Makaya McCraven - In The Moment (2025 International Anthem 2LP Reissue)

The album that established Makaya McCraven's revolutionary "organic beat music" concept, In The Moment captures the Chicago drummer and producer transforming live jazz performances into meticulously crafted compositions through editing, looping, and overdubbing. Originally released in 2015 as McCraven's breakthrough statement and now reissued in 2025 as part of International Anthem Recording Company's IA11 Edition series, this double album showcases the process that would define his career: recording spontaneous group improvisation, then reimagining it through studio production techniques borrowed from hip-hop, creating music that honours jazz tradition while sounding utterly contemporary.

Recorded live at various Chicago venues and then extensively reworked at McCraven's studio, In The Moment features an exceptional cast of Chicago jazz musicians including guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise, The Chicago Underground), vibraphonist Justefan, trumpeter Marquis Hill, tenor saxophonists De'Sean Jones and Tony Barba (the latter adding electronics), and a rotating bass section of Junius Paul, Matt Ulery, and Joshua Abrams. McCraven's process involves recording these musicians improvising live, then deconstructing the performances, isolating compelling moments, creating loops, adding beats and overdubs, and reassembling the material into new compositions that maintain improvisation's energy while achieving studio production's precision.

The album opens with "Exploration Intro", immediately establishing the aesthetic: acoustic instruments rendered with beatmaker's sensibility, loops creating hypnotic repetition, yet retaining jazz's swing and spontaneity. "The Jaunt" and "Slightest Right" demonstrate how McCraven can take extended improvisations and distill them into focused, groove-oriented pieces that work both as jazz compositions and as instrumental hip-hop beats.

"Lonely" and "Gnawa" (the latter referencing North African trance music traditions) showcase McCraven's interest in global rhythmic traditions and their intersection with jazz and hip-hop. "On The Spot", "Butterscotch", and "TomTom" maintain the album's momentum through the first disc, each track offering distinctive textures and grooves while cohering into a continuous listening experience.

"Three Fifths A Man", referencing the US Constitution's horrific calculation of enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for representation purposes, brings political consciousness to the proceedings. McCraven, like many in Chicago's contemporary jazz scene, views music as inseparable from social justice and Black liberation struggles.

The second disc's title track "In The Moment" encapsulates McCraven's philosophy: capturing the fleeting magic of live improvisation while using studio techniques to frame and enhance those moments. "Quartz", "Just Stay Right There", and the pointedly titled "Untitled" continue exploring the intersection of composition and improvisation, structure and spontaneity.

"Time Travel" and "The Encore" near the album's close before "The Drop" and "Finances" conclude with characteristic McCraven grooves that blur boundaries between jazz, hip-hop, electronic music, and experimental production. Throughout all 18 tracks, McCraven's drumming anchors the music with both technical sophistication and deep pocket, his production adding layers of sounds, beats, loops, and overdubbed elements that transform the source material.

This 2025 reissue, part of International Anthem's IA11 Edition series, brings McCraven's breakthrough album back into circulation for listeners who've discovered him through later releases like Universal Beings, We're New Again, or In These Times. The double LP format allows proper space for these compositions to breathe, maintaining the album's original sequencing and flow.