Makaya McCraven (born October 19, 1983) is an American

jazz drummer Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion (predominantly the drum kit, which includes a variety of drums and cymbals) in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz. The techniques an ...

and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...

Life and career

McCraven was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, to jazz drummer and Hungarian singer Ágnes Zsigmondi (of the band Kolind

, and from the age of three was raised in and around Amherst, Massachusetts, Amherst and

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

. At the age of five he played in his father's drum ensemble, the CMSS Bashers, along with some of his father's students. In middle school, he and friends formed a band to accompany his mother's folk singing. In high school, McCraven formed the jazz-hip hop Cold Duck Complex. He studied music at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

, becoming part of the university's jazz orchestra and receiving various

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

student awards, but did not graduate. In 2007 McCraven moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where he performed in the bands of

Bobby Broom Robert Broom Jr. (born January 18, 1961) is an American jazz guitarist, composer, and educator. He was born and raised in New York City, then moved to Chicago, which has been his home town since 1984. He performs and records with The Bobby Broo ...

, ,

Willie Pickens Willie Pickens (April 18, 1931 – December 12, 2017) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and educator. Early life Pickens was born in Milwaukee on April 18, 1931. He studied piano formally from the age of 14. He attended Lincoln H ...

, and with the Occidental Brothers,

Marquis Hill Marquis Hill (born April 15, 1987) is an American jazz trumpet player, composer, and bandleader from Chicago, Illinois. His musical style stems from African-American music, incorporating hip-hop, R&B, Chicago house and neo-soul to jazz. In ...

, and Jeff Parker. He also worked as a studio musician for

Apollo Sunshine Apollo Sunshine was an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. History Founding Sam Cohen, Jesse Gallagher, and Jeremy Black originally met in 1997 in Boston, where the three were attending a Berklee College of Music summer performan ...

and

Kris Delmhorst Kris Delmhorst is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Originally from Brooklyn, New York City, United States, she now lives in Western Massachusetts, is an active member of the Boston folk scene, and tours internationally. She has rele ...

. In 2012 he released his debut album, ''Split Decision'', through Chicago Sessions, leading a trio. In the following years he appeared weekly with other musicians, from which he developed concepts for his 2015 album, ''In the Moment''. He also performed with

Kamasi Washington Kamasi Washington (born February 18, 1981) is an American jazz saxophonist, usually playing tenor saxophone. Archived July 9, 2015. Career Washington was born in 1981 and raised in Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of the Academy of ...

. In 2016 he toured mostly in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. After several mix tapes, in 2018 he released the double album ''Universal Beings'', on which he was joined by musicians from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

; the album was nominated for the

Jazz Journalists Association The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) is an international organization of all types of media professionals who document, promulgate, or appreciate jazz. As of 2016, it has approximately 250 members, including professional journalists, students, ind ...

Awards in 2019. In DownBeat's 2020 Critics Poll, he was the winner in the "Rising Star" categories of best producer and best drummer of the year. In September, 2022, McCraven released ''In These Times'', a full-length album that had been in development since 2015, through International Anthem. McCraven is married to Nitasha Tamar Sharma, a professor of African-American and Asian-American Studies at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

as of 2018.

Discography

* ''GMG'' (Greg Spero, Makaya McCraven, Graham Czach), 2008 * ''Bassprint'' ( Marlene Rosenberg Quartet: Marlene Rosenberg, Geoff Bradfield, & Makaya McCraven), 2012 * ''Split Decision'', 2012 * ''In the Moment'', 2015, International Anthem Recording Company * ''In the Moment Remix Tape'', 2015 * ''Highly Rare'', 2017 * ''Where We Come from'' ''(Chicago X London Mixtape)'', 2018, International Anthem Recording Company * ''Universal Beings'', 2018 * ''Moving Cities'' ( & Makaya McCraven), 2019 * ''We're New Again: A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven'' (

Gil Scott-Heron Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician ...

osthumously& Makaya McCraven), 2020,

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six album ...

* ''Universal Beings'' ''E&F Sides'', 2020 * ''Deciphering The Message'', 2020 * ''

In These Times ''In These Times'' is an American politically progressive monthly magazine of news and opinion published in Chicago, Illinois. It was established as a broadsheet-format fortnightly newspaper in 1976 by James Weinstein, a lifelong socialist. ...

'', 2022,

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Non ...

, XL Recordings

References

External links

* * *
Makaya McCraven
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

* 1983 births Living people American jazz drummers American bandleaders Musicians from Paris {{US-jazz-drummer-stub