International Anthem
The Eleventh Year
Makaya McCraven
Universal Beings
IA11 Edition
The 2018 release of Universal Beings, in many ways, feels like the moment that the gates swung open for both Makaya McCraven and International Anthem. On one hand, it's a four-sided communal showcase of the inter-city exchange that had started to develop in the “new jazz” hubs, collecting group improvisations from New York, London, Chicago, and Los Angeles. On the other, it is an editing and post-production masterclass – the MVP of McCraven’s “organic beat music” concept – and a landmark moment where his cut-splice-reassembly chops shine as brightly as the players themselves.
The musicians on the album were a combined who’s-who and who’s-gonna-be-who of their respective scenes: Brandee Younger (harp), Joel Ross (vibraphone), Tomeka Reid (cello), Dezron Douglas (double bass), Shabaka Hutchings (tenor saxophone), Junius Paul (double bass), Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone), Ashley Henry (Rhodes piano), Daniel Casimir (double bass), Josh Johnson (alto saxophone), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (violin), Jeff Parker (guitar), Anna Butterss (double bass), and Carlos Niño (percussion). In our original press release, we called it “an inspiring display of the organic global inter-connectedness of the Black American music tradition in 2018.” In our off-the-record conversations at the time, we said ‘it’s like Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, but for jazz’.
Universal Beings earned rave reviews across the board. It was a consensus year-end favorite (as seen in NPR Music, WIRE Magazine, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Rolling Stone, Vice, Stereogum, the list goes on…) that cemented McCraven as a must-buy album producer and a must-see live performer, and brought enough energy to our “plucky Chicago indie label” that we were able to move out of a closet and into an actual office.
The IA11 Edition of Universal Beings comes on classic black 140-gram vinyl 2xLP inside a heavyweight reverse-board jacket, with a 16-page 11x11" insert booklet (with unpublished photos and four conversations between IARC co-founder Scott McNiece and musicians Joel Ross, Junius Paul, Nubia Garcia, and Anna Butterss), IARC 2025 obi strip and printed poly-lined printed inner-sleeve. Pressed at Pallas in Germany, with lacquers cut by Daniel K at SST.
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New York Side
A Queen’s Intro Holy Lands Young Genius Black Lion
Tall Tales Mantra
Recorded August 29th, 2017, at H0l0 in Ridgewood, Queens, New York.
Brandee Younger – harp Tomeka Reid – cello
Joel Ross – vibraphone Dezron Douglas – double bass Makaya McCraven – drumsSpecial thanks: Joe Jeffers, Malik Abdul-Rahmaan, Alejandro Ayala, Elliot Ross and Hank Shocklee.
Chicago Side
Pharaoh’s Intro
Atlantic Black
Inner Flight
Wise Man, Wiser Woman Prosperity’s FearRecorded September 2nd, 2017, at Co-Prosperity Sphere in Bridgeport, Chicago, Illinois.
Shabaka Hutchings – tenor saxophone Tomeka Reid – cello
Junius Paul – double bass, percussion Makaya McCraven – drumsSpecial thanks: Andy Dane, Rachel Millar, David Passick, Alejandro Ayala, Angel Bat Dawid, Alexander Hawkins, Ingrid Laubrock, Neil Gainer, David Chavez, Ed Marszewski, Jamie Trecker and Shanna Van Volt.
London Side
Flipped OUT
Voila
Suite Haus
The Newbies Lift Off The Royal OutroRecorded October 19th, 2017, at Total Refreshment Studios in Stoke Newington, London, UK.
Nubya Garcia – tenor saxophone Ashley Henry* – rhodes piano Daniel Casimir – double bass Makaya McCraven – drums
Special thanks: Kristian ‘Capitol K’ Robinson, Alexis Blondel, Tina Edwards, Will Savery, Mark Pallman and David Burkhart.
*Ashley Henry appears courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited
Los Angeles Side
The Count Off
Butterss’s
Turtle Tricks
The Fifth Monk
Brighter Days Beginning Universal BeingsRecorded January 30th, 2018, at Jeff Parker’s house in Altadena, California.
