THEO CROKER | LOUIS MATUTE LARGE ENSEMBLE

THEO CROKER

GRAMMY-nominated trumpeter, producer and composer Theo Croker is a storyteller who speaks through his trumpet - a creative who defies boundaries and makes himself heard through music. With his seventh studio album LOVE QUANTUM and his EP BY THE WAY, both released via Star People Nation / Sony Music Masterworks, he opens another chapter in his steady development as an artist. After "BLK2LIFE II A Future Past", this is the second part of a musical reappraisal of the origin, present and future of black music culture in the USA. Theo Croker is thus at the forefront of a young generation of musicians in the African-American jazz scene who are shedding new light on the musical heritage and formative cultural achievements of their predecessors, reappraising their contribution to the development of US music with historical self-confidence and leaving traditional genre boundaries behind. Gospel, blues, jazz, soul, funk: Theo Croker clarifies the historical musical similarities of all these genres and transforms them into a new, contemporary sound. On a meta-level, these trends are connected for him anyway in the positive creative power of love, which makes it possible to create new worlds of experience and realities against all odds. Theo Croker explains: "'Love Quantum' is also a tribute to all the different levels of love that can exist - love for a friend, love for a partner, love for a parent, love for oneself and love for life. It's about how powerful that energy is for us as human beings." In keeping with the concept, Theo Croker invited no less than nine musical guests to produce his album. These include rap legend Wyclef Jean (Fugees), three-time Grammy winner and neo-soul singer Jill Scott, soul and R'n'B singers Ego Ella May and Teedra Moses, singer Kassa Overall, singer-songwriter Jamila Woods and representatives of the current jazz scene such as guitarist James Tillman, saxophonist Gary Bartz and drummer Chris Dave.

After seven years in Shanghai, he released his first, bubbling CD Afro Physicist in 2014 with the support of Dee Dee Bridgewater. Following the success of Escape Velocity in 2016, he soared to new heights with Star People Nation in 2019, and the record earned him a nomination for the 62nd GRAMMY®️ Awards in the "Best Contemporary Instrumental Album" category. The CD received rave reviews in Stereogum, Paste and the New York Times, among others. The latter called it "an album that moves from swirling hip-hop beats to propulsive swing to rousing African drum passages. All the while, Croker's subtle trumpet playing holds his small band together perfectly." Over the years, he has also appeared on platinum albums from J. Cole to Ari Lennox, played with rapper Common and toured the globe with his band numerous times. His music has also been featured on TV and in films (including "Insecure" (HBO) and "The Photograph").
In 2020, Croker returned to his childhood home in Florida, where he wrote and recorded his sixth album BLK2LIFE || A FUTURE PAST, a star-studded opus featuring guests such as Wyclef Jean, Ari Lennox, Gary Bartz, Charlotte Dos Santos, Iman Omari, Malaya and Kassa Overall. Praised as a "blistering neo-jazz collection" by The New York Times and a "vivid experience" by CLASH, the album catapulted Croker to new heights once again, including his appearance on Stephen Colbert's Late Show alongside Wyclef Jean.