The year 2021 marked a transition in trumpeter-composer Theo Croker’s output. He was shifting more of his focus toward production. And like many artists around that time, inspired by pandemic limitations, Croker worked remotely with a wide cast of collaborators spanning studios and hemispheres.
While on tour in Philadelphia in 2023, Croker stopped by WRTI — and instead of a traditional studio session, which would typically involve a performance, he came alone with his laptop in tow. I knew that he often worked from the road and had access to the stems (individual tracks) of his recordings, and asked him to peel back some of the collaborative spirit of the tracks.
For our session, we focused on dissecting two tracks: “Theo Says,” from the 2003 EP By the Way, featuring London-based vocalist Ego Ella May; and “Hero Stomp || A Future Past,” from the 2021 album BLK2LIFE || A FUTURE PAST, incorporating a sample of an Ugandan tribal chant.
In “Hero Stomp,” you’ll see how something like a bass line from an under-the-radar 1967 live Duke Ellington recording can live rent-free in Croker’s head, only to be mined, interpolated and revised into something undeniably Afrofuturistic. Both breakdowns provide a glimpse into a world-traveling artist’s mindset, and insight on how one decision can inform the next.
CREDITS:
Theo Croker, Artist
Alex Ariff, Senior Producer
Tyler McClure, Assistant Director of Production
Melanie Spiegel, Camera and Edit
Mitch Demler, Camera
Billy Dodds, Audio Engineer
Delia Joyce and Katie Neary, Graphics