The Way We Were

IT’S A BIT OF A RESPONSIBILITY — TO DEAL WITH THE LEGACY of such an important and influential artist who is not here to collaborate with.” The project Makaya McCraven was tasked with was reimagining the final work by icon Gil Scott-Heron, 2010’s I’m New Here; the result, We’re New Again, is actually the second effort, after Jamie xx remixed it in 2011.

The son of famed percussionist Steve McCraven, Makaya has been striving to redefine the role of the jazz drummer since breaking onto the scene early last decade. Surprisingly, McCraven admits to taking the job before ever hearing Scott-Heron’s I’m New Here. “I was familiar with Gil’s older work, but this one missed me. I was surprised by how minimally electronic-produced the record sounds. At first I was like, ‘Wait a second, this sounds like a remix record.’”

Using his fresh reading to his advantage, Makaya leans on his players for inspiration, blending modern compositional structures (thanks to harpist Brandee Younger), post-rock angularity (courtesy of Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker) and hypnotic free jazz (with the help of bassist Junius Paul), alongside samples of his own father’s drumming.

Released 15 months before his death at age 62, I’m New Here captured the fragile and vulnerable side of the once-virile Scott-Heron, something that McCraven managed to keep intact on We’re New Again.

“Growing up within this, I’ve seen different cats get old,” says McCraven of his connection to his muse’s struggle with mortality. “That resonated with me. People don’t really think about the artist or the activist or the person that they’re inspired by as a human. We could look at these people we admire as superheroes, but they’re real people.”