“A Prodigious Young Talent” – The New York Times

Theon Cross is an award-winning tuba player and composer who not only redefines what can be done with his instrument but also transcends traditional genre conventions with his heady brew of low end theory combined with strains of ‘jazz, dub, hip-hop, soca, grime, and other sounds from the Afro-Caribbean diaspora’.

His new album, Intra-I (meaning ‘Within Self’) syntheses the diversity of his musical art and experience to deliver an essential message to a world gripped by tribulation. Across ten sonically divergent and bass-rich tracks, Intra-I explores themes of self-reliance, origins, identity and more. An exploratory and upful celebration of Afro-Diaspora Music, the album features songs that examine self-development, the importance of history and heritage and the strength in adversity shown by the first generations of post-war Caribbean immigrants to the UK.

He currently has a UK/Europe tour provisionally booked for Autumn 2021. He was invited to participate in SXSW Online (NYT Top 15 from SXSW2021) this year as both a virtual avatar and as himself. He was also featured in BBC’s Jazz 625 in November 2020.

TOUR DATES

27 May 2023 – Brussels Jazz Weekend – Brussels – Belgium – FREE
10 June 2023 – Tauron Nowa Muzyka – Katowice – Poland – TICKETS
16 June 2023 – LOTOS Festival – Bielsko Biala – Romania – TICKETS
8 July 2023 – Jazz festival Ljubljana – Ljubljana – Slovenia – TICKETS
9 July 2023 – Jazz on the Road – Brescia – Italy – TICKETS
10 July 2023 – Pisa Jazz Festival – Pisa – Italy – TICKETS
15 July 2023 – Gaeta Jazz Festival – Gaeta – Italy – TICKETS
18 July 2023 – Edinburgh Jazz Festival – Edinburgh – UK – TICKETS
20 July 2023 – Apolide Festival – Torino – Italy – TICKETS
28 July 2023 – WOMAD – Malmesbury – UK – TICKETS
29 July 2023 – Jazz Re:Fest – London – UK – TICKETS
18 August 2023 – Another Love Story – Ballyadams – Ireland – TICKETS
19 August 2023 – Sentralen – Oslo – Norway
1 September 2023 – Les Rendez-vous de L’Erdre – Nantes – France – FREE
8 September 2023 – JazzFestival – Greven – Germany –TICKETS
15 October 2023 – Kings Place – London – UK

In 2021 he will also be part of Sons of Kemet’s Black to the Future album campaign and touring for their second album on Impulse/UMG

In 2020, in addition to his own work playing virtual gigs for SXSW and Afro-Punk he toured with Kano, featured on the opening track of Stormzy’s Heavy is the Head and has played on albums/sessions with Moses Boyd on his Mercury Nominated Dark Matter, Seed Ensemble, Lafawndah, Little Simz, Joy Crookes and Steamdown.

“…while it's always going to filed under "jazz", to allow one's perceptions of what Cross is doing to be limited to any one stylistic box would be tantamount to ignoring the sense of possibility that courses like oxygen through his music's respiratory system.” - The Quietus