Universal Beings cover

Universal Beings

Released

What a difference a few years and a burgeoning musical community can make. Where In the Moment, his first album for International Anthem, gathered a collection of his live performances for later dissection and reassembly, Makaya McCraven’s approach on Universal Beings was to create a communal exposition that spread his concepts across four different ensembles in four different cities, and take in what they give back in the process. Which, in both cases, is a lot — in physical form, it’s four LP sides; in thematic terms, it feels like four different LPs. But that leaves you with a lot of different threads to follow and modes to explore: reflective and spiritual in the vibes-and-harp-laced Queens session, bristling with percussive restlessness in Chicago, basking in Rhodes-soaked post-acid jazz in London, and glowing with IDM-meets-neo soul low end praxis in L.A.

Nate Patrin

Suggestions
Rise Up! cover

Rise Up!

Lonnie Smith
Agharta cover

Agharta

Miles Davis
Solstice cover

Solstice

Jan Garbarek, Eberhard Weber, Jon Christensen, Ralph Towner
Axiom cover

Axiom

Christian Scott
Memento Mori cover

Memento Mori

Barry Adamson
The Melodic Line cover

The Melodic Line

Vincent Courtois, Reverso, Frank Woeste, Ryan Keberle
Psychedelic Backfire II cover

Psychedelic Backfire II

Reine Fiske, Elephant9
Good Days cover

Good Days

Chicago Underground Quartet