Trumpeter Theo Croker is part of the new generation of American jazz which draws inspiration from both traditions and more recent musical codes such as hip-hop, electro and R&B.
It quickly became clear that we were going to move: the drums, married to electro beats, left us no choice. The trumpet, accompanied by multiple reverb gadgets and special effects made us want to fly.
But be careful: this grooved music remains jazz. The pianist and keyboardist improvises wildly, the double bassist goes with expert rhythms, and the drummer, despite the power of his sound, is capable of versatility. For his part, Theo Croker, after a first thirty minutes mainly composed of musical motifs and themes, took to the solo more seriously in the second part. The 38-year-old is not without talent, like his grandfather, the legendary Doc Cheatham.
We also heard a lot of vocal sampling, since on his albums, we find multiple collaborations with singers and rappers, who were not present on stage.
In short, Theo Croker nourished our minds and stimulated our bodies. An audience of all ages seemed happy, but it was particularly interesting to see many young people dancing to jazz.
For my part, I discovered a musician that I didn’t know accompanied by a trio of wonderful musicians, whose names, unfortunately, I cannot give you. More interesting than Robert Glasper, IMHO.
It was another exciting free concert. On the other hand, we are reaching a limit here: having to stop the performance after sixty minutes when the party is still on is frustrating.