Josh Johnson – alto saxophone Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – violin Jeff Parker – guitar
Anna Butterss – double bass Carlos Niño – percussionMakaya McCraven – drums
Special thanks: Lee Ann Schmitt and Ezra Lou ParkerSchmitt.
Recorded & Mixed by David Allen & Dave Vettraino.
Cover Art by Damon Locks.
Design by Aaron Lowell Denton.
Insert Cover Photo by Fabrice Bourgelle.Produced by Makaya McCraven. Executive Production by Scott McNiece.
FOUR
SIDES
of the story
Phone calls with four musicians, August 2025, by IARC co-founder Scott McNiece
JOEL ROSS
New York Side
SM:What's the first thing that comes to your mind, about the session with Makaya at H010 in Queens, back in 2017?
JR: It was a really, impactful musical experience for me. I think that was the first completely improvised performance I had ever done, up to that point.
SM: Wow.
JR: Well definitely the first time for me, for an entire gig that was being recorded. Also, I think that was the first time I met and played with Brandee. Maybe also the first time I met Dez? I can't remember. But I was new to New York. Mak called the gig, and he said “come on, we're just gonna play.” If it wasn't the first, it was definitely one of the first, and certainly the most impactful, completely improvised musical experience I’d had. I think after that, all of my improvised musical moments have in some way been attempting to recreate, or have been certainly inspired by what we did there, and how Makaya took it and shaped it into something else for the record.
SM: Damn. That's heavy praise.
JR:Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. It's cool that it was a spot where folks like that came to hear this music.
SM: And what about the music? One of the things that I remember was that Tomeka showed up late. She was coming back from a gig in Connecticut, and she only ended up playing the second set. Can you remember anything about what it was like, inside the music? If it’s your first time playing fully improvised in performance... you're also improvising with a harp, which isn't the easiest instrument to improvise with, right?
JR: For me, it was nice playing with the harp. Getting used to how Brandee interprets music, because Mak and Dez, from a rhythm section perspective, were able and used to laying down a strong foundation. And I felt like between myself and Brandee – well only really speaking for myself, but knowing Brandee now at this point – we were listening hard and searching. At least for me in that situation, I didn't really know what to do, so I just tried to listen and create a layer that works. I think from what I was doing, Brandee would then figure out her thing, then I would support. Everything we did, I believe, was built in that manner. So it required trusting everybody there, and trusting myself. Mak still tells me this to this day, my tendency was to play less but he definitely wanted me to play more, to step out and take a solo as well. Even if it's all improvised, that part of the music still exists. So that was an important learning moment for me.
JR:Yeah, but it was, really. If you ask Mak, now anytime he asks me “what are we going to play?” I'm always like, man, we should just improvise again. Because it was killer.
SM: Man, I was there too. It was definitely killing. So you had just moved to New York?
JR: I'm pretty sure, yeah. This was August of 2017, so I was like a year in.
SM: And you're from Chicago, right?
JR:Yeah, I'm from Chicago.
SM: Can you remember anything specifically about the gig? The space, the people that were there?
JR:Yeah, it was definitely the load-in, the loadout... it was a non-J venue. If I'm remembering right, it was like a warehouse vibe, or something. One of those spaces you see a dance party or a rave happening in a movie, like flashing lights, that's what it felt like. It was definitely not your Birdland or your everyday jazz club.Which I've now experienced with Mak, a lot. It was cool to be out of a traditional space that presents jazz and be somewhere where there were younger folk, different types of people in the audience that come to hear that music.
SM: Man, speaking of the audience, some of the people I remember being there... Hank Shocklee from Public Enemy came by. That was pretty sweet. Also, I don't know if you know that cat Soil Pimp, the wine guy, who used to hang with Madlib a bunch. He was there and I think that was his first experience seeing Makaya live – probably seeing any of you guys live, honestly – and he was super into it.
SM: I was just looking back at some footage from it the other day. When you came up on the screen I was like, oh my god, Joel looks so young!Your hair was so short. I forgot about how young you were. How old are you now?
JR: I just turned 30 this year.
SM: So you were 22 at this session then? JR:Yeah, I had to be.
