*Announcing* Kalia Vandever - MANA /// LP/CD/DD out June 12th 2026
(( Mana album cover photo by Isabel Gonzalez ))
Trombonist & Composer Kalia Vandever Announces International Anthem Debut Album Mana, Out June 12
Today, Kalia Vandever — the trombonist, composer, and vocalist who has been celebrated as one of the leading lights of a “new class of jazz artists pushing the music forward” (NPR) for their cinematic quartet work and the synthetic, gauze-like drone of their solo material — announces Mana, their debut album for International Anthem, out on LP, CD, and digital download June 12. Vandever also shares today the opening track to Mana, “Hubbard Road," as well as a live performance video of the piece.
Listen to “Hubbard Road” and preorder Manahere.
Watch a live performance of “Hubbard Road,”
filmed at The Land School in Chicago, here.
(( photo by Mikel Patrick Avery ))
Vandever’s music has quickly and widely gained traction in the last few years despite the fact that their style has been consistently difficult to pin down. Mana is their latest evolution: solo trombone filtered through a well-dialed pedalboard and manipulated live, paired with spare piano à la late-career work of Ryuichi Sakamoto for seven tracks of sometimes placid, sometimes disquieting atmospheres. The electroacoustic interplay simultaneously echoes and transforms the long-note melodicism of their melancholic brass work; and the whole sound is emotively augmented with head-on, unambiguous, and deeply personal sung lyrics — a particularly fresh move for Vandever.
For incorporating vocals into their sound world, the turning point came when they started getting more opportunities to play outside of the context of the jazz world. Some opportunities came in the form of playing in backing bands for pop stars (Harry Styles) or indie-rock mainstays (Japanese Breakfast), but the true exploration started while performing solo, on tour opening for folk singer Haley Heynderickx. For Vandever, seeing a very different kind of crowd from the stage night after night helped them cement a bravery about singing and sharing intimate, lyric-centered pieces. “I was considering that they might gravitate more toward words,” says Vandever, “so I thought I could try these songs that I had been developing, that maybe I was feeling a little nervous to share.”
The heart of Mana also sees Vandever shedding new light onto their personal connection to Hawaiian mythology, ancestry and how it relates to their musical expression — a meeting of their familial and professional life that represents a sort of closing of a circle. Mana, which in Hawaiian means “foundational, supernatural, or divine power and strength,” reveals more of their voice and words, drawing from yearning, loss, and bewilderment.
Vandever writes in the album’s liner notes: “In modern culture, mana can be felt, cultivated, and strengthened as you grow closer to your inner self, native land, and ancestral power. I carry the stories, wisdom, and care of my ancestors as I navigate grief, love, community, and exploration, and feel my sense of mana deepening when I play for them.”
A full-bodied trombone awash in reverberation and polyphonic pitch-shifting introduces the album’s lead track “Hubbard Road.” Vandever’s trusty brass axe rings out with confident warmth and soft power, ascending and descending in register, before being joined by the song’s primary theme — two repeating grand piano triads. It’s a quietly tense musical figure that is slowly unwound by Vandever’s soul-baring horn improvisations.
Listen to “Hubbard Road,” preorder and presave Mana here.
KALIA VANDEVER LIVE
On December 2, 2026, Vandever performed solo at International Anthem's new Chicago HQ, The Land School, as part of the label's 11 year anniversary celebration. Filmmaker Brian Ashby was on the scene to capture the performance; watch Vandever open their set with "Hubbard Road" here.
Throughout 2026, Vandever will be touring in support of Mana, with solo album release performances set for New York at Le Poisson Rouge and in Los Angeles at 2220 Arts + Archives. From June 17 to 28, Vandever will be performing as part of the Wehiwehi Residency at Shangri La in Honolulu, HI. Europe and UK shows to be announced soon; see all current dates and more info below.
