Description
Makaya McCraven – Deciphering The Message – Vinyl Record
Makaya McCraven’s Deciphering the Message, released on November 19, 2021, is a stunning and reverent reimagining of classic Blue Note jazz recordings through the lens of hip-hop-rooted rhythm, modern beat-making, and genre-blurring production. McCraven—widely regarded as one of the most innovative drummers and producers in contemporary jazz—curates, remixes, and “recomposes” archival recordings from legendary artists like Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, and Dexter Gordon, giving them new life through a 21st-century perspective without diluting their original spirit.
Rather than simply sampling and looping, McCraven takes the raw stems from the Blue Note vaults and reworks them with a producer’s sensibility and a drummer’s intuition. He builds new rhythmic frameworks, overlays his own drumming, and adds subtle textures and edits that transform the pieces into fresh, cohesive compositions, while still retaining their emotional and melodic core. The result is an album that functions both as a tribute to jazz history and a forward-looking sonic collage, bridging generations of Black musical innovation.
The album opens with “A Slice of the Top” (originally by Hank Mobley), where McCraven sets the tone by fusing Mobley’s soulful horn lines with booming, contemporary drums and atmospheric touches that pull the past into the present. This approach continues throughout, whether it’s the laid-back groove of “Sunset” (Kenny Dorham) or the driving, almost danceable interpretation of Art Blakey’s “When Your Lover Has Gone.” Each track becomes a conversation across time—between McCraven and the legends who shaped jazz, between analog warmth and digital precision.
What makes Deciphering the Message so effective is its deep respect for the source material. McCraven never overshadows the original voices—he amplifies them. The improvisational spirit of jazz is preserved, but reframed with hip-hop beats, looped phrases, and textural layering that feel entirely natural and unforced. It’s clear that McCraven isn’t just remixing for novelty—he’s engaging in a musical dialogue that honors tradition while speaking in the language of now.
There are also spoken word snippets and ambient interludes sprinkled throughout the record—mostly voiced by McCraven himself—which function as connective tissue and thematic signposts. These brief, reflective passages underscore the album’s mission: to rediscover, reinterpret, and reintroduce classic jazz messages to a new generation. In that way, Deciphering the Message becomes not just an album, but a curated listening experience and educational journey.
The album is beautifully sequenced, creating a fluid narrative arc that moves seamlessly between tracks and moods. McCraven’s transitions are smooth and dynamic, allowing the record to flow more like a modern beat tape or concept album than a jazz compilation. The result is music that is as intellectually engaging as it is emotionally resonant and rhythmically satisfying.
Deciphering the Message has been celebrated for its creativity and reverence—praised as a model of how to remix legacy with integrity, and how jazz can continue to evolve by embracing the tools and sensibilities of contemporary production. It reflects a broader movement in modern jazz, where artists like McCraven, Robert Glasper, and Kamasi Washington are bridging the past and present, reconnecting jazz to its roots in community, expression, and experimentation.
Deciphering the Message is a love letter to jazz, but it’s also a call to action: listen more deeply, honor the legacy, and keep the conversation going. Through this album, Makaya McCraven doesn’t just reinterpret jazz history—he extends it, reminding listeners that the message of the music is not finished, but still unfolding.
Brand new, never played and still in the factory plastic sealed
Track Listing
A Slice Of The Top
Sunset
When Your Lover Has Gone
Ecaroh
Tranquillity
Wail Bait
Coppin’ The Heaven
Frank’s Tune
Autumn In New York
Monaco
Mr. Jin
C.F.D.
Black Rhythm Happening
