The Vermont Jazz Center is excited to present International Anthem recording artist, drummer/producer Makaya McCraven, in a Sunday afternoon concert with bassist Junius Paul, trumpeter Marquis Hill, and harpist Brandee Younger on February 18 th at 4:00 PM.

McCraven is a sonic sculptor. His huge presence from behind the drum kit drives his band’s sound and takes listeners on a journey of unexpected pathways. He uses his ability as a drummer to conjure polyrhythms that are unique, highly accessible and deeply grooving. These less-familiar rhythms are the engine that propels his music and adds excitement to his live shows and recordings. They are the cornerstone of his compositions, which also use layering and atypical textural combinations to produce an otherworldly listening experience.

McCraven’s music can be meditative and trance-inducing, with mantra-like repetitive phrases that morph over time. In live performances McCraven’s episodic compositions often begin with virtuosic rhythmical grooves, onto which horns and guitars introduce long tones and repetitive phrases that lock in polyrhythmically. His studio recordings are quite different. As a producer he utilizes his tandem skills as a multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer to fine-tune his musical offerings. He embraces and creatively incorporates the languages of electronica, hip hop, spoken word, folk music and jazz, irrespective of the composition’s stylistic character. His studio recordings are meticulous collages of samples, mostly of himself and his band playing their own instruments. He selects snippets of the group’s most powerful grooves and combines sections into seamless tapestries.

Sometimes McCraven fuses his samples with those of classic recordings. Two of his most recent albums are reinventions of classics. In Deciphering the Message, McCraven was given access to the vault of Blue Note records by the label’s president, Don Was. He carefully chose performances by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers with Lee Morgan and Wayne Shorter, as well as Eddie Gale, Dexter Gordon, Horace Silver and other less familiar Blue Note artists.

Makaya McCraven was born in Paris and grew up primarily in the Pioneer Valley near Amherst, Massachusetts. His parents are drummer Stephen McCraven and multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Agnes Zsigmondi. In a documentary about his life, Universal Beings, McCraven discussed his upbringing, saying “I come from a multi-national, multi-ethnic household… My mother is from Hungary and my father is American. My father is Black, and my mother is of Jewish descent. It’s very much an immigrant story: leaving one’s home to go look for something different, somewhere else, using music as a tool to allow them to travel. From the time I was a baby I had access to music. Growing up in a home of two professional musicians there was music on all the time and there were opportunities to play. When I was two years old my dad would practice with me on his lap and hold my hands while he played the drums. It was an amazing thing to grow up [surrounded by] people like Yusef Lateef and Archie Shepp. My mother has also been a huge influence of mine. She was an artist in a band called Kolinda – her records were about bringing music from different regions of eastern Europe together, sharing songs and cultures and melodies. So I’ve always been into eastern European folk music. I believe I’ve been connected to history that can be … expanded into my own vision. And that’s why I always refer to my parents. Those things that they did [are] why I do what I do.” McCraven attended UMass, Amherst, where he studied with drum legend Bob Gullotti. He moved to Chicago in his early twenties and found an invigorating music community that encouraged both originality and tradition. He soon became a member of guitarist Bobby Broom’s trio, with which he performed at the Vermont Jazz Center in 2016.

McCraven will be appearing at the Jazz Center with three of his most consistent collaborators: Marquis Hill, Brandee Younger and Junius Paul.

Trumpeter Hill emerged into the jazz limelight in 2014 after earning the top prize at the International Thelonious Monk Competition. He also was awarded first place prizes in both the 2012 International Trumpet Guild’s Jazz Improvisation Competition and the 2013 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition. Hill’s music is influenced by his Chicago upbringing. In an interview with Neon Jazz, Hill acknowledges his kinship and respect for Louis Armstrong who, he says, “walked these [Chicago] streets and claimed them to be one of the places where jazz was created.” Hill has released thirteen records and numerous EPs as a leader. He has recorded as a sideman with Joel Ross, Greg Spero, Makaya McCraven, Diego Urcola, Junius Paul, Marcus Miller, Boney James, Kurt Elling, Jeff Hamilton, Ernest Hawkins, Caroline Davis, Emmet Cohen, Chicago Jazz Orchestra and many others.

Harpist Brandee Younger is a Grammy-award nominee who has released seven albums as a leader and played on over forty sessions as a side-person. She stands on the shoulders of jazz harp pioneers Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. Younger has performed and recorded with Bilal, John Legend, Lauryn Hill, Common, the Roots, Ravi Coltrane, Drake, Terrace Martin, Kanye West, Meshel Ndegeochello, Lakecia Benjamin, Robert Glasper, Pharoah Sanders, A$AP Rocky and Jack DeJohnette. In the classical world, she has performed as featured soloist with the Harlem Chamber Players, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and others. She is a respected educator who has received numerous awards from the Jazz Journalists Association, DownBeat magazine, the American Harp Society and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

The bassist for the ensemble is Junius Paul, a vital member of the Chicago creative music scenesince the mid-2000s. Paul is a member of the trailblazing avant-garde group the Art Ensemble of Chicago, with which he has appeared on two albums. He is also an integral participant in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and has performed or recorded with Famoudou Don Moye Sun Percussion Summit, Roscoe Mitchell, Kahil El’Zabar, The Fred Anderson Trio, The Curtis Fuller Quintet, Oliver Lake, Willie Pickens, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Marquis Hill, and Donald Byrd, among others.