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Overnights on HYFIN: Monday - Friday, 12 am - 6 am
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Jazz renegade Theo Croker returns to his Jacksonville roots NPR
Few musicians live in the present moment, at the convergence of what came before and what’s up ahead, with more panache than Theo Croker. A trumpeter, producer and composer rooted in the jazz lineage, he’s also within the vanguard of a peer group blending hip-hop, electronic music and contemporary R&B. The synthesis shines throughout his recent albums, notably the feature-laden Love Quantum, which arrives this summer, and BLK2LIFE // A FUTURE PAST, which released last year.
In Oct. 2021, Croker kicked off a world tour for BLK2LIFE at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. Jazz Night in America caught up with him there, for what he characterized as an exciting test run for his working band. “I was triggering samples from a laptop and through a headphone jack, using pedals that I maybe hadn’t worked out yet,” he says. “And maybe singing vocals that I had never practiced yet. And just trying to be brave.”
Jacksonville is Croker’s old stomping grounds, the place where he formed his musical foundation. So in this episode, we’ll also take the opportunity to tag along on a visit to his alma mater, the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. We’ll hear from some of his former classmates, attesting both to his obsessive commitment and his unruly spirit, and from mentor (and NEA Jazz Master, vocalist and actor) Dee Dee Bridgewater, who first encountered Croker during a residency in Shanghai and who takes pride in his trajectory — still very much an unfolding story.
Musicians:
Theo Croker, trumpet; Michael King, piano, keyboard, organ; Eric Wheeler, bass; Shekwaga Ode, drums
“Love from the Sun” from Escape Velocity
Theo Croker, trumpet; Dee Dee Bridgewater, vocals; Irwin Hall, alto saxophone; Michael King, fender rhodes, piano; Eric Wheeler, acoustic bass; Kassa Overall, drums, programming, sampling, sequencing.
Set List:
(All compositions by Theo Croker, except as indicated)
Credits:
Writer and Producer: Alex Ariff; Host: Christian McBride; Project Manager: Suraya Mohamed; Vice President of Visuals and Strategy at NPR Music: Keith Jenkins; Executive Producers: Anya Grundmann and Gabrielle Armand.
Concert engineer: Uller Bailey & Jim Stafford, Eclipse Recording Co. St Augustine, Florida; Mix: Corey Goldberg.
Special thanks to Jim Daniel, Chris Mees, and the team from the Jacksonville Jazz Festival: Rick Huber, Scott Gartner, Steve Flatt and Paola Lorenzo.
Written by: NPR
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5 Points Art Gallery + Studios
cactus club
Insomniac Studios
Lupi & Iris
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre
Radio Milwaukee
Shank Hall
Thalia Hall
The Back Room at Colectivo
The Cactus Club
The Salt Shed
The Sugar Maple
Turner Hall Ballroom
Unfinished Legacy
Wantable Cafe
14jun8:00 pmCupcakKe at Cactus ClubZed Kenzo • bdwthr • DJ DR!PSweat
Elizabeth Eden Harris, known professionally as Cupcakke, is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. She is known for her hypersexualised, brazen, and often comical persona
Elizabeth Eden Harris, known professionally as Cupcakke, is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. She is known for her hypersexualised, brazen, and often comical persona and music although she has also made songs with themes supporting LGBTQ rights, female empowerment, and autism awareness.
(Wednesday) 8:00 pm
cactus club
15jun7:00 pmMeshell Ndegeocello at Turner Hall Ballroom
Acclaimed GRAMMY-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello makes her Blue Note Records debut with the June 16 release of The Omnichord Real Book, a visionary
Acclaimed GRAMMY-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello makes her Blue Note Records debut with the June 16 release of The Omnichord Real Book, a visionary and deeply jazz-influenced album that marks the start of a new chapter in her trailblazing career. Following her 2018 covers album Ventriloquism, Meshell returns with an album of new original material that taps into a broad spectrum of her musical roots. The Omnichord Real Book was produced by Josh Johnson and features a wide range of guest artists including Jason Moran, Ambrose Akinmusire, Joel Ross, Jeff Parker, Brandee Younger, Julius Rodriguez, Mark Guiliana, Cory Henry, Joan As Police Woman, Thandiswa, and others.
The Omnichord Real Book is introduced today by the expansive lead single “Virgo,” the mind-altering 8-minute centerpiece of the album which features Meshell on vocals, key bass, and keyboards, Younger on harp, Rodriguez on Farfisa organ, Chris Bruce on guitar, Jebin Bruni on keyboards, drums by Abe Rounds, Deantoni Parks, and Andrya Ambro, and additional vocals by Kenita Miller and Marsha DeBoe. The Omnichord Real Book is available for pre-order now on Blue Note Store exclusive color vinyl, black vinyl, CD, and digital.
“It’s a little bit of all of me, my travels, my life,” says Meshell. “My first record I made at 22, and it’s over 30 years from then, so I have a lot of stored information to share.” Reflecting on the impact that the forced stillness of the pandemic lockdown had on her, she says “I must admit it was a beautiful time for me. I got to really sit and reacquaint myself with music. Music is a gift.”
“This album is about the way we see old things in new ways,” Meshell explains. “Everything moved so quickly when my parents died. Changed my view of everything and myself in the blink of an eye. As I sifted through the remains of their life together, I found my first Real Book, the one my father gave me. I took their records, the ones I grew up hearing, learning, remembering. My mother gifted me with her ache, I carry the melancholy that defined her experience and, in turn, my experience of this thing called life calls me to disappear into my imagination and to hear the music.”
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(Thursday) 7:00 pm
Turner Hall Ballroom
1040 Ve. R. Phillips Ave.
Overnights on HYFIN: Monday - Friday, 12 am - 6 am
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