Towards the beginning of trumpeter
Theo Croker's seventh album, 2022's
Love Quantum, he makes the bold proclamation: "Long live music, jazz is dead." The edict arrives via the song "JAZZ IS DEAD," a woozy, psychedelic anthem featuring a guest appearance by saxophonist
Gary Bartz, a veteran of
Miles Davis' 1970s fusion band whose presence helps to underline
Croker's broad-minded aesthetic. "JAZZ IS DEAD" works as a statement of purpose for
Love Quantum, an evocation of the genre-defying spirit the trumpeter has increasingly embraced since at least 2016's
Escape Velocity. The grandson of legendary jazz trumpeter
Doc Cheatham,
Croker (who also studied with
Donald Byrd at Oberlin Conservatory) has built an impressive career, balancing a deep grasp of the post-bop jazz tradition with his own atmospheric blend of mystical groove-based jazz, funk, electronica, and hip-hop. It's a sound that reached apotheosis on 2021's
Blk2Life/A Future Past, which was less of a jazz album and more of a kaleidoscopic vision of musical Afrofuturism.
Love Quantum is the next evolution in that vision as
Croker crafts shimmering, dewy soundscapes that straddle the line between spiritual funk, electronic R&B, and space jazz. While
Croker's warm, often hushed trumpet sound has long brought to mind the playing of
Miles Davis, his approach on
Love Quantum also resembles
Davis' approach as a bandleader -- knowing when to push himself into the spotlight and when to pull back into the shadows and let his band shine. This is something
Croker does throughout
Love Quantum, spotlighting longtime collaborators like drummer
Kassa Overall, as well as bringing on board a bevy of guest artists to help illuminate his interstellar vibe, including James Tillman on the dreamy,
Sade-esque "Royal Conversation" and singer
Teedra Moses for the acid jazz-sounding "Love Thyself." We also get equally potent contributions by
Jill Scott,
Jamila Woods, and
Ego Ella May, the latter of whom brings her sweet,
Billie Holiday-meets-
Erykah Badu style to
Croker's hypnotic ballad "Somethin'." Also returning from
Blk2Life is rapper
Wyclef Jean, who taps his own '90s hip-hop jazz history on the kinetic and flowing album closer, "She Bad." With
Love Quantum,
Croker continues to push his sound well beyond the confines of jazz traditionalism and embrace the expansive purity of his musical self. ~ Matt Collar