Premiere: MA:Q - “20 Feet From the Street (feat. Mike Stern)”

Written By Jeff MacCallum

Cups N Cakes is excited to premiere this ripping track from MA:Q. The song is the second single from their upcoming album, When the Light Comes to Play, which drops on June 5th. MA:Q is led by Vancouver composer and keyboardist Mary Ancheta and pushes the jazz genre into different realms by fusing it with funk, hip hop, afrobeat, and world.

The track we are premiering today is called “20 Feet From the Street” and it features legendary guitarist Mike Stern (Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, Brecker Brothers). It was inspired by trips Ancheta would make to New York’s West Village to catch Stern playing at the 55 Bar. The storied venue has since closed its doors but Ancheta flipped the script and has brought Stern’s fiery guitar work to MA:Q. The song hits hard and the groove is relentless as MA:Q explore angular funk and blues. Enjoy the tune below and head over here to pre-order When the Light Comes to Play on vinyl, CD, or digitally.

Look out for MA:Q this summer at the Ottawa Jazz Festival, Winnipeg Jazz Festival, Edmonton International Jazz Festival, and Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.

Jeff MacCallum

Jeff MacCallum is our founder. He created Cups N Cakes simply because he had a love of local music. Soon the platform grew beyond the confines of his scene in Edmonton to include all of Canada.

"I did it all very DIY. Everything you see was me learning on the fly. I'm a carpenter not a musician, or a journalist, or a publicist... I'm a carpenter and a weird crazy music fan that thought he could do something fun that might benefit something I care about"

Over the years, MacCallum's commitment to elevating Canadian music earned him a spot as a Polaris Prize Juror, a WCMA Juror, a consultant for music festival curation, and a dear friend to independent music in Canada.

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Premiere: Teenage Art Scene - “Suzanne”