Inspired by the UK’s rich electronic and soundsystem culture, Mackwood warps what we usually understand as jazz into thrilling new shapes and unpredictable forms, melding modern production with live instrumentation. Named after a sci-fi novel about a nuclear apocalypse, debut album Master Changes, was influenced not only by a vast range of music, spanning from Curtis Mayfield to Nubya Garcia and Holst to Four Tet; but also by literature and wider conversations on identity, connection and the human condition. The remix EP brings the songs into a new environment and reflects the electronic influences on the album. Listen here.
Having cut his teeth drumming and producing for some of the UK’s most exciting and forward-thinking artists, including Col3trane, Nilufer Yanya, Jordan Rakei, Eliza and Blue Lab Beats, as well as creative collectives like Levitation Orchestra and The Silhouettes Project, Mackwood has now emerged at the forefront of a new progressive era that blend genres together.
On the remixes, Mackwood explains: “I discovered drums and production around the same time, so giving my music the remix treatment is something I’ve always wanted to do. The jazz scene in the UK is underpinned by dancefloor and DJ culture, so this feels like a natural progression for how my music came about in the first place. To me these are some of the most important producer/musicians in the country, from award nominees to tastemakers and the minds behind crucial jam nights in London – I’m very gassed to see these out in the world.
Growing up in a music-loving family of English, Lithuanian Jewish and South African heritage in Shepherd’s Bush, where local music lessons weren’t just classical piano, but also west African drumming, an obsession with rhythm from a young age resulted in Mackwood going on to study with Tomorrow’s Warriors and then at the prestigious Guildhall School of music. This diverse upbringing led to him combining his formal training with elements of the breaks, soul, dubstep, drum & bass and house of his formative years to create his own progressive take on modern jazz.
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