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Theo Croker

Afro Physicist

Sony Masterworks | OKeh

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Theo Croker - Light Skinned Beauty
Theo Croker - Star People Nation (Portrait)
Theo Croker Dvrk Funk Interview
1 Alapa (For Doc)
2 Realize
3 It's Not You It's Me (But You Didn't Help)
4 Light Skinned Beauty
5 Wanting Your Love
6 Save Your Love for Me
7 Visions
8 The Fundamentals
9 Roy Allan
10 Moody's Mood for Love
11 I Can't Help It
12 Bo Masekela
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Enter the AfroPhysicist - trumpeter/composer Theo Croker. Coming straight out of Leesburg, Florida by way of Shanghai, China, this bold young soul-jazz newcomer, grandson of New Orleans trumpet legend Doc Cheatham is fortified by tradition with no lack of contemporary electricity to propel him into the future. Croker's new album - AfroPhysicist on Dee Dee Bridgewater's DDB Records via Sony Masterworks' imprint OKeh Records. This is Croker's third album and the inaugural release on Bridgewater's label. His music literally shape-shifts without pause through 12 captivating selections. 

  • Theo Croker plays NPR's 'Tiny Desk Concert'
    Posted At: February 17, 2023
    NPR's 'Tiny Desk Concert' - MITRA I. ARTHUR writes…This year's Black History Month celebration at the Tiny Desk features a carefully crafted lineup spanning many genres, generations and walks of life. Each artist represents the best in their class and will be performing at the Tiny Desk for the first time.Trumpeter Theo Croker arrived at the Tiny Desk with an unmistakable air of chill, an easy smile on disp...

  • Theo Croker Feat. Ego Ella May & DLEAU - By The Way EP makes VIBE's 'This Weeks Music Releases'
    Posted At: February 17, 2023
    GRAMMY®-nominated artist THEO CROKER today debuts his new collaborative EP alongside UK singer-songwriter EGO ELLA MAY entitled BY THE WAY An exploration of love, heartbreak and self-discovery, the 5-track collection combines Croker’s genre-fluid instrumentation with May’s compelling lyricism and vocals to create a distinct yet universally resonant collection of music. Making its debut alongside the EP is t...

  • Congrats to 2022 DownBeat Critics Poll Winners
    Posted At: July 29, 2022
    DownBeat writes…..The 70th Annual DownBeat International Critics Poll has made history with pianist Jon Batiste being the first artist to ever be named Jazz Artist and Beyond Artist of the Year. We Are, Batiste’s award-winning album, was also named Beyond Album of the Year.“I moved to New York as a teenager to play jazz, like the late, great Christopher ‘Biggie Smalls’ Wallace said: ‘It was all a dream, I u...

  • Highlights from the Detroit Jazz Festival - Saturday Night Jam Session / Dearborn Press and Guide
    Posted At: September 5, 2017

    Call it the unfinished Detroit Jazz Festival. After three and a half glorious days of superb weather and fantastic jazz, an untimely late Labor Day afternoon thunderstorm on Monday, Sept. 4, dampened the weekend glow and forced the early suspension of the 38th annual event in downtown Detroit. Despite the closing night setback, Monday's storm couldn't diminish the 60-plus buoyant, entertaining an...

  • At this year's Newport Jazz Festival / ZEAL nyc
    Posted At: July 25, 2017

    The Newport Jazz Festival celebrates its 63rd anniversary this summer, promising three full days of exceptional live musical performances across multiple stages at Fort Adams Park in Newport, Rhode Island from Friday, August 4 through Sunday, August 6. Under new artistic directorship from bassist and jazz statesman Christian McBride, and backing by legendary founder and producer George Wein, attendees wi...

  • Theo Croker - Afro Physicist / The Tavis Smiley Show interview
    Posted At: September 5, 2014

    Theo Croker talks about his Sony/OKeh album - Afro Physicist on the Tavis Smiley Show and describes his life in Shanghai, his grandfather Doc Cheatham, and collaborating with Dee Dee Bridgewater. HEAR THE Travis Smiley Show INTERVIEW HERE...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist / JazzTimes review
    Posted At: August 17, 2014

    Afro Physicist, trumpeter Theo Croker's third album as a leader and his debut on Dee Dee Bridgewater's DDB imprint and the Sony-owned OKeh brand, showcases him in a context that might be called "retro-progressive." Many of its stylistic elements have a distinct '70s-era flavor, but the way Croker mashes them together and then tops everything off with his straightforward but imaginative soloing marks him ...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist / Latin Jazz Network review
    Posted At: July 31, 2014

    Theo Croker is the epitome of the sound of surprise. He comes suddenly from behind and sideways – never from the front – seizing heart and mind like an excited friend who shutting the eyes, begging a "Guess who?" And he asks, "Am I a jazzist, a bluesist, or a rhythm & blues horn player?" The answer is never obvious. As the pondering begins, he reveals himself "I am Theo Croker. I am all o...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist / I Dig Jazz review
    Posted At: July 11, 2014

    The jazz trumpeter Theo Croker is the grandson of the late and legendary trumpeter Doc Cheatham. Croker is like him in a few ways. He has a soft tone and his phrasing is smooth like soymilk. Listening to Croker's new album AfroPhysicist it's clear he isn't the least bit interested in emulating his granddad, or putting out the kind of jazz he was into. Cheatham was a red-blooded American j...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist / Rifftides review
    Posted At: June 30, 2014

