Andrew MacKelvie’s Many Worlds
Many Worlds

out: March 6, 2026 on Watch That Ends The Night Records (LP/DL)
Genres: Jazz, Psychedelic, Experimental

Andrew MacKelvie: andrewmackelvie.com
Watch That Ends The Night:  watchthatendsthenight.bandcamp.com


Many Worlds‘ self-titled album has an unusual backstory that informs the musical approach MacKelvie employed on it. The octet is rooted in jazz, offering a decidedly pulse-driven psychedelic experimentalism, and yet the compositions are guided by chance procedures, which make each performance unique (in addition to their use of improvisation, naturally).

Back in 2012 while biking home from a gig, MacKelvie was stopped at a traffic light when suddenly a drunk driver sent him hurtling across his handlebars. He experienced a suspended sense of time as his body rushed through the air. The subsequent fall left his back broken, knee shattered and other bones cracked. Were it not for his saxophone’s hard case, he likely would’ve been killed. This event recalibrated his entire outlook, not only imparting a different sense of his own mortality, but also prompting new awareness of the infinite possibilities contained within each juncture.

In addition to MacKelvie’s alto/ soprano saxophones and compositional leaership, the band includes Andrew Jackson on trombone, Jackson Fairfax-Perry on tenor saxophone/ synthesizer, Tom Richards on trombone/ organ, Ellen Gibling’s harp, Ross Burns’ guitar,  bassist Gabriella Ciurcovich, and Doug Cameron behind the drum kit. The core line-up is augmented by vocalists Lance Sampson (aka the aformentioned Aquakultre), Meghan Gilhespy and Zoe Leger. MacKelvie co-produced the album alongside his partner in the Watch That Ends The Night imprint, Michael Cloud Duguay, and Duguay also adds circuit-bent melodica to this mix.

The resultant sound traverses numerous stylistic references from free jazz to R&B and “American” minimalism to Miles Davis-style fusion, with stray bits of folk and avant rock blended in as well. It’s affirming but also inquisitive, exploratory but welcoming. 

COVERAGE:
List — Upcoming Releases, Tinnitist
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List — Marzo 2026 Le uscite discografiche, Jazz In Family
List — New Album Releases, Exclaim!
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List — Nouveautés musicales du 6 mars 2026, Caisse de son
List — Albums en ribambelle – mars 2026 #1, Culture Jazz
News/ List — Darryl Sterdan, March 2-8 • The Long List: 450+ Releases On The Way, Tinnitist
News/ List — Steve Smith, For the Record: March 6, 2026, Night After Night
Newsletter/ List — A Closer Listen Weekly #101, A Closer Listen
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News/Preview — Jazz Music Blog
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Preview/ Facebook — Clair et obscur
Preview — Son Of Marketing
Television — Halifax musician releases album sharing experience as survivor of a drunk driving crash, Global News Halifax
Article/ Round-up — Joe Smiglicki, 5 Emerging Canadian Artists You Need to Hear in March 2026, Exclaim!
Review — Imran Mirza, UK Vibe
Review — Frédéric Cardin, Pan M 360
Review/ Round-up — Jeremy Shatan, A Song For Friday: Untethered, AnEarful
Review/ Round-up — Frank P. Eckert, Motherboard: März 2026, Groove
Round-up — Album Roundup Week Ending 6 March 2026, Silent Radio
Round-up — Spring Forward Breakdance, The ToneArm
Podcast — World of Jazz #780
Podcast — One Man’s Jazz #1450
Playlist — The Eh!List, Exclaim!
Radio — Humanoid Radio, CFRU (March 17, 2026)
Radio — Transcendant Phase, KWVA (March 10, 2026)
Radio  — The Floating Head of Zsa Zsa, WRUV (March 10, 2026)
Radio — Jazzmánia, Radio Universidad (March 10, 2026)
Radio — Bandcamp Selects, Bandcamp Radio (March 9, 2026)
Radio — Jazzmánia, Radio Universidad (March 9, 2026)
Radio — Elysian Fields, KXCI (March 7, 2026)
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Radio — East Coast Music Hour, CBC (February 28, 2026)
Radio — Pushing the Envelope, WHUS (February 28, 2026)
Radio — Jazz Today, CJSW (February 26, 2026)
Radio — Journey Into Mystery with DJ Stealth, KMNO (February 19, 2026)
Radio — Serious Moonlight Sonatas with Carol, WFMU (February 15, 2026)
Radio — Feast On This, KOWS (February 11, 2026)
Radio — Electric Sense, CIUT (February 4, 2026)
Radio — Hardly Strictly Americana, KCSB (February 1, 2026)
Radio — Infinite Ceiling, CKCU (January 29, 2026)
Radio — Jazz Died??, WNYU (January 29, 2026)