Makaya McCraven: Live in NYC
Field Recording 002
Listen to a live recording of Makaya McCraven.
Date & Time: 10.08.25 800pm.
Location: Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY.
Recording Device: iPhone 13
Summary:
Makaya McCraven and band took the stage Wednesday night at Le Poisson Rouge in support of McCraven’s new album Off The Record. McCraven is a drummer and producer, a ‘beat scientist’. McCraven thrives on live improvisations, melding influences from across the globe into a jazz/hip-hop amalgamation.
Off The Record is compiled from four EPs Techno Logic, The People’s Mixtape, Hidden Out!, and PopUp Shop which were recorded live and then sampled in the studio to create something entirely new.
What’s beautiful here is that McCraven and his band are re-interpreting these studio productions live once again. Notice that the tunes are played slightly different than the album cuts.
I kept in the audience noise between songs to reflect McCraven’s own music which often features the audience as an equal part in his musical improvisation.
Notes:
Between songs McCraven took a few moments to express some deep wisdom:
“This music was kind of created in the spirit of the improvisation. I put these sessions together, we improvised completely. I sampled it, it came out through production. We came up with this music that now, we’re kind of here learning. It’s like a player in prose with improvisation, and composition.
People are like, wow, improvisation, that’s so cool. I want to improvise, too. But to me, what we’re doing here with improvisation is just an expression of the natural state of being.
We put so many structures up in this world to survive the chaos, the cruelty that’s all around us, trying to make sense of it all….And the truth is, in every moment, we’re all just trying to figure this shit out in real time…”
“You’re supporting each other, the venue, the city. Our humanity. Some pretty wild shit going on in the world, to say the least…
We’re always connected through a screen and in a world where you can’t always tell what’s real or what’s fake. You can’t always believe your eyes, your ears anymore. Enough to make you feel kind of crazy. There’s lots of information and disinformation, misinformation. A lot of chaos.
When we come together we’re actually in space together, share food, culture, look at each other in the eyes, remember each other’s humanity. It’s a lot harder to say some crazy shit to somebody when they’re standing right in front of your face.
In this in this day and age, I’m feeling like it’s, as simple as it, it’s these moments that are important. Where we can share information, without complete surveillance. Outside of our bubbles, in shared experience, recognizing each other’s humanity in front of our faces, #IRL…
So thank you for being here and your support and I think this is something that will keep us together despite all the challenges ahead of us, whether in sound or in silence.
There’s something special, and that’s the something that the robots can never take from us.”
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Thanks for listening!
See you next time,
Keith.