SM:That's amazing.Yeah, everyone was so excited about you back then. I remember Marquis [Hill] was calling you “TheYoung Genius.” That was how he introduced you at his shows. Makaya actually named a track on this album “Young Genius.” Do you remember when Marquis started calling you that?
JR:Yeah, maybe one of my first gigs when I started playing with him, at the [Jazz] Showcase in Chicago. Which was, if not the same year as this Universal Beings session, maybe the year before.
SM: So I guess there was a lot of pressure then haha. He just busted it out on the bandstand, “this guy's a young genius.” That's so funny.
JR: I didn't think of myself that way, but I appreciated the love being shown that way.
SM: Another one of the track titles on that part of the album, Makaya called “Mantra.” That improvisation you guys were doing together was certainly very mantric, to my ears. Everyone was in this very minimal space.Very groove, rhythm centered. Really repetitive, minimalist vibe. Do you think that had to do with the harmonic limitations of playing free with a harp?
JR: I would honestly, probably say it was related to us wanting to play it safe.
SM:Well, that safety led to some beautiful music. One of the most important recordings of my whole life, as a music listener, probably.
JUNIUS Paul
Chicago Side
SM: Check, check. Hello. All right. So, yeah, we're doing this anniversary reissue of Universal Beings. What Makaya and I talked about for the liner notes was asking one musician from each session to share some memories. As you know, you were on the Chicago Side, which we recorded at Co-Prosperity Sphere in September 2017. You, Makaya, Shabaka, and Tomeka. What are some things you remember about that session?
JP: Actually, to be honest, one of my favorite memories from that session, aside from the music, obviously, was the photos. There's an overhead photo that somebody took from up top, from the mezzanine section of Co-Prosperity, and it's one of my favorite photos ever. Because it really encapsulated the feeling of being there. I mean, there's a lot of photos of a lot of performances, thousands at this point. But that photo, I'll send it to you so you can just have a reference of it. I'm sure you're familiar with the photo, but I'll send it to you. It just really encapsulates that night, how the band was situated. I remember what I was wearing that
night. I really do for real. And, you know, with Tomeka there, and Shabaka, and how the people were situated, with the lighting of the photo, and everything... Every time I look at that photo, it really brings me back to that night. Maybe even more than the record, to be honest with you. The record does too... but with the record, you know, Makaya did his editing thing. He did his magic on it, so it became a little bit of a different thing. But that photo is the one that really takes me back to the real improvisational nature of things from that night.
SM:Was that the first time you played with Shabaka?
JP:Yes. At that point, that was the first time. With Makaya, we’ve had Shabaka in on our set a few times now, and I've even played in Shabaka's bands since then. So, obviously all that has changed, but, yes, the Universal Beings session at Co-Prosperity was my first time playing with Shabaka.
SM: I remember... for me, that was such an exciting time. I remember it was the weekend of the Chicago Jazz Festival, and that was why Shabaka was in town. He came over to play with Louis Maholo. Of course you’d played with Tomeka here and there for a very long time, through the Chicago scene and the AACM... But I remember that was a particularly exciting time because you had recently joined the Art Ensemble of Chicago.You and Tomeka both, and you were getting ready to play together in London with the Art Ensemble, around a month after that.
JP:Yes, at Cafe Oto.
SM: I just wanted to bring that up because I was thinking about the specialness of all those intersections.Tomeka and you joining the Art Ensemble, getting ready to head London with the Art Ensemble, and then playing with Shabaka (who eventually did some things with the Art Ensemble) on this session in Chicago...
JP: I forgot about that aspect of it actually, Scottie, as far as the Art Ensemble. I guess now I’m coming up on 10 years with the Art Ensemble too. Well, not next year... 2027, but still that is crazy to me. I'm glad we're having this conversation because it does take me back to that time. I don't really think about it much because I'm constantly trying to just, you know, move forward, do things in the now, and try to keep up with that, which is a whole thing. But, yeah, thinking back on that time, there was a freshness there.Was that Makaya’s second International Anthem record?
SM:Well, it ended up being his fourth, but at the time of the Co-Prosperity show in September 2017, we had only released In The Moment by that point.
