Myele Manzanza - Crisis & Opportunity Vol. 1 / London (April 2, 2021 DeepMatter Records)

DeepMatter are excited to announce 'Crisis & Opportunity, Vol.1 - London' by Myele Manzanza

World-renowned drummer/composer, & producer/beatmaker, Myele Manzanza, has proved that he's an artist who continues to dissolve the borders between modern jazz and electronic beat production. Having released three solo albums, and racking up tours and collaborations with Jordan Rakei, Theo Parrish, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Recloose and Amp Fiddler amongst others. Myele is already developing a strong live presence in his new London base; his quartet has shared stages with the likes of Hiatus Kaiyote, The Bad Plus, Alfa Mist, and drawing packed houses to top venues such as The Jazz Café and Ronnie Scott’s.

Tapping into the vibrant scene of his adopted home, Myele now readies his next project on DeepMatter Records.

'Crisis & Opportunity' Vol.1 - London features a top tier cast of young London based talent including Ashley Henry (piano), James Copus (trumpet), George Crowley (tenor saxophone), Benjamin Muralt (bass) and additional contributions from the legendary Mark de Clive-Lowe (synths), with Myele Manzanza (drums) captaining the ship.

Born out of Myele’s necessity to direct his creative energy in a productive direction and maintain his growth as an artist during the 2020 Covid 19 lockdown, 'Crisis & Opportunity’ is a reflection of the time we currently live in as a global society. The EP draws the global health crisis, the parallel economic crisis as a consequence of the necessary lockdowns, and the broader racial crisis brought to the forefront as a result of the death of George Floyd. Whilst it has been a difficult time for Myele Manzanza as an artist, it’s offered him opportunities to pause, reflect, and set new creative directions.

Weaving his unique blend of forward-thinking genre-bending jazz, broken beat, electronica and world music, Manzanza drives ‘Crisis & Opportunity’ through a set of original compositions inspired by the city of London which he now calls home. 

1. Big Deal 2 (Bigger Deals)

2. Portobello Superhero

3. Brixton Blues

4. London

5. Crisis & Opportunity

Drums - Myele Manzanza

Piano - Ashley Henry

Trumpet - James Copus

Tenor Saxophone - George Crowley

Bass - Benjamin Muralt

Synths - Mark de Clive-Lowe

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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

Ashley Henry's - 5ive (2016)

Ashley Henry is one of a new generation of musicians that have been raised with a wide range of influences, from such luminaries as Kirkland, Glasper Moran, Madlib and Dilla, yet also steeped in the traditional sounds of masters like Hancock and Monk.

At only 24, Ashley plays the piano with a beauty and sensitivity that usually comes from a lifetime immersed in jazz and this has been picked up on by other musicians. He has already toured the UK & internationally alongside many bands and ensembles, appearing in renowned venues such as Ronnie Scott’s, The Jazz Café and the Royal Albert Hall.

Recently made it to the finals of the Unisa International Piano Competition in South Africa and was the youngest on the bill for the 2015 International piano trio festival where performed alongside the likes of Robert Glasper.

After graduating from Leeds College of Music in 2014 with the Yamaha Jazz Scholarship award (an award given to the best musician graduating from each music college) Ashley continued his studies with a Masters degree in Jazz piano & Performance at the Royal Academy of Music.

As well as performing regularly with some of the UK’s leading jazz musicians such as Gary Crosby, Jean Toussaint, Shane Forbes, Jay Phelps, and award-winning Saxophonist Krzysztof Urbanski, Ashley has also recorded extensively with award- winning Hip- Hop Group “The Mouse Outfit” who are a collective of musicians and producers based in Manchester.

Ashley’s trio are clearly influenced by hip-hop but have their roots firmly rooted in jazz – this is the next generation putting their feet down and flexing their muscles.

ASHLEY HENRY’S 5IVE is available for pre-sale now on CD, Digital and yes, on Vinyl! To order your copy, simply click on the album artwork below.

1. Deja Vu 06:54

2. St. Anne's 06:52

3. Monks Dream 08:02

4. Deimos 07:39

5. Altruism 06:52

Ashley Henry: Piano 

Sam Gardner: Drums 

Sam Vicary: Bass

Released March 7, 2016 

Recorded at Sonica Studios @sonicastudios 

Engineered by: Mat Clark & Paul Clarke 

Mixed by: Paul Clark & Mat Clark

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