WATCH: Makaya McCraven Studio Sessions Live Set

This quintet set from Makaya McCraven is hypnotic and beautiful. Recorded in his artistic hub of Chicago with the likes of the great bassist Junius Paul and horn player Irvin Pierce, it is a seamless dream of tone and melody, with the deep weight of funk and a psychedelic playfulness pulling just at the edges of a sound that is daringly rooted in something like soft jazz. Though McCraven has earned his reputation for his collaborative spirit and vision and his keen sense of editing, it’s incredible to hear him dig in with a band, to push the players toward new crests. Give this Studio Session for Red Bull Music Festival your time, and see him at Big Ears 2019.