Drummer, composer, and producer Makaya McCraven melds several genres of creative music in pursuing new directions. Commonly referred to as a "beat scientist," McCraven seamlessly melds vanguard, post-bop, and jazz-funk, hip-hop, rock, and global rhythmic traditions and juxtaposes them with left-field beat explorations, as on 2015's In the Moment. He is a bandleader and a noted sideman whose résumé includes work with guitarist Bobby Broom and trumpeter Marquis Hill. McCraven's 2018 set Universal Beings was recorded live and filmed in three cities with a cast of international musicians. In 2020, he issued the tour's soundtrack as Universal Beings E&F Sides. For 2021's Deciphering the Message, the drummer was granted rights to explore Blue Note's vaults, subsequently remixing and appending 13 jazz classics from the catalog. 2022's In These Times was seven years in the making, and featured more than a dozen collaborators.