Kalia Vandever's IARC debut 'Mana' OUT NOW
(( photo by Mikel Patrick Avery ))
Praise for Kalia Vandever & Mana
“Vandever draws rich, emotive tones from the trombone, sometimes using effects pedals to generate haunting soundscapes.” -Bandcamp Daily
“There’s a rain-on-window stillness to the Brooklyn-based trombonist’s debut…their ruminative, searching notes paired with steady, melancholic piano.” -The Guardian
“A showcase for their deft trombone playing and compositional prowess.” -Stereogum
“Sentimental and graceful solo trombone.” -TIDAL Magazine
“Mana is an unexpected next step for Vandever, but a welcome one.” -AllMusic
“Vandever’s vocals wrap around stirring, dense yet spacious textures that are emphasized with every subtle shift.” -Glide Magazine
“Deeply enchanting.” -The Gig, Nate Chinen
“A low-key radiance…drifts with stately splendor.” -Lament For A Straight Line, Jim Macnie
“Music that moves between atmosphere and song, memory and release, at peace in its own ambiguity.” -The New York City Jazz Record
Today, June 30, 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 — releases Mana, their debut album for International Anthem, on all streaming platforms (following its June 12 release on LP, CD, and digital download).
Listen to and purchase Mana here.
Kalia Vandever LIVE
Throughout 2026, Kalia Vandever will be touring in support of Mana, all current dates and more info below.
For a preview of Vandever's solo show, watch live performances of album standouts "Waiting" and "Hubbard Road," filmed live at International Anthem's Chicago HQ, The Land School, last December.
July 1 - Montreal, QC - Montreal Jazz Fest - info
July 5 - Lausanne CH - Festival de la Cité - tickets
July 17 - Precenicco IT - International Anthem Scenasonica Spotlight - tickets
July 21 - Seattle, WA - The Vera Project - tickets
September 4 - Chicago, IL - Sound & Gravity Festival - tickets
September 24 - Cincinnati, OH - Talk Low Festival - tickets
(( Mana album cover photo by Isabel Gonzalez ))
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.”
Today's single “Waiting” opens with solo trombone laid deeply in a dense web of cloudy effects, holding a warped mirror to Vandever’s melodic brass call. The two elements vie for position until the halfway mark, when the disorienting tonal wash wins out, soon joined by Vandever’s longing and contemplative high-register vocal work — not dissimilar to the alluring intimacy of Grouper or the obscure swoon of Victorialand era Cocteau Twins.
Listen to “Waiting,” preorder and presave Mana here.
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
About
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.
