© 2024 WBGO
Discover Jazz...Anywhere, Anytime, on Any Device.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sons of Kemet/Makaya McCraven/L'rain

Sons of Kemet/Makaya McCraven/L'rain

This dual-headliner bill showcases two pillars of modern jazz, bolstering communities fostering the next generation of jazz greats. Shabaka Hutchings is one of the brightest stars in a London jazz scene that’s stretching the boundaries of the genre. Sons of Kemet is his project with Tom Skinner, Theon Cross, and Eddie Hick; the lineup features two drummers, a tuba, and SummerStage Anywhere alum Hutchings on saxophone and clarinet. Their latest LP Black to the Future unites the African diaspora on both sides of the Atlantic, working with vocalists and rappers from the UK and US, making jazz that encourages political dialogue as much as individual expression.

Drummer, bandleader and recent SummerStage Anywhere alum Makaya McCraven’s take on jazz is viewed through the lens of hip-hop production, deconstructing and reassembling jazz and soul standards with the ear of a crate-digger. His 2020 LP We’re New Again reimagined Gil Scott-Heron’s final album through his own POV. On his latest, this year’s Deciphering the Message, he pilfers the Blue Note catalog for samples like a kid in a candy store, creating a virtual band of jazz legends from Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and rising contemporary stars like Junius Paul and Marquis Hill. They’re joined by L’Rain, a Brooklyn-based songwriter and sound artist with a jazz lineage at the forefront of New York’s experimental community, and DJ Lindsey on the decks.

SummerStage, Central Park
Free
06:00 PM - 10:00 PM on Sun, 31 Jul 2022

Event Supported By

Summer Stage
SummerStage, Central Park
Rumsey Playfield
Manhattan, New York 10021