Makaya McCraven

Makaya McCraven (born October 19, 1983) is an American jazz drummer and bandleader.

Life and career McCraven was born in Paris, France, to jazz drummer and Hungarian singer Ágnes Zsigmondi (of the band ), and from the age of three was raised in and around Amherst and Northampton, Massachusetts.

In 2007, McCraven moved to Chicago, where he performed in the bands of Bobby Broom, , Willie Pickens, and with the Occidental Brothers, Marquis Hill, and Jeff Parker. In the following years, he appeared weekly with other musicians, from which he developed concepts for his 2015 album, In the Moment. He also performed with Kamasi Washington. In 2016, he toured mostly in Europe.

After several mix tapes, in 2018 he released the double album Universal Beings, on which he was joined by musicians from New York City, London, and Los Angeles; the album was nominated for the Jazz Journalists Association Awards in 2019. In DownBeat's 2020 Critics Poll, he was the winner in the "Rising Star" categories of best producer and best drummer of the year. In 2022, McCraven released In These Times, an album that had been in development since 2015, through International Anthem.

McCraven is married to Nitasha Tamar Sharma, a professor of African-American and Asian-American Studies at Northwestern University as of 2018. Bassprint (with Marlene Rosenberg, Geoff Bradfield, and , as Marlene Rosenberg Quartet; 2012) Split Decision (2012) In the Moment (International Anthem Recording Company, 2015) In the Moment Remix Tape (International Anthem Recording Company, 2015) Highly Rare (International Anthem Recoding Company, 2017) We're New Again: A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven (with Gil Scott-Heron [posthumously]; XL Recordings, 2020) Universal Beings E&F Sides (International Anthem Recording Company, 2020) Deciphering the Message (Blue Note Records, 2020) In These Times (Nonesuch Records/XL Recordings, 2022) Off the Record (International Anthem Recording Company/Nonesuch Records/XL Recordings, 2025)