JP: A big reason that was a special time, to be honest with you, was because there was a special bond that International Anthem, myself and anybody that was involved with IARC had with Co-Prosperity.There was a certain kind of magic in that room at the time. Not just the night of this Universal Beings session, but there were multiple things that I did there then. Even up to the last time I was there, maybe like a year and a half ago, when I was doing the thing with M’Reld Green and Alabaster DePlume. The magic was there. But back in 2017-2018, there was just a certain thing in that room.You remember my quartet did a thing there not long after this Universal Beings session... we recorded and it ended up on my album Ism. I loved how we would set up on the floor of the space, and people would just gather around. People would be seated on the floor, or standing up, or seated on those benches.There was just a certain intimacy with the people in that particular room. And that night, there was a different kind of feeling in the air because Shabaka was in town, and that lineup... with Makaya, Shabaka, and Tomeka, there was just an anticipation in the room that night.
SM:Yeah, I remember the anticipation, it was a big feeling. I also remember having breakfast with Shabaka the next morning and he told me ‘oh, yeah, I just signed to Impulse Records,’ and I was like Impulse? I didn't know that was a label anymore. And he said ‘yeah, they’re relaunching the label’. Thinking about the energy of that time... you and Tomeka had just joined the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Impulse Records is relaunching with Shakaka... all of a sudden it was starting to become clear to me, after many years of trying to push our way out of obscurity, working with you guys and your music, that all of sudden we were in the middle of this thing that is on the cusp. And it was about to be a whole new chapter.
JP: And Makaya had a whole buzz going on too, that was still really strong from In The Moment. And when you think about Joel Ross - who ironically was on the New York session, even though he's from Chicago... I know we're talking about the Chicago session, but you might remember, this was also a time when Joel was on the rise as well. So there's a bunch of musicians on Universal Beings that were really in a certain type of phase. I had only just started playing with the Art Ensemble and it was pre-Ism...
SM: But if you remember, we had actually already started working on Ism though.
JP: Right, right.
SM:We started working on Ism in May or June of 2016. By the time of Universal Beings, we were in the middle of that long, two-year stretch of figuring out how the hell to finish it haha.
JP: Exactly. So we had started that work, but the album hadn't dropped yet, so... my thing was on the rise through playing with other musicians but my personal music hadn't really jumped off like that yet. So thinking about it, it was a different time because it was right before the thing broke, for so many of us.
SM: That’s what I’m saying! It felt like all these things were about to break. Things were on the cusp.
JP: It was part of the beginning of a period of resurgence of young ears being tuned in to jazz.
SM:Yep.These days it's kind of like... that goes without saying. That's one of the things I love about where this music has gotten.You don't even have to say that anymore. Jazz seems to have been fully integrated into the broader conversation about music, in general, you know?
JP: It has, it has. But back then, it was still kind of in that relegated space a little bit.You know what I mean? I feel like Universal Beings is one of the quintessential records of that renaissance.
SM: Well, obviously, you’re preaching to the choir there haha. But yes, I agree with you!
JP:Yeah, Universal Beings is one of the central records of this thing that we're talking about as far as young jazz audiences, young jazz ears, young jazz musicians... but also roping in the elders.You know what I mean? Like, we were roping in the elders at the same time. They were like ‘yo, who are these young motherfuckers out here playing? Yo, these young cats are playing... they're not bullshitting’.
SM: Right! Haha.Well, let’s try to take it back to the night of the session... Can you think of any other memories from that night that are more personal? Anything about the music you all were playing that comes to mind?
JP:Yeah, I remember that when we first started, it took us a second... like we didn't start just crazy intense. It took us a minute. Actually, well, let me think, did we?
SM: That’s how I remember it. And I remember wondering why, for a couple of reasons... just the acoustics of Co-Prosperity, first of all. I remember watching you guys start making sound, you were playing a little open, a little more avant-garde, and I was wondering if that was going to last.You know, Shabaka, at that point, was notorious for his super high octane playing... so I was wondering when and how that was going to happen. Again, it was that really strong feeling of anticipation we all had that night. But I really wonder if that slow start was because of the acoustics of the room. I mean, any recording that was captured at Co-Pro, including stuff from your record and other records we've done.. the room is so open with such high ceilings, so you hear the effect it has on the way the music’s made.
