Astral People & Handsome Tours proudly presents Makaya McCraven.

Enter the live multi-dimensional imaginings of the ‘beat scientist’.

He is one of the most idiosyncratic forces in modern jazz today. The bleeding edge drummer, producer, composer and sonic collagist is a permeable force for music vitality. McCraven’s inventive process & intuitive, cinematic style defy categorisation - blurring the lines between jazz, hip hop and electronica.

Off the back of his critically acclaimed ‘In These Times’ (XL Recordings) - McCraven makes his Australian debut at a moment where his creative vision feels fully realised.

A student of rich jazz traditions, his 2006 move to the hotbed of Chicago is where he would develop his craft - session drumming alongside avant-scene stalwarts like Willie Pickens, Marquis Hill and Jeff Parker (of Tortoise). Within this burgeoning community he would also find a home on the cult International Anthem of which his recorded output has been prolific.

Forays into collaboration and re-imagination have only further heightened his profile. His 2018 transatlantic exchange ‘Where We Come From’ saw McCraven embedded in arguably the other leading capital of the modern jazz renaissance - London, collaborating with fellow updaters such as Nubya Garcia, Kamaal Williams and Joe Armon-Jones. McCraven has even been invited into the cultural canon that is Blue Note and the late Gil Scot Heron, morphing original works into the future with his sui generis method of improvisation and programming.

Last year’s In These Times sits as his most triumphant album to date. A complete realisation of his ability to collapse space, destroy borders and blend the past with the future.

With every release, the weight of McCraven’s reverence continues to grow - not only within the vanguard of jazz heavies, but also a modern niche of next-wave composer-producers creating genreless music.

A true visionary who has been described as a “cultural synthesiser”, get lost in a mesmerising tapestry of forms vying with out-and-out jazz brilliance.