Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist (2014)

Produced by and Featuring the Legendary Dee Dee Bridgewater

Plus Special Guests Stefon Harris and Roy Hargrove

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. His trumpet pops over rock guitars and roaring organs, floats on the ballads and bops along on straight ahead swing. Croker deftly bridges generation gaps on Afro Physicist, his first album for OKeh Records, produced by Dee Dee Bridgewater for her DDB Records imprint.

On Afro Physicist, Theo's music literally shape-shifts without pause through twelve captivating selections; from the solo opening "Alapa (For Doc)"(dedicated to Cheatham) to the funk-rock furnace blast "Realize" to the dreamy "Wanting Your Love." The album includes three vocals sung by Bridgewater including the classic "Moody's Mood For Love," and Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It," flipped here into a sizzling Afro-Cuban whirlwind. Afro Physicist also features vibraphonist Stefon Harris on a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Visions" and trumpet veteran Roy Hargrove performing on one of Croker's compositions, "Roy Allan." Theo will be touring the U.S. both on his own and with Dee Dee Bridgewater throughout 2014 including an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival on August 1.