    Much of the verbiage about the elimination of borders between musical categories is the work of publicists. It is marketable to be, or claim to be, cross-genre. However, in the case of Theo Croker, an impressive 28-year-old trumpeter, his new album AfroPhysicist substantiates the claim. It touches on hip-hop, R&B, bebop and 1970s soul, but at its core his playing extends the mainstream jazz tradition...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist / AXS review
    Posted At: June 24, 2014

    It's hard to put your finger on trumpeter Theo Croker's new album, AfroPhysicist, out since May 20th, 2014 on Dee Dee Bridgewater's DDB Records. Is it jazz? Soul? Funk? Some artful fusion of all three? It's everything. Croker can do jazz. His straight-ahead "Moody's Mood For Love" with Bridgewater shines as a Blue Note special. The tones and the angles of the young artist's trumpet promise a good tim...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist #2 on WRTI's Jazz Hot 11 Countdown
    Posted At: June 23, 2014

    WRTI's Jazz Hot 11 is a weekly countdown of the favorite new jazz releases in rotation. Theo Croker's AfroPhysicist includes three vocals sung by Dee Dee Bridgewater, each from different eras and genres, and all re-imagined in bold strokes, including "Moody's Mood For Love" (the classic James Moody instrumental vocalized by Eddie Jefferson in the `50s, then by George Benson with Patti Austin ...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist charts on Jazzweek Top 50
    Posted At: June 20, 2014

    Theo Croker's AfroPhysicist on Sony Masterworks / Okeh Records has been receiving great support at jazz radio. Coming straight out of Leesburg, Florida by way of Shanghai, China, this bold young soul-jazz newcomer, grandson of New Orleans trumpet legend Doc Cheatham is fortified by tradition with no lack of contemporary electricity to propel him into the future. This is Croker's third album ...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist / KUVO June CD of the month
    Posted At: June 17, 2014

    At the age of only 29, Theo Croker not only has the chops to be an outstanding trumpeter, he also has imaginative music concepts, the love of many different styles of music, compositional skills and the music education that has given him a solid foundation to build on, oh yeah-one more thing-he has the genes as he is the grandson of the hall of fame trumpeter & vocalist, Grammy® winner, Adolphus ...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist / JazzWeekly.com review
    Posted At: June 16, 2014

    Theo Croker actually has a pretty good pedigree for his career as a trumpet  player, being the grandson of hall of famer Doc Cheatham. AfroPhysicist isn't swing or mainstream, though, Croker does give homage to the jazz traditions of bop, fusion and latin jazz on this excellent first album on Okeh. The sounds are sort of a funky mix of early 70s Miles Davis and vintage CTI Freddie Hubbard. He di...

  • Theo Croker and Dee Dee Bridgewater interview with Huffington Post
    Posted At: June 13, 2014

    Mike Ragogna with Huffington Post interviewed Theo Croker & Dee Dee Bridgewater about Croker's new album AfroPhysicist, musical influences, collaborating together, and much more: Mike Ragogna: Can we start at the beginning where Theo meets Dee Dee for Afro Physicist? Theo Croker: Dee Dee and I met in Shanghai in 2009 at a jazz festival. I was playing in a big band behind her. We met in pe...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist / WCLK: Atlanta 'Pick of the Week'
    Posted At: June 11, 2014

    Theo Croker's new album, AfroPhysicist, came out on May 20, 2014 on Dee Dee Bridgewater's DDB Records via Sony Masterworks' imprint OKeh Records. This is Croker's third album and the inaugural release on Bridgewater's label. His music literally shape-shifts without pause through 12 captivating selections. WCLK Program Director Aaron Cohen has chosen AfroPhysicist as 'Pick of the W...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist / About.com This Week's Top 10 Jazz Albums
    Posted At: June 10, 2014

    Dee Dee Bridgewater's discovery, Theo Croker, continues to stay strong on our playlist with AfroPhysicist clocking in at #2 for the second straight week. From the hard funk of Realize to the re-imagined classic Moody's Mood For Love, "Croker knits together voluminous influences with a clear, sharp and aggressive tone." We said that last week and we meant it. Also contains the song title...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist / New York Daily News interview
    Posted At: May 27, 2014

    Every player – honestly every person --  hits his crossroads in New York City. That point beyond which it's either a foregone conclusion to go through the wall (rather than over or around) or take the hard left, hoping it'll really be a wide cloverleaf that leads right back here. Only the most free of free-thinkers would consider taking the hard right instead, to find their voice o...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist / NPR All Things Considered interview
    Posted At: May 20, 2014

    Jazz composer and trumpeter Theo Croker opens his new album, AfroPhysicist, with an ode to his grandfather: New Orleans jazz great . The thing is, Croker didn't grow up in New Orleans or any other jazz hub. He's from Jacksonville, Fla., and he was just a child when his grandfather died in 1997. It wasn't until his grandfather's memorial services - attended by jazz legends - that he decide...

  • Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist / Blogcritics review
    Posted At: May 13, 2014

    As trumpeter Theo Croker tells it, AfroPhysicist, the title of his new album due for release May 20th is taken from a nickname hung on him by his older brother. It fits, he says, because it reflects his passion for different artistic directions. Think mad scientist at work, "a crazy person in the basement snatching all these things together." What he's getting at is a refusal to limit himself musical...

  • Theo Croker - Afro Physicist / LAJazz.com
    Posted At: May 2, 2014

    When musicians like Denise Minnifield (a fine Shanghai-based singer) and Marcus Belgrave (an award-winning Detroit-based trumpet player) tell me that Theo Croker is a young jazz lion on the rise, I pay attention. So when his publicist encouraged me to listen to his latest CD, I quickly said yes. Not to mention, he's newly signed to Dee Dee Bridgewater's fledgling DDB record label. From his v...
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