MAKAYA MCCRAVEN marks OFF THE RECORD one-year anniversary w/ digital release feat. new bonus track // US shows start November 13

MAKAYA MCCRAVEN
OFF THE RECORD

“It’s so much more than jazz…McCraven is leading his band while he’s pulling in all of these rhythmic, diasporic elements from hip hop and his approach to looping...it’s a very human sounding collection of songs.” - NPR Music

“Soulful and meditative…a unique and upwelling experience, capturing the essence of the stage and studio in harmony.” - Aquarium Drunkard

“McCraven takes tiny fragments of material and totally recontextualizes them, creating entirely new works that layer sonic elements atop and around each other with the complexity of Miles Davis’s 1970s productions or Frank Zappa’s ‘xenochrony.’” - Stereogum

“Plainly gorgeous.” - The Guardian

“Makaya McCraven isn’t afraid to challenge himself with daring projects.” - GRAMMY.com

“One of those rare artists whose sound can be picked out of a lineup.” - WBEZ

“This might be the most impressive display of McCraven’s soundworld yet.” - Bandcamp

Today, October 30, 2026, acclaimed drummer, producer, and sonic collagist Makaya McCraven releases a new digital version of his 2025 album Off the Record, which was previously only available on vinyl LP and CD.

Today’s digital release, which arrives in time for the one year anniversary of the album’s original release, includes a new bonus track titled “Bright Lights” (featuring bassist Junius Paul, guitarist Matt Gold, and saxophonist Caroline Davis) that also comes via animated video by Debora Panaccione and Nespy5euro.

Listen to “Bright Lights” and stream/purchase Off the Record here.

"BRIGHT LIGHTS"
LTD EDITION FLEXI DISC

“Bright Lights” is also available via limited edition phonograph flexi disc, designed by Aaron Lowell Denton with photography by Shannon Marks, available to purchase here.

MAKAYA ON TOUR

On November 13, McCraven embarks on a short run of shows across the US. Tickets available via the links below.

HOUSTON, TX - November 13, 2026 @ DA CAMERA - tickets
SAN ANTONIO, TX - November 14, 2026 @ STABLE HALL - tickets
AUSTIN, TX - November 15, 2026 @ ANTONE’S NIGHTCLUB - tickets
CHICAGO, IL - November 18, 2026 @ THE EMPTY BOTTLE - sold out

Off the Record, originally released on 2xLP and CD October 24, 2025, via International Anthem / Nonesuch / XL Recordings, marked McCraven’s first recorded offerings since 2022’s In These Times (“McCraven’s most ambitious set of music” -GRAMMY.com) and a return to the signature “organic beat music” approach that Makaya first debuted on his 2015 album In The Moment and further developed on Highly Rare (2017), Where We Come From (2018), and Universal Beings (2018). Built from live recordings, McCraven reshaped the music via extensive editing, overdubs, and post-production at his home studio in Chicago.

The source material was drawn from moments of pure improvisation that were recorded live in performance, and shaped as much by the room and audience as by the musicians themselves. Album highlight “Boom Bapped” and four other tracks feature Ben LaMar Gay and Theon Cross, drawing from performances in London (2017), Berlin (2024), and New York (2025), showcasing nearly eight years of developing rapport between the three musicians. “Choo Choo” and three other pieces have their foundation in a live recording from Brooklyn’s Public Records in January of 2025, where McCraven played with bassist Junius Paul, trumpeter Marquis Hill, vibraphonist Joel Ross, and synthesist Jeremiah Chiu. Seven tracks, including the album’s new bonus track “Bright Lights,” are built off recordings from McCraven’s June 2017 residency at The Hideout in Chicago, where he improvised weekly with a revolving cast including bassist Junius Paul, guitarist Jeff Parker, and saxophonist Josh Johnson. The final 5 pieces were created from recordings of McCraven’s Los Angeles debut at Del Monte Speakeasy in 2015, where he took part in the King Hippo and Grown Kids Radio produced event RAWS:LA, and improvised with guitarist Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Justefan, and bassist Benjamin J. Shepherd.

Listen and purchase Off the Record here.

Makaya McCraven, who has been aptly called a “cultural synthesizer” and “beat scientist,” 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 the New York Times, Vice, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, the Guardian, and NPR, among other publications, Makaya and the music he makes today is what Passion of Weiss says “is part of a necessary conversation about the next evolution of the Black improvised music known colloquially as ‘jazz.’ He’s found the threads connecting the past with the present, and is either wrapping them with new colors and textures, or he’s plucking them gleefully like the strings of a grand instrument.”

Read McCraven’s full bio here.