***Gerald Cleaver’s newest album, 22/23, journeys through genre, exploring the future and recalling history, in his most place-based album yet. Born and raised in Detroit, Cleaver is a product of the Motor City’s rich musical history. Long the manufacturing capital of America, Detroit citizens have never been afraid of imagination: technological innovation, a strong labor movement, techno-utopianism or afrofuturism. This spirit of innovation is felt on Cleaver’s newest album, particularly on songs like ‘31 Julys’ which builds on dynamic house beats, or ‘Cake’ which employs saxophone to compose a careening jazz track. This marks Cleaver’s third record with 577 Records (and its sub-label Positive Elevation, dedicated to electronic experimentation and avant soul), following 2020’s Signs, and his second album, Griots. Here, Cleaver deftly combines his talent for electronic composition with a curious ear for the unpredictable, occasionally accompanied by singer Jean Carla Rodea. Cleaver has performed and recorded as a jazz drummer with a wide variety of artists, including Tommy Flanagan, Daniel Carter, Bill Frisell and more, contributing as a musician for nearly 20 years before exploring his own electronic-forward projects.
LP $21.95
05/26/2023
***NOW AVAILABLE!!! Gerald Cleaver is best known for his career as a top jazz drummer, however, his memories of growing up in Detroit inspired him to create his latest project Signs. This debut as an electronic musician and composer came about in his Brooklyn studio through a long process of looking to translate what he heard, into a new language. Cleaver was born and spent most of his life in Detroit, where he experienced, and was influenced by, the legendary development and blossoming of the Motor City electronic music scene. On each of the seven tracks from the vinyl (plus four bonus tracks), the master percussionist turns his creativity and craft onto the realm of a forward-thinking electronic dimension. Listen to one of the most in-demand jazz drummers in this new way to express himself and discover how the palette has expanded through dream-like, transcendent electronic manipulations. Second CD edition.
CD $13.00
05/20/2022
***Expanding on 2020’s ‘Signs’, his electronic debut, ‘Griots’ sees Cleaver diving further into the spider’s web of modular electronics, further exploring the electronic history of his Detroit roots. Combining his unique talent for composition with a curious ear for the unpredictable, Cleaver delivers another outstandingly dense and sprawling LP for a split release by Brooklyn-based Positive Elevation and Belgium’s Meakusma. Sonically, the LP takes in a wide range of ideas and influences, blending them in a flurry of unruly synthesis, FM tones, and muted drum machines. From the growling experimentation of opening track and lead single ‘Cooper-Moore’ to the glitchy 8-bit nods of the second single ‘Galaxy Faruq’, through to closing track ‘Buena Vista’, unusual scales, modes, and meters reign supreme across ‘Griots’, making for a thrilling, engaging, and challenging listen.
LP $22.00
06/25/2021
CD $13.75
06/25/2021
***The electronic album you’ve all been waiting for has arrived! Detroit-born drum slayer Gerald Cleaver is making this summer even better with the upcoming release of a new, mysterious electronic ensemble that takes us to the next level of his unique avant-garde approach. Known for his ability to use the unpredictability of improvisation to deliver an unbelievable experience, Cleaver explains that the theme of The Process is the “celebration of the freedom and power of the Black American male.” Its very name bears the idea of persisting, of becoming everlasting. He likens The Process (both the album and his methods) to the evolution of Detroit’s robust music scene, highlighting the importance of reaching a younger audience to keep its “Electrifying Mojo” alive and thriving. Every note on The Process weaves together Gerald’s deep love and appreciation for the city that shaped him, its rich culture, and his relentless passion for creating transcendent yet relatable music that is to be felt (not only heard).
LP $21.75
TBD