Vermont 2-11 (copy 03)

Hot House Jazz Guide Announcement

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 18th at 4:00 PM.   Makaya 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, conjuring polyrhythms that are unique, highly accessible and deeply grooving. These less-familiar rhythms are the engine that propels his music and serve as the cornerstones of his compositions. McCraven’s music can be meditative and trance-like -he makes use of repetitive phrases that morph over time. Memorable melodies emerge, but unlike traditional jazz structures, his writing emphasizes short, repeated motifs upon which he sometimes overlays improvised solos. His compositions often have multiple sections that are carefully juxtaposed, with dynamic shifts that arise into new sonic spaces with contrasting textures and energies. The listener becomes engaged in aural landscapes where the timbre, rhythm and melody evolve, blow-up or disappear.  Makaya McCraven was born in Paris and grew up near Amherst, Massachusetts. His parents are drummer Stephen McCraven and multi-instrumentalist/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... 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…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 and moved to Chicago in his early twenties. He began releasing albums as a leader in 2012. His 2015 album In the Moment garnered lots of attention from the jazz press. DownBeat, NPR and the New York Times lauded his novel approach to building compositions in post-production. He was given access to the Blue Note records vault as a resource for sampling and used this legendary material to create Deciphering the Message, a visionary album that incorporates samples from Pee Wee Marquette, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Wayne Shorter, as well as lesser-known Blue Note artists. He honed this process in his next big venture, We’re New Again, a tribute to Gil Scott-Heron where he shined a light on Scott-Heron’s strident and vulnerable poetry using dramatic, sonic settings. All told, McCraven has released about thirteen albums as a leader and played or produced on about fifty others.  Trumpeter Marquis Hill emerged into the jazz limelight in 2014 after earning the top prize at the International Trumpet Guild’s Jazz Improvisation Competition and the 2013 Carmine Caruso Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition. Hill’s music is deeply influenced by his Chicago upbringing. He has released thirteen records as a leader and recorded or toured 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.  Bassist Junius Paul is an integral part of Chicago’s rich, creative music scene. He is a member of the trailblazing, avant-garde group, the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Paul has performed or recorded with Famoudou Don Moye, 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.  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 VJC appreciates the sponsorship of this performance by Dave Snyder of Guilford Sound. Snyder runs one of the finest recording studios in our area.The VJC is supported in part by the Vermont Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Vermont Community Foundation.   In-person tickets for Makaya McCraven at the Vermont Jazz Center are offered on a sliding fee scale from $25 to $45 per person (contact the VJC about educational group discounts); available online at www.vtjazz.org, by email at [email protected], or by calling the Vermont Jazz Center ticket line at 802-254-9088, ext. 1. Handicapped access for the in-person event is available by emailing [email protected]. 

The online streaming of this concert will be offered by donations. Please give generously and support live music. Access to the on-line event can be found online at vtjazz.org.

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