October 30, 2026, acclaimed drummer, producer, and sonic collagist Makaya McCraven releases a new digital version of his 2025 album Off the Record (“so much more than jazz” – NPR). Previously only available on vinyl LP and CD, the digital release arrives in time for the one-year anniversary of the album’s original release and includes a new bonus track titled ‘Bright Lights’ (featuring bassist Junius Paul, guitarist Matt Gold, and saxophonist Caroline Davis) and comes alongside an animated video by Debora Panaccione and Nespy5euro.
‘Bright Lights’ is also available as a limited-edition phonograph flexi disc, designed by Aaron Lowell Denton with photography by Shannon Marks. Outside North America, the flexi disc is included with every new purchase of the Off the Record LP from the XL Recordings store, while stocks last.
BUY/LISTEN Off the Record NOW HERE
LISTEN / WATCH “Bright Lights” NOW HERE
‘Bright Lights’ Flexi-disc product
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 of Off the Record 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 cornetist/vocalist Ben LaMar Gay and tubaist 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.
Makaya McCraven
Friday 30 October 2026
XL Recordings / International Anthem / Nonesuch
Tracklist
- Gnu Blue (featuring Theon Cross and Ben LaMar Gay)
- Technology (featuring Theon Cross and Ben LaMar Gay)
- Boom Bapped (featuring Theon Cross and Ben LaMar Gay)
- Prime (featuring Theon Cross and Ben LaMar Gay)
- Strikes Again (featuring Theon Cross and Ben LaMar Gay)
- Choo Choo (featuring Jeremiah Chiu)
- The Beat Up
- What a Life
- Lake Shore Drive Five
- Battleships
- Away (featuring Jeff Parker)
- Dark Parks
- Awaze
- News Feed (featuring Junius Paul)
- Braddas
- Bright Lights (featuring Junius Paul, Matt Gold, and Caroline Davis)
- YoYoYo Intro
- Venice Imafan Los Gatos Sweet Stuff
Praise for Makaya McCraven’s 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 hop hip 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
Credits:
Produced by Makaya McCraven.
Mixed by Dave Vettraino and Makaya McCraven.
Mastered by David Allen.
Cover Photo by Jacob Blickenstaff.
Design by Aaron Lowell Denton.
Executive Production by Scott McNiece
Tracks 1-5 composed and performed by Makaya McCraven (drums), Theon Cross (tuba, electronics), and Ben LaMar Gay (cornet, voice, percussion, synths, electronics, diddley bow) on October 20th, 2017 at Worldwide FM Studios, London, UK, June 5th, 2024 at 90mil in Berlin, DE, and January 9th, 2025 at Nublu in New York, NY. Editing, additional composition and overdubs by Makaya McCraven (percussion, keys, synths, vibraphone) completed between 2024-2025 at Makaya Music Studios in Chicago, IL. Recorded by George Haskell, Caio Carvalho, Dave Vettraino, David Allen, and Alf Brooks. Production Assistance by Tina Edwards, Niko de Paula Lefort, and Joe Summers.
Tracks 6-9 composed and performed by Makaya McCraven (drums), Junius Paul (bass guitar), Joel Ross (vibraphone), Jeremiah Chiu (modular synthesizer, percussion), and Marquis Hill (trumpet, percussion, electronics) on January 14th, 2025 at Public Records in Brooklyn, NY. Editing, additional composition and overdubs by Makaya McCraven (percussion, keys, synths) completed across 2025 at Makaya Music Studios in Chicago, IL. Recorded by Lily Wen. Production Assistance by Sruly Lazaros, James Hartnett, and Chris Weingarten.
Tracks 10-16 composed and performed by Makaya McCraven (drums), Junius Paul (double bass), and Jeff Parker (guitar) on June 27th, 2017 at The Hideout in Chicago, IL; except “Awaze” composed and performed by Makaya McCraven (drums), Junius Paul (double bass), Marquis Hill (trumpet, electronics) and Josh Johnson (saxophone, electronics) on June 20th, 2017 at The Hideout in Chicago, IL; and “Bright Lights”composed and performed by Makaya McCraven (drums), Junius Paul (double bass), Caroline Davis (alto saxophone) and Matt Gold (guitar) on June 13th, 2017 at The Hideout in Chicago, IL. Editing, additional composition and overdubs by Makaya McCraven (percussion, keys, synths, vibraphone, guitar) completed between 2017-2025 at Makaya Music Studios in Chicago, IL. Recorded by Dave Vettraino.
Tracks 17-21 composed and performed by Makaya McCraven (drums), Benjamin J. Shepherd (bass guitar), Justin Thomas (vibraphone), and Jeff Parker (guitar) on September 22nd, 2015 at the Del Monte Speakeasy in Venice, CA, as part of RAWS:LA presented by King Hippo and Grown Kids Radio. Editing, additional composition and overdubs by Makaya McCraven (keys, synths) completed on September 23rd, 2015 in the alley behind Townhouse on Windward Ave in Venice, CA. Recorded by Tim Oakley. Recording Assistance by Ken Barrientos. Executive Production by Alejandro Ayala, Sergio Flores, and Scott McNiece.
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.
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