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Drummer Makaya McCraven, The 'Beat Scientist,' Talks About His New Album

Makaya McCraven has a unique style where he makes improvised live recordings, then builds on them in the studio. His new album, which uses this method, is called Universal Beings E&F Sides. David Marques/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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David Marques/Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

Drummer Makaya McCraven, The 'Beat Scientist,' Talks About His New Album

July 30, 2020 • The jazz drummer records live performances and then manipulates those recordings in creative ways. His new album pulls from the pool of recordings that shaped his 2018 work, Universal Beings.

Drummer Makaya McCraven, The 'Beat Scientist,' Talks About His New Album

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Pop Smoke's Meet the Woo 2, released less than two weeks before his death, is one of the best albums of the month. Joseph Okpako/WireImage/Getty Images hide caption

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Joseph Okpako/WireImage/Getty Images

Best Music Of 2020

NPR Music's Top 10 Albums Of February

February 28, 2020 • We kept coming back to Pop Smoke's Meet the Woo 2, Soccer Mommy's deceptively sunny '90s pop and Makaya McCraven's creative reimagining of Gil Scott-Heron's poetry.

Victoria Monét melds fantasy with reality for her latest, "Moment." Dana Trippe/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Dana Trippe/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

Heat Check: Going All Out

February 10, 2020 • The slow asphyxiation of heartache. The deep resonance of bravado. Heat Check's playlist returns with Victoria Monét, Denzel Curry and Kayla Steen.

Makaya McCraven: The Brain Behind The Mind-Bending Beats

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Jazz Night In America: The Radio Program

Makaya McCraven: The Brain Behind The Mind-Bending Beats

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

February 28, 2019 • Drummer/producer Makaya McCraven creates beat-driven jazz with post-production wizardry.

Makaya McCraven: The Brain Behind The Mind-Bending Beats

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Mary Halvorson's volatile and cagey album Code Girl is her first set full of songs with lyrics, both a departure from and extension of her earlier work and one of Nate Chinen's favorite albums of 2018. Ross Mantle for NPR hide caption

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Ross Mantle for NPR

More Best Music Of 2018

Nate Chinen's Favorite Albums Of 2018

WBGO

December 20, 2018 • For NPR Music's jazz critic and the editorial director of WBGO, 2018 was a year that saw music — not just jazz — in the throes of a creative boom, rocketing in many directions.

Illustration: Angela Hsieh/NPR

Best Music Of 2018

The 50 Best Albums Of 2018 (30-21)

December 4, 2018 • Even in an era when listeners have been primed to expect the unexpected, the best albums of 2018 are full of surprises: a cascade of discoveries, revelations and artistic rebirths.