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
Head Hunters cover

Head Hunters

Herbie Hancock
Sun Goddess cover

Sun Goddess

Ramsey Lewis
Black Focus cover

Black Focus

Yussef Kamaal
SuperBigmouth cover

SuperBigmouth

Chris Lightcap
Suite for Max Brown cover

Suite for Max Brown

The New Breed, Jeff Parker
Double Booked cover

Double Booked

Robert Glasper