THEO CROKER'S DREAM MANIFEST
THEO CROKER'S DREAM MANIFEST
Saturday 15th February at the Barbican — 8pm
Theo Croker’s DREAM MANIFEST
Presented by Brick Lane Jazz Festival and co-curated by fashion designer Nicholas Daley, Theo Croker's DREAM MANIFEST is led by the US-based trumpeter extraordinaire and joined by special guests from the London and international jazz scenes.
Themed around imagination, DREAM MANIFEST is a sonic exploration of the power to manifest in our universe. Defying genres and deeply rooted in tradition, it includes a retrospective on Croker’s last two albums BLK2LIFE : A Future Past (2021) and Love Quantum (2022) to complete the trilogy. Croker plays and manipulates samples from the albums, reassembling elements of the band’s real-time performance to architect a sonic world on stage.
Joining Croker on stage are musicians Idris Frederick (keys), Eric Wheeler (bass), and Miguel Marcel Russell (drums) and special guests still to be announced.
Nicholas Daley
Acclaimed fashion designer Nicholas Daley, renowned for his intricate interplay weaving across music, fashion and culture will be co-curating a special evening at the iconic Barbican Centre in collaboration with Brick Lane Jazz festival.
“I am truly excited to be collaborating on this amazing opportunity by the Brick Lane jazz festival to co-curate an evening at the iconic Barbican centre as part of the festival 2025 line-up. This will be a true creative collaboration with one of my favourite artists US Trumpeter Theo Crocker who has always continued to push boundaries through his genre bending music of R’n’b, Hip Hop and of course Jazz. The evening will guarantee to showcase an eclectic array of artist from the London and international jazz scene, whilst highlighting Theo’s musical impact on the global contemporary jazz world. It will be an exploration of soundscapes, community and style whilst hosting it at such an important cultural institute in London with one of London's leading Jazz festivals.” — Nicholas Daley
Special Guests
Ego Ella May
Ego Ella May is a British-Nigerian, award-winning singer-songwriter from South London, celebrated for her genre-blending R&B, neo-soul, and contemporary jazz compositions rooted in her deep passion for jazz. Her introspective songwriting draws from personal experiences, literature, and candid conversations, emphasizing vulnerability and truth. Her debut LP Honey For Wounds garnered critical acclaim, with tracks featured in popular shows like Insecure, Sex Education, and Dear White People, earning her the 2020 MOBO Best Jazz Act award. Following a deluxe album release, a Jazz FM Award win, and collaborations with artists like Ari Lennox and Kojey Radical, she unveiled the critically acclaimed FIELDNOTES EP series. With FIELDNOTES: COMPLETE releasing December 6, 2024, and a sophomore LP set for 2025, Ego Ella May’s rise continues.
corto.alto
Fast-emerging Scottish composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist corto.alto (Glasgow-based Liam Shortall) blends traditional jazz with modern influences like electronic production, broken beat, and dub. His debut album, Bad With Names (Oct 2023), shortlisted for the Mercury Prize 2024, showcases his multi-instrumental talent and features top UK musicians like Fergus McCreadie and James Copus. Championed by Gilles Peterson, Jamie Cullum, and outlets like BBC 6 Music and Jazzwise, the album redefines contemporary jazz. Following a prolific campaign dropping 30 tracks in 30 days with 30/108, corto.alto performed over 50 shows in 2024, including North Sea Jazz, Montreux, and We Out Here, ending the year with a UK tour celebrating this breakthrough year.
Theon Cross
Theon Cross is one of those rare musicians whose vision has redefined their instrument. His unique approach to the tuba has expanded the instrument’s sonic possibilities in revolutionary fashion, restoring it to a long-forgotten prominence as a crucial part of the contemporary jazz ensemble. Through his combination of technical mastery, studio smarts, deep musical knowledge and expansive vision, the power and originality of Theon’s playing has reinvented the tuba’s place in modern music.
Coby Sey
Coby Sey is a South East London songwriter, producer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and DJ, known for his distinctive sound blending hip-hop, noise, jazz, and grime into a dubbed-out experimental style. His live performances, enriched by a revolving band of close collaborators like Alpha Maid and Ben Vince, deliver dreamlike yet danceable energy. A key figure in the CURL collective (with Mica Levi and Brother May) and a long-term NTS radio host, Coby’s open, collaborative ethos is evident in work with artists like Tirzah, Speakers Corner Quartet, and Laurel Halo. His long-awaited debut album, Conduit, released in September 2022 through AD 93, cements his unique place in contemporary music.
Sheila Maurice-Grey
Sheila is a London based trumpet and flugelhorn player who leads renowned band Kokoroko and has featured on several projects such as Sampha, Little Simz, Yussef Dayes, Stormzy and others. Sheila is also a visual artist and loves to paint. Her painting plays an important and central role in her solo music project where she aims to explore her musical voice as well as through her paintings provocatively question the of hyper sexualisation of black women throughout history.
Kassa Overall
Kassa Overall is a Grammy-nominated musician, emcee, singer, producer and drummer who melds avant-garde experimentation with hip-hop production techniques to tilt the nexus of jazz and rap in unmapped directions