Star People Nation
| Star People Nation | ||||
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| Studio album by Theo Croker | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | SONY Masterworks / DDB Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
10 |
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running time |
43:03 |
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Karriem Riggins |
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Studio (s) |
Bunker Studios, Brooklyn, New York City; GSI Studios, New York; Schallrausch Studios, Vienna; Silver Lake Recording Studios, Los Angeles; Strange Weather Studios, Brooklyn; SunKing Studios, Highland Park, Los Angeles |
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Star People Nation is a jazz album by trumpeter Theo Croker . The recordings were made in 2018 in studios in Brooklyn, Los Angeles and Vienna. The album was released on May 17, 2019 on SONY Masterworks / DDB Records.
background
At Star People Nation , Croker worked alongside the musicians in his quartet with sampling , electronics and other influences that were increasingly used. The album features contributions from guest musicians, including singer Rose Gold , Jamaican singer Chronixx, keyboardist ELEW, and drummer Eric Harland and Kassa Overall . Croker crosses a variety of jazz-influenced pieces, starting with 'Have You Come to Stay' (Track 1), and a Kamasi Washington- style solo (by saxophonist Irwin Hall ). It contains grooves with “Getaway Gold feat. Rose Gold ”(Track 2), African-inspired music with“ Alkebulan ”(Track 9), dub vibes in“ Understand Yourself ”with Chronixx (Track 10) and more traditional jazz numbers, sprinkled with electronic influences like“ Just Let it Ride ” (Track 6) and "The Messenger" feat. ELEW (track 8).
Track list
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- Theo Croker: Star People Nation (Sony Masterworks 19075893342)
- Have You Come to Saty ( Joe Chambers , Theo Croker, Gene McDaniels ) 4:44
- Getaway Gold (Theo Croker, Rebekah Muhammad) 3:44
- Subconscious Flirtations and Titilations (Theo Croker) 4:40
- Wide Open (Theo Croker) 3:45
- Portrait of William (Theo Croker) 3:15
- Just Let It Ride (Theo Croker) 5:31
- Crest traps (Theo Croker) 4:22
- The Messenger (Theo Croker) 5:06
- Alkebulan (Theo Croker) 2:50
- Understand Yourself (Theo Croker, Jamar McNaughton) 5:06
reception
The album received a Grammy nomination in the category of contemporary instrumental music ( Best Contemporary Instrumental Album ) in late 2019 . Matt Collar gave the album in Allmusic 4½ (out of five) stars and wrote that since 2014 the trumpeter Theo Croker has been expanding his funky, stylistically far-reaching jazz sound with more and more electrical and electronic influences; on Star People Nation from 2019, he takes this approach even further. Star People Nation is a stylistically balanced album that skilfully moves between spacy 70s world fusion, modal jazz, alternative R&B and trend-setting hip-hop. It is reminiscent of classic works by Eddie Henderson , George Duke and Donald Byrd , of which Croker was supervised as a student at Oberlin College.
According to Mike Hobert, who reviewed the album in the Financial Times and rated it four stars, the raspy vocals, sampled loops of Bobby Hutcherson- style vibraphone playing, and the brass that opens this album are based on a hip-hop aesthetic, and the blank verse vocals that result from contemporary R&B . The heartbeat of the album, however, is the razor-sharp acoustic quintet of the trumpeter that spits out beats and brings them to life at regular intervals. Theo Croker's assured virtuosity and his innate feeling for swing reflect the early tutoring of grandfather Doc Cheatham and the mentoring of soul-jazz legend Donald Byrd, says Hobert. Croker underscores these traditional jazz skills at the end of the set with a modal jazz homage to the late drummer Elvin Jones , who offers razor- sharp horn playing and a spiritual jazz piano from guest musician ELEW .
The main part of the album skillfully combines layers of samples with Croker's musical vocals and fiery quintet, the author continued. The exciting "Subconscious Flirtations and Titillations" initially juxtapose sensual trumpet and flute with fast, grungy beats and then angular Croker trumpet with creeping grooves . “Wide Open” makes the most of Michael King's Fender Rhodes , and elsewhere horns frolic on drum and bass hunts, and Croker majestically broods on “Crestfallen,” a well-titled mood piece. Mixing acoustic jazz with contemporary production values often sounds forced, sums up Hobert; but Croker smoothed the seams to successfully unite unbound modern jazz with the edge of club culture.
According to JazzTimes , on his last two albums Escape Velocity (2016) and Star People Nation (2019) , Croker frames his golden tone and harmoniously elaborate lines with layers of structured keyboards, ethereal synthesizers, bespoke samples, polyrhythmic drum beats, and subordinate voices that they illuminate their melodic core.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Star People Nation - Theo Croker (Album Review). jazzrevelations.com, May 6, 2019, accessed December 7, 2019 .
- ↑ 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards (2019) - Nominations: Best Contemporary Instrumental Album (Star People Nation)
- ^ Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ↑ Mike Hobert: Theo Croker: Star People Nation - modern jazz with a club culture edge. Financial Times, June 14, 2019, accessed December 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Artist Spotlight: Theo Croker - The cosmically minded Star People Nation artist blends jazz, fusion, bebop, and hip-hop. JazzTimes, August 23, 2019, accessed December 7, 2019 .