how the party started

Chris McGrew & Kevin Seal began this experiment in San Francisco, in the surreal orange daylight of 2020. They found themselves with occasional access to a legendary studio: Wally’s HydeOut in Hyde Street Studios. Their friends were hungry for opportunities to play music. And they had been writing a large batch of new songs that drew on soul harmonies, baritone melodies, and rock syncopation.

With help from multi-instrumentalist Liam Wesley Craddock, they treated each opportunity to record as a chance to throw a party. Each song was a different lineup, depending on which friends could make it. Heavy-hitter jazz players from Chicago and New York joined in too — Chris Rob, Keyon Harrold, Isaiah Sharkey, Kenneth Whalum.

The full 16-track album arrived in late 2022. MMXXII is a true labor of love. In May and June of 2023, McGrew, Seal, & Craddock will bring this party across the central USA, joined by Spence Murray on bass and Mikey Kmiecik on guitar.