May 2 - New York, NY - Davis Center at the Harlem Meer
May 3 - Brooklyn, NY - Long Play Festival
May 16 - Keene, NH - The Thing In the Spring Festival
June 10 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
June 12 - Philadelphia, PA - Solar Myth
June 14 - Washington, DC - Rhizome
June 16 - Los Angeles, CA - 2220 Arts + Archives
June 17-28 - Honolulu, HI - Wehiwehi Residency at Shangri La
July 1 - Montreal, QC - Montreal Jazz Fest
September 4 - Chicago, IL - Sound & Gravity Festival
DELUXE VINYL PACKAGE
Mana comes on 140 gram vinyl inside a heavyweight jacket, with IARC obi strip & poly-lined inner-sleeve. Lacquers cut by Daniel K at SST, pressed at Pallas in Germany.
Limited Edition *Hibiscus* Color Vinyl - $29
Classic Black Vinyl - $24
also available on
Compact Disc - $15
!!! SPRING '26 BUNDLE IS HERE !!!
Happy Today is the first of two new IARC releases for Spring 2026. And, per our norm, both LPs are available to purchase together, as part of the Spring ‘26 Bundle.
A purchase of the Spring ‘26 Bundle (on either classic black vinyl or color vinyl) comes with a bundle-exclusive discount of 10% off the LP prices + a discounted shipping cost.
The LPs included are:
IARC0109 Jeff Parker ETA IVtet - Happy Today
IARC0111 Kalia Vandever - Mana
Bundles will ship from warehouses in the US, EU and UK, but don't sleep.. the quantity available in each warehouse is limited! Early purchase is recommended to ensure the lowest possible shipping and tax costs.
All items will ship around May 15th. Bandcamp download codes will be sent via email for all the releases by, or before, the ship date.
Order Spring '26 Bundle on
COLOR VINYL here
Order Spring '26 Bundle on
BLACK VINYL here
ABOUT KALIA VANDEVER
Kalia Vandever (they/them) is a trombonist and composer living in New York. Praised by AllMusic as “a master musician and composer” and “a singular talent,” Vandever’s approach to the trombone is distinctive, defined by their sonorous tone and lyrical voicing. They lean into the challenges of the instrument and allow patience and melody to guide their process.
Vandever’s music has quickly and widely gained traction in the last few years despite the fact that their style has been consistently difficult to pin down, boasting a compositional scope ranging from the palatial modern jazz of their quartet work (notably featuring guitarist Mary Halvorson) to the synthetic, gauze-like droning ambience of their solo material, their compositional practice draws from their love of both songs and improvisation, creating a landscape of sounds that resonate in the body and hold the listener. This dexterity has not gone unnoticed, with The Wire asserting, “Vandever has never sounded more assured and in control of their many strengths.”
In Bloom, their 2019 debut album, and its followup Regrowth (New Amsterdam, 2022) swiftly established Vandever as a compelling bandleader in jazz circles—a group format they returned to on Another View (Northern Spy, 2025) and still engage in regularly in live performance.
Recognized by NPR as part of the “new class of jazz artists pushing the music forward,” Vandever’s debut solo album We Fell In Turn (AKP Records, 2023) signaled a separate path being explored simultaneously. The album features solo works for trombone, voice and electronics, laying the groundwork for a new sound to be further developed. Mana, Vandever’s new album on Chicago’s International Anthem Recording Co, leans into that development: solo trombone filtered through a well-dialed pedalboard, manipulated live; spare piano as an intermittent anchor; electroacoustic interplay simultaneously echoing and transforming the long-note melodicism of Vandever’s melancholic brass work; head-on, unambiguous, and deeply personal lyricism.
After attending Juilliard, they began touring and performing internationally both solo and with their quartet. Their work as a side-person is expansive, performing with artists ranging from Shabaka, Joel Ross, and Immanuel Wilkins, to Harry Styles, Japanese Breakfast, and Moses Sumney. Vandever has been commissioned to write works for groups and individuals including Tesla Quartet, The Westerlies, Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim, and Hats & Heels Duo and is also a founding member of tilt—a Brooklyn-based collective with Isabel Crespo Pardo and Carmen Quill.