JP:Yeah, absolutely, it very well could have been the echo in the room that led to us starting out the way we did, really open and explorative... not necessarily getting into vamps off the bat, but exploring more textures and sounds, combinations of sounds...That's something I can say I learned from playing with Roscoe [Mitchell], even before I was playing with the Art Ensemble... textural playing. So a lot of the things that I was learning, playing with Roscoe, I was able to really implement into what was going on that night. And I think that that's where it all kind of ties together with the experience that I was accumulating with Roscoe and with Don Moye... I was able to really implement those things for our set at Co-Pro. And to be clear, some of those things are about
space, and not playing. Something that Roscoe says all the time is “silence is your friend.” Understanding that concept, that sometimes your contribution comes from being silent and letting other colors develop. So when you step back in, you can contribute in a different kind of way. But I definitely remember starting out in a very spatial kind of energy, and I remember thinking at the time how beautiful Shabaka sounded in that space. Before that night, I had only heard Shabaka play with the Ancestors and Sons of Kemet. I had come across those bands while on tour with Makaya. I knew that Shabaka was very versed in a lot of different things, but to hear him play in this manner was really really beautiful. I wouldn't say it was surprising. It wasn't surprising at all, but it was just really beautiful to hear him play these textures. And that's more in line with what he does now, right?
SM: Right! Maybe you guys had an influence on that.
JP: Maybe.
SM:Yeah, it's really great you are reminding me that such a huge portion of the session was that sort of textural improvisation. Because it really differs from what's heard on the final record... Makaya took specifically the groove parts of the set and worked with those. So when you listen to the Chicago side of Universal Beings, you're mostly hearing Makaya taking the moments where there was a really driving groove and emphasizing those moments. Maybe someday the world can hear the full original recording, and hear how many different dimensions you guys explored that night.
JP:Yeah, we got into a lot of different things and it wasn't just like we went straight from textures to grooves and stayed there.We kind of went back to some textural stuff as well. It wasn't just from one thing to the other and that was the night, no. We would hit a groove for a while and then get back into some textures and kind of find our way into another groove again and then find some more textures. The textures, the groove, they went hand in hand. Those more open moments really helped to create the foundations of the grooves. And when those grooves broke apart, we would coalesce around some of the lingering textures. I think the beauty of that night was that everybody was open to finding what was next. Or maybe, actually, finding the now, and not even thinking about ‘what are we going to do next’. It's not like it was a set list or something. It was really just like a bunch of beautiful moments of being in the present, being on the edge, and being in the now.
SM: Man, you guys did it so well that night, too. I remember Shabaka around the end of 2017, he posted a short clip from the Co-Prosperity session, this set... and his caption was something like ‘this was one of my favorite sessions from this year’. I remember thinking, wow, I didn't realize he was that into the music that night!
JP:Yeah, that's beautiful, man. I think everyone involved knew that it was something special when it happened.
SM: Where are you at?
Makaya McCraven
About
Makaya McCraven is a prolific drummer, composer and producer. An artist who has been aptly called a “cultural synthesizer,” McCraven has a unique gift for collapsing space, destroying borders and blending past, present, and future into poly-textural arrangements of post-genre, jazz-rooted 21st century folk music. Profiled in Vice, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and NPR, among other publications, he and the music he makes today are at the very vanguard of progressive music. According to the New York Times, “McCraven has quietly become one of the best arguments for jazz’s vitality.”
International Anthem
The Eleventh Year
On December 2nd, 2024, we marked the ten-year anniversary of our first release.
With a full decade under our belt – ten years of commitment to a growing community of artists, and our original mission statement ("to vitalize demand for boundary defying music," among other things) – we've spent a lot of time thinking about how we'd like to celebrate this milestone. What we keep coming back to is: desire to use this opportunity to revisit and revivify music and memories from our first decade; but keeping true to our ethos of always looking forward, all the way.
In that spirit, across 2025, we'll be rolling out a series of releases and events under the IA11 banner. Celebrating our eleventh year. Doing our best to retell essential, foundational stories from our past, while keeping our hearts and minds fixed on the present. Trying to establish new standards that can help carry our mission through another decade of work – and hopefully more.
Stay tuned for releases and news.