Deciphering the Message: Clear Vinyl

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Using a pool of star performers, including trumpeter Marquis Hill, guitarists Matt Gold and Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Joel Ross, saxophonists/flutists De'Sean Jones and Greg Ward, and bassist... — Matt Groom, Presto Music, 3rd December 2021 More…

Release Date: 19th Nov 2021
Catalogue No: 3854629
Label: Blue Note
Length: 42 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

3rd December 2021
The Guardian

Jazz Album of the Month

December 2021

Other available formats

Hank Mobley: A Slice Of The Top

Work length3:11

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Kiane Zawadi (euphonium), Pee Wee Marquette (spoken word), Billy Higgins (drums), Bob Cranshaw (bass), McCoy Tyner (piano), Howard Johnson (tuba), Lee Morgan (trumpet), James Spaulding (alto saxophone), Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone), Makaya McCraven (percussion), Makaya McCraven (drums), Makaya McCraven (bass)
Recorded: 2021-04-29
Recording Venue: Palisade Studios

Kenny Dorham: Sunset

Work length3:48

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Junius Paul (percussion), Paul Chambers (bass), Kenny Drew (piano), Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone), Philly Joe Jones (drums), Kenny Dorham (trumpet), Jeff Parker (guitar), Joel Ross (vibraphone), Makaya McCraven (percussion), Makaya McCraven (drums)
Recorded: 2020-01-20
Recording Venue: Makaya Music Studios

Einar Aaron Swan: When Your Lover Has Gone

Work length2:11

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Art Blakey (drums), Jymie Merritt (bass), Bobby Timmons (piano), Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Lee Morgan (trumpet), Matt Gold (guitar), Junius Paul (bass), Joel Ross (vibraphone), Makaya McCraven (percussion), Makaya McCraven (drums)
Recorded: 2021-05-27
Recording Venue: Makaya Music Studios

Silver, H: Ecaroh

Work length2:57

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Horace Silver (piano), Curley Russell (bass), Art Blakey (drums), Joel Ross (vibraphone), Makaya McCraven (guitar), Makaya McCraven (drums)
Recorded: 2020-01-20
Recording Venue: Makaya Music Studios

Ben Hutcherson: Tranquillity

Work length3:39

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Joe Chambers (drums), Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone), Pee Wee Marquette (spoken word), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), Matt Gold (guitar), Makaya McCraven (drums), Makaya McCraven (percussion), Makaya McCraven (synthesizer), Marquis Hill (trumpet), De'Sean Jones (tenor saxophone), Greg Ward (alto saxophone)
Recorded: 2021-04-15
Recording Venue: Submerge Studios

Jones, Q: Wail Bait

Work length2:09

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

De'Sean Jones (flute), Art Blakey (drums), Percy Heath (bass), John Lewis (piano), Gigi Gryce (alto saxophone), Clifford Brown (trumpet), Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Junius Paul (bass), Joel Ross (vibraphone), Makaya McCraven (percussion), Makaya McCraven (guitar), Makaya McCraven (drums), Charlie Rouse (tenor saxophone)
Recorded: 2021-05
Recording Venue: Makaya Music Studios

Kenny Drew: Coppin' The Haven

Work length2:35

$1.10

$1.50

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Dexter Gordon (tenor saxophone), Art Taylor (drums), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bass), Donald Byrd (trumpet), Matt Gold (guitar), Makaya McCraven (synthesizer), Makaya McCraven (percussion), Makaya McCraven (guitar), Makaya McCraven (drums)
Recorded: 2021-05-27
Recording Venue: Makaya Music Studios

Frank R Strozier: Frank's Tune

Work length3:37

$1.10

$1.50

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Lee Morgan (trumpet), Art Blakey (spoken word), Billy Higgins (drums), Bob Cranshaw (bass), Jack Wilson (piano), Jackie McLean (alto saxophone), Garnett Brown (trombone), De'Sean Jones (flute), Jeff Parker (guitar), Makaya McCraven (percussion), Makaya McCraven (keyboards), Makaya McCraven (drums), Makaya McCraven (bass)
Recorded: 2021-05
Recording Venue: Makaya Music Studios

Duke, V: Autumn in New York

Work length5:55

$1.10

$1.50

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Sam Jones (bass), Bobby Timmons (piano), Kenny Burrell (guitar), De'Sean Jones (tenor saxophone), De'Sean Jones (flute), Marquis Hill (trumpet), Art Blakey (drums), Joel Ross (vibraphone)
Recorded: 2020-01-20
Recording Venue: Makaya Music Studios

Kenny Dorham: Monaco

Work length2:24

$1.10

$1.50

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Pee Wee Marquette (spoken word), Kenny Dorham (trumpet), J.R. Monterose (tenor saxophone), Bobby Timmons (piano), Kenny Burrell (guitar), Sam Jones (bass), Arthur Edgehill (drums), Art Blakey (spoken word), Justin Dillard (drum), Makaya McCraven (drums), Makaya McCraven (percussion), Jeff Parker (guitar), Marquis Hill (trumpet), Junius Paul (bass), De'Sean Jones (tenor saxophone)
Recorded: 2021-05
Recording Venue: Makaya Music Studios

Shorter: Mr. Jin

Work length2:57

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Curtis Fuller (trombone), Reggie Workman (bass), Cedar Walton (piano), Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Lee Morgan (trumpet), Art Blakey (drums), Junius Paul (bass), Makaya McCraven (percussion), Makaya McCraven (drums)
Recorded: 2021-05
Recording Venue: Makaya Music Studios

Jack Wilson Jr.: C.F.D.

