THEON CROSS' New Album 'INTRA-I' Is Out Now | Listen to the Celebration of Black Music from the Genre-Bending Musician

THEON CROSS - NEW ALBUM ‘INTRA-I’ OUT NOW GIFTED MUSICIAN, COMPOSER & SONS OF KEMET MEMBER EXPANDS THE SONIC POSSIBILITIES OF TUBA PLAYING - LISTEN HERE LISTEN TO LATEST SINGLE “ROOTS” FT. SHUMBA MAASAI HERE *  *  *  THE NEW YORK TIMES | “15 of the Best Acts” @ SXSW 2021 ROLLING STONE | "Theon Cross Is Bringing Tuba Back to Jazz’s Center"   PITCHFORK | "Cross brings new energy to the tuba, an instrument long neglected in jazz and its offshoots... Roving at will across other genres, Cross is able to wholly remake the horn in his own image." SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE | "as exhilarating of a tuba player as you’ll find in the business... an essential sideman for many of London jazz’s current luminaries, and he shows on ‘INTRA-I’ that he’s a force to be reckoned with as a bandleader himself"

Photo By Ian Hippolyte  Theon Cross is expanding the sonic possibilities of tuba playing, and is at the forefront of the thriving London jazz scene. Today, the gifted musician, composer and core member of Mercury Prize-nominated outfit Sons Of Kemet releases his new album Intra-I (meaning “Within Self”) via New Soil / Marathon Music. Hear the critically acclaimed album here: https://mrthn.fm/theon_intra-i.  Intra-I is an uplifting celebration of Black music, synthesizing 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. Today, he also shares “Roots” ft. Shumba Maasai, the latest single from the album, which follows previous singles “Forward Progression II,” “The Spiral” and “We Go Again.” Of “Roots,” Theon tells FLOOD Magazine, “This song represents the philosophy that knowledge of self comes from understanding the journey of those that came before us in various different senses. In order to create meaningful change you must stay connected to the roots. This is something that Shumba and I bonded on and we both had an affinity for the words and teachings of Marcus Garvey which he used as a lyrical basis as well as bringing in his own personal story.” Listen to “Roots” here: https://mrthn.fm/theon_rootsvis.  An uplifting celebration of Black music 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 migrants to the UK. In addition to being primarily made from sounds taken from the tuba, it is his first music to feature guest vocalists adding a whole other dimension to his sound: the album features Maasai on “Roots,” Remi Graves, Consensus and Oren Marshall, as well as Afronaut Zu and Ahnansé on “The Spiral.”  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. In 2019, he released his acclaimed debut solo album, Fyah, and has collaborated with Little Simz, Stormzy, Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, Kano and others.  An incredible live performer who's constantly looking to push boundaries, Cross participated in SXSW Online earlier this year by playing both a live set from Abbey Road Studios and, using motion capture technology, as a 3D digital avatar in a VR showcase. His sets were highlighted by The New York Times  as one of the “15 of the Best Acts” @ SXSW 2021, noting: “a virtuosic set by the tuba player Theon Cross… merged wah-wah funk with Caribbean carnival rhythms as Cross hopped between holding down the bass lines and joining the band’s brassy melodic crossfire. Cross will also embark on a UK & European tour in 2022 in support of the album and is confirmed to perform in the U.S. at the Big Ears Festival in March 2022 --  look for additional 2022 North American dates soon.  “THE SPIRAL” OFFICIAL VIDEO

"FORWARD PROGRESSION II"

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