Makaya McCraven

Rhythmic and melodic cosmos collide—softly, so softly—on In These Times, McCraven’s mesmerizing album. It offers grand, dreamlike visions and polymetric structures that evoke Steve Reich as much as avant-garde jazz or psychedelic flights of sound. Like any great jazz, it exists in past, present, and future simultaneously.

Born in 1983, drummer Makaya McCraven embodies this blend. His music defies easy categorization, a sonic terrazzo shaped by his eclectic upbringing—his father a jazz drummer, his mother a Hungarian folk singer—and his openness to new influences.

In 2023, McCraven toured the world with In These Times, visiting South Africa for the first time. There, he collaborated with what he calls “some of the most adventurous jazz musicians in South Africa.” Recordings from those sessions now form the basis of his upcoming album and live performances.

South African jazz, as McCraven highlights, is a tale of fragmentation. One side is celebrated globally—shaped and shared by exiled musicians during apartheid. The other, created and nurtured within the country under apartheid’s shadow, remains less known and documented.

As South African saxophonist Shannon Mowday, who has lived in Norway for 15 years, told Jazznytt in Winter 2024:

"It’s great to check out Abdullah Ibrahim/Dollar Brand, Hugh Masekela, and Miriam Makeba, but go back and see what was created there. It never disappeared. If you live in South Africa, you understand what South African jazz truly is."

On a late Friday night during Moldejazz 2025, we are fortunate to catch a glimpse of this once-hidden South African music through McCraven’s new project.

McCraven describes his work as a quiet form of democratic activism, bringing together musicians from different cities and regions to broaden the global musical dialogue. In a turbulent world, this gentle revolution is something to be deeply grateful for.