Work length3:17

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Matt Gold (guitar), Varney Barlow (drums), Ray Brown (bass), Roy Ayers (vibraphone), Jack Wilson (piano), Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Junius Paul (bass), Makaya McCraven (percussion), Makaya McCraven (kalimba), Makaya McCraven (guitar), Makaya McCraven (drums)
Recorded: 2021-05
Recording Venue: Makaya Music Studios

Eddie Gale Stevens: Black Rhythm Happening

Work length3:34

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Fulumi Prince (vocals), Henry Pearson (bass), Elvin Jones (drums), John Robinson (african percussion), Sylvia Bibbs (vocals), Charles Davis (vocals), Paula Nadine Larkin (vocals), William Norwood (vocals), Carol Ann Robinson (vocals), Sondra Walston (vocals), Judah Samuel (bass), Jo Ann Gale Stevens (guitar), Makaya McCraven (bass), Makaya McCraven (drums), Makaya McCraven (guitar), De'Sean Jones (flute), Russell Lyle (tenor saxophone), De'Sean Jones (tenor saxophone), Eddie Gale (trumpet), Roland Alexander (flute), Roland Alexander (soprano saxophone), Jimmy Lyons (alto saxophone), Russell Lyle (flute)
Recorded: 2021-05
Recording Venue: Makaya Music Studios

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Recording of the Week, Makaya McCraven, 'Deciphering the Message'

3rd December 2021

Drummer and bandleader Makaya McCraven creatively samples recordings from Blue Note's vast catalogue, combining recordings by Horace Silver, Wayne Shorter and more with contributions from contemporary artists.

Across numerous albums and mixtapes, Makaya McCraven has proven his mastery of the loop akin to hip-hop’s most celebrated beatmakers like J Dilla and Madlib. With his new remix album, Deciphering The Message, the Chicago-based drummer and producer digs through the Blue Note Records vaults to put a modern bounce on classics by Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, Dexter Gordon, Kenny Burrell, and Eddie Gale, among others.

While Deciphering The Message collects songs from several years of Blue Note history, it plays like a continuous set taking place in one show at one venue. “Pee Wee” Marquette, Birdland Jazz Club’s master of ceremonies from 1949 to 1965, narrates this album, and his inclusion places the LP somewhere on the timeline between jazz music’s transition from bebop to hard bop. “When piecing everything together, I wanted to create a narrative that made the listener feel like they were falling into this space or a movement,” McCraven says. “I was really trying to make a record out of it, not just a series of tracks.”

McCraven has always been a collaborative artist who prefers the energy of in-person sessions over the isolation of creating alone. That’s no different here: Deciphering The Message features new recorded elements from vibraphonist Joel Ross, trumpeter Marquis Hill, alto saxophonist Greg Ward, guitarists Matt Gold and Jeff Parker, bassist Junius Paul, and De’Sean Jones on tenor saxophone and flute. In that way, Deciphering The Message connects the past and present, proving that musicians become legends by trekking the same roads with like-minded creators all moving toward the same goal.

To that end, McCraven hopes the album is both educational and an outright good listen. “I always want to make music that will connect with people in one way, where it makes them nod or feel something or transport them somewhere,” he says. “I also hope this makes them check out the source of this music if they have it. The music that we’re making now is part of the same route and is connected, so I want to honor tradition and release something that people can vibe to.”

Reviews

3rd December 2021

Using a pool of star performers, including trumpeter Marquis Hill, guitarists Matt Gold and Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Joel Ross, saxophonists/flutists De'Sean Jones and Greg Ward, and bassist Junius Paul, McCrave has cleverly managed to avoid any sense of clunkiness, and create the illusion that each track has been cooked up live on stage.

December 2021 - January 2022

This fine 13-track record finds him re-sculpting originals by the likes of Kenny Burrell, Eddie Gale, Dexter Gordon and more, aided by a live band on saxes, flute, vibraphone and bass and a beatmaker sensibility akin to a modern-day J Dilla or Madlib.

December 2021

By recruiting some of McCraven’s finest contemporaries, such as vibraphonist Joel Ross, alto saxophonist Greg Ward and trumpeter Marquis Hill, Deciphering The Message connects the dots between previous jazz/hip-hop hybrids with the Blue Note catalog — notably Madlib’s blunted Shades of Blue (2003) and the compilation Blue Note Revisited (2004) — with its latest iterations.

Deciphering the Message

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Recording of the Week, Makaya McCraven, 'Deciphering the Message'

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Deciphering the Message

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