Theo Croker
Trumpeter Theo Croker is an adventurous jazz musician known for his cosmically minded, spiritually enlightened take on post-bop, funk, and electronic-tinged fusion. The grandson of famed trumpeter Doc Cheatham, Croker first garnered attention in the 2000s playing straight-ahead jazz before issuing such stylistically expansive albums as 2014's Dee Dee Bridgewater-produced Afro Physicist and 2016's Escape Velocity. He further embraced a contemporary R&B and space-funk vibe on 2019's Star People Nation, earning a Grammy nomination in the process. Yet more genre-bending R&B and electronic textures marked 2021's BLK2LIFE || A FUTURE PAST and 2022's Love Quantum.
Born in 1985 in Leesburg, Florida, Croker began playing trumpet around age 11, inspired by his grandfather. By his teens he was studying music at the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville. From 2003 to 2007, Croker attended the music conservatory at Oberlin College. While there, he was mentored by legendary trumpeter and educator Donald Byrd. Also during this time, he earned the Presser Music Foundation Award, which funded his debut album, 2006's Fundamentals. After graduating from Oberlin, Croker relocated to China, where he took up residency at Shanghai's House of Blues. His 2009 album In the Tradition paid tribute to Cheatham.
In 2013, Croker returned to the States and began work on his third solo album, the Dee Dee Bridgewater-produced Afro Physicist. Released in 2014 on OKeh Records, the set found him branching out stylistically, weaving elements of funk, Latin jazz, and hip-hop into his sound. In 2016, he delivered Escape Velocity, which found him delving deeper into a genre-bending, spiritually enlightened, funk-influenced jazz sound.
The hip-hop, R&B, and electronic fusion effort Star People Nation arrived in 2019 and was produced by Croker. It peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart and earned Croker his first Grammy nomination, for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. In 2021, Croker released the equally expansive BLK2LIFE || A FUTURE PAST, which featured contributions by Wyclef Jean, Gary Bartz, Kassa Overall, and others. 2022's Love Quantum (again featuring Jean, Bartz, and Overall) worked as a kind of companion album, further showcasing the trumpeter's genre-defying take on musical Afrofuturism.
© Matt Collar /TiVo
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Discografía
20 álbum(es) • Ordenado por Mejores ventas
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Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XIII: Sketches of Miles (Live)
Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic, Theo Croker, Mitglieder der Berliner Philharmoniker, Magnus Lindgren
Jazz - Editado por ACT Music el 26 ago. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
BY THE WAY
Theo Croker, Ego Ella May, D'Leau
Jazz - Editado por Masterworks el 17 feb. 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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BLK2LIFE || A FUTURE PAST
Jazz - Editado por Masterworks el 24 sept. 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Star People Nation
Jazz contemporáneo - Editado por Masterworks el 17 may. 2019
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Live in Paris (Live in Paris)
Jazz - Editado por Masterworks el 18 mar. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Fundamentals
Jazz - Editado por Left Sided Music el 15 dic. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Magnolia II
Kamaal Williams, Theo Croker, Corey Fonville
Electrónica - Editado por Black Focus Records el 11 ago. 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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6 Feet Down
Jazz fusión & Jazz rock - Editado por Tru Thoughts el 19 ene. 2024
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Subconscious Flirtations and Titillations
Jazz - Editado por Masterworks el 18 ene. 2019
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
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