Afro Physicist (Okeh)
Theo Croker
Released April 21, 2014
AllMusic Favorite Jazz Albums 2014
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lPE53Plpv6SOO7BRvp87ny2BcQAfYwbXg
Spotify:
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About:
Trumpeter Theo Croker comes by his instrument naturally, being a grandson of the legendary Doc Cheatham. Croker’s third album opens with a solo tribute to Cheatham and then moves into electric groove jazz and rock, with a horn section filling out the background. While the band assembled here play with a mix of muscle and funk, there are also some noteworthy guests. Album producer Dee Dee Bridgewater sings on Buddy Johnson’s “Save Your Love for Me,” a Latin version of the Michael Jackson tune “I Can’t Help It,” and a straight-ahead but brief run-through of “Moody’s Mood for Love.” Elsewhere, vibraphonist Stefon Harris joins in on the simmering “Visions,” and Roy Hargrove sings his composition “Roy Allan,” with a smooth R&B vibe created by Croker’s arrangement. Croker stands out on the hard-hitting funk original “Realize” and the Afro-funk of “It’s Not You It’s Me (But You Didn’t Help),” with him sounding great on mute. Wholly modern but grounded in tradition, this would make granddad proud.
Track Listing:
1. Alapa [For Doc] (Theo Croker) 02:00
2. Realize (Theo Croker) 05:37
3. It’s Not You, It’s Me (But You Didn’t Help) (Theo Croker) 06:14
4. Light Skinned Beauty (Theo Croker) 03:23
5. Wanting Your Love (Theo Croker) 04:43
6. Save Your Love for Me (Buddy Johnson) 05:31
7. Visions (Stevie Wonder) 06:37
8. The Fundamentals (Theo Croker) 04:34
9. Roy Allan (Roy Hargrove) 04:53
10. Moody’s Mood for Love (Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh / James Moody) 03:23
11. I Can’t Help It (Gina Foster / Ramel Govantes / Susaye Greene / Geoff Gurd / Martin Lascelles / Kevin Plasket / Stevie Wonder) 05:30
12. Bo Masekela (Caiphus Semenya) 03:07
Personnel:
Theo Croker: trumpet
Sullivan Fortner: Hammond B3 Organ, Fender Rhodes
Karriem Riggins: drums
Michael Bowie: electric bass, acoustic bass
David Gilmore: electric guitar
Luisito Quintero: percussion
Irwin Hall: alto saxophone, alto flute
Andrae Murchison: trombone
Jumaane Smith: lead trumpet
Stacy Dillard: tenor saxophone
Jason Marshall: baritone saxophone
Dee Dee Bridgewater: vocals (6, 10, 11)
China Moses: background vocals
Stefon Harris: vibraphone (7)
Roy Hargrove: vocals (9)
Recorded April 22 – 24, 2011, at Avatar Studios, New York, NY
Producer: Dee Dee Bridgewater
Engineer: Anthony Ruotolo
Mixed by Jean-Marie Horvat
Mastering: Doug Sax
Mastering Assistant: Jett Galindo
Photography by Thomas Brodin
Artwork: Jean-Luc Barilla
Executive-Producer: Tulani Bridgewater
Review:
Theo Croker’s third full-length album, the Dee Dee Bridgewater-produced Afro Physicist, is an ambitious, stylistically wide-ranging album that showcases the jazz trumpeter’s soulful post-bop chops, sophisticated arranging skills, and adventurous compositional style. The grandson of the late jazz trumpeter Doc Cheatham and a graduate of Oberlin College, Croker is an accomplished musician with a deep musical reservoir to draw from. Working closely with Bridgewater, with whom he has been performing regularly since 2009, Croker delves into a sound heavily informed by ’70s soul-jazz, but which touches upon groove-oriented Latin jazz (“It’s Not You, It’s Me [But You Didn’t Help]”), gargantuan keyboard and electric guitar-heavy jazz-funk (“Realize”), and atmospheric, dream-inducing modal jazz (“Visions,” with vibraphonist Stefon Harris). There’s also a subtle hip-hop and contemporary R&B influence running throughout most of Afro Physicist, primarily evident in the propulsive funky rhythms of drummer Karriem Riggins. Even on the frenetic, Ornette Coleman-esque “The Fundamentals,” Croker finds common ground between late-’60s free bop and modern breakbeat dance music. Elsewhere, Croker showcases Bridgewater (a vocal dynamo and journeyman bandleader with a charismatic stage swagger equivalent to Art Blakey’s drumming) on several numbers, including a midtempo ’70s funk reworking of “Save Your Love for Me” and a Brazilian Carnival-ready take on the Michael Jackson classic “I Can’t Help It.” Blessed with a fluid, harmonically supple trumpet technique, Croker could easily monopolize the album. However, as evidenced by his collaborations with Bridgewater, Croker is a confident and sympathetic accompanist with an ear for crafting a balanced, powerful group aesthetic. He’s so confident, he even brings on firebrand trumpeter/singer Roy Hargrove (clearly a huge influence on him) for the propulsive, Hargrove-penned contemporary bossa nova fusion number “Roy Allan.” It’s a bold, open-hearted statement that speaks to Croker’s grounded sense of himself, a sense that permeates all of Afro Physicist. Ultimately, however, the palpable synergy and exuberant creative juice flowing between Croker and Bridgewater here are what make Afro Physicist a truly alchemic experience.
Matt Collar (AllMusic)
