L0,
Ridgewood, Queens, NY, August 29th, 2017.
Brandee Younger (harp)
Joel Ross (vibraphone)
Tomeka Reid (cello)
Dezron Douglas (double bass)
Makaya McCraven (drums)

Tracks 7-11 (Chicago Side) recorded live @ Co-Prosperity Sphere,
Bridgeport, Chicago, IL, September 2nd, 2017.
*Shabaka Hutchings (tenor saxophone)
Tomeka Reid (cello)
Junius Paul (double bass)
Makaya McCraven (drums)

Tracks 12-16 (London Side) recorded @ Total Refreshment Studios,
Stoke Newington, London, UK, October 19th, 2017.
Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone)
**Ashley Henry (Rhodes piano)
Daniel Casimir (double bass)
Makaya McCraven (drums)

Tracks 17-22 (Los Angeles Side) recorded @ Jeff Parker's house,
Altadena, Los Angeles County, CA, January 30th, 2018.
Josh Johnson (alto saxophone)
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (violin)
Jeff Parker (guitar)
Anna Butterss (double bass)
Carlos Niño (percussion)
Makaya McCraven (drums)

*Shabaka Hutchings appears courtesy of Verve Label Group
**Ashley Henry appears courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited

Recorded & Mixed by David Allen & Dave Vettraino
Artwork by Damon Locks
Insert Portrait by Fabrice Bourgelle
Insert Design by Craig Hansen
Produced by Makaya McCraven
Executive Production by Scott McNiece