THEON CROSS
Genres: Eclectic Fusion, Nu Jazz, African Fusion • United Kingdom

A player in Shabaka Hutchings’ Sons of Kemet and a key figure in London’s vital jazz scene, Cross brings new energy to the tuba, an instrument long neglected in jazz and its offshoots. At a certain point in a Sons of Kemet live show, saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings and his dueling drummers will drop out, leaving room for tuba player Theon Cross to step up and solo. It’s always a heady moment: Cross’ solo can veer from Dixieland to the room-rattling frequencies of modern bass music in the span of a single breath. Cross also makes plenty of detours through free jazz, dub, hip-hop, soca, grime, and other sounds from the Afro-Caribbean diaspora. Such versatility has made him a catalyst on the bustling London jazz scene for years now, and his low-end skills power some of its biggest breakout acts: Hutchings, drummer Moses Boyd, saxophonist Nubya Garcia, the Ezra Collective. With Fyah, Cross read more...