Makaya McCraven
Chicago "beat scientist" Makaya McCraven returns to SFJAZZ as a 2025-26 Resident Artistic Director for a special four-night residency, revisiting and reworking material from his acclaimed album In These Times with strings and special guests.
McCraven — son of free jazz drummer Stephen McCraven — has forged a unique path that marries live jazz improvisation with electronic manipulation and hip-hop production techniques. His sound is rooted in post-Coltrane jazz but embraces the experimental fringes of hip-hop, creating what he calls "organic beat music" that seamlessly blends acoustic instruments with looping and electronic processes.
Each night features McCraven's core ensemble — bassist Junius Paul, guitarist Matt Gold, alto saxophonist Greg Ward, trumpeter Marquis Hill, and cornetist Ben LaMar Gay — expanded with strings (cello, viola, and two violins) and modular synthesist Jeremiah Chiu. The lineup varies slightly between nights, with different configurations showcasing the music's evolving nature.
As All About Jazz noted from a recent performance, McCraven frames his shows "as an act of collective discovery," telling audiences they're "diving into the unknown without a script." His approach blurs the lines between composition and improvisation, creating "fluid, shape-shifting sonic environments" where unison lines between instruments suddenly snap into dramatic precision, then dissolve into abstract exploration.
The In These Times material draws from the Studs Terkel Radio Archive, incorporating vintage social commentary with McCraven's genre-bending compositions. Live reviewers have described his drumming as mesmerizing — "one second choppy, machine-like hip-hop beats, the next ferociously swinging cymbal work" — while his bandmates create cinematic journeys through instrumental wizardry.
True to McCraven's innovative process, each performance will be recorded live and later creatively reworked for a future album release — making this residency both a live experience and the raw material for his next recorded evolution. Expect music that abandons traditional structure in favor of what critics call "transportive" explorations of time, space, and tempo.