Makaya McCraven’s new remix album Deciphering The Message finds the Chicago drummer and producer putting his spin on jazz classics from the Blue Note catalog. The album features McCraven’s interpretations of songs by the likes of Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, and Kenny Dorham, finding the common ground between the past and his own hip-hop-adjacent present.
Today, on a day when autumn is about to start in New York, McCraven is sharing a fresh rendition of Kenny Burrell’s “Autumn In New York.” He’s tacked on a personalized subtitle, “AKA Spring In Chicago,” nodding to his own Midwestern home base. The track features elements from the original recording mixed with newly recorded segments from McCraven’s crack team of collaborators including Jeff Parker. It seems like it would make an awesome soundtrack for watching leaves fall in Central Park.
Listen below.
Deciphering The Message is out 11/19 on Blue Note.
