Love Quantum

by Theo Croker

Overview

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

Product Details

Release Date:	10/07/2022
Label:	Music On Vinyl
UPC:	8719262025851
Rank:	118189

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Theo Croker   Primary Artist,Rap,Piano,Solina,Trumpet,Sampling,Moog Bass,Flugelhorn,Vibraphone,Spoken Word,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Drum Sequencing,Sampled Keyboards
Eric Wheeler   Primary Artist,Bass (Acoustic),Bass (Electric)
iCON the Mic King   Primary Artist,Piano,Keyboards,Fender Rhodes
Teedra Moses   Vocals,Featured Artist
Wyclef Jean   Rap,Vocals,Featured Artist
Chris Dave   Drums,Percussion,Featured Artist
Gary Bartz   Vocals,Sax (Alto),Featured Artist
Jill Scott   Vocals,Featured Artist
James Tillman   Vocals,Featured Artist,Featured Artist
Jonathan Pinson   Drums
Kassa Overall   Rap,Drums,Featured Artist
Dirg Gerner   Vocals (Background)
Anthony Ware   Sax (Alto),Sax (Tenor)
Dario Rojo-Guerra   Organ,Percussion,Fender Rhodes
Ego Ella May   Vocals,Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
Jamila Woods   Vocals,Featured Artist
Paul Cornish   Fender Rhodes
Alita Moses   Vocals (Background)
Rick Leon James   Bass (Electric)
Shekwoaga Ode   Drums
Budda Foster   Bass (Electric)
Jasminfire   Viola,Violin
D'leau   Mini Moog

Technical Credits

Teedra Moses   Composer,Lyricist
Jessica Care Moore   Composer,Lyricist
Wyclef Jean   Composer
Chris Dave   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Mixing Engineer
Brook Davis   Arranger,Composer
Brandon Johnson   Engineer
Daniel Schlett   Engineer
Jill Scott   Composer,Lyricist
Theo Croker   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Programming,Drum Samples,Mixing Engineer,Drum Programming,Creative Director
iCON the Mic King   Arranger
James Tillman   Arranger,Composer,Lyricist
Jack Harper   Graphic Design
Tokio Aoyama   Cover Art
Dirg Gerner   Composer,Lyricist
Alex DeTurk   Mastering Engineer
Dario Rojo-Guerra   Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Todd Carder   Arranger,Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Ego Ella May   Composer,Engineer,Lyricist
Matthias "Doktor Audio" Ermert   Engineer
Daniel Pampuri   Engineer,Mixing Engineer
James Robinson   Engineer
Leighton Pope   Photography
Daniel Goldsmith   Engineer
D'leau   Engineer,Producer,Instrumentation,Mixing Engineer,Drum Programming,Creative Director
Emmanuel Brilliant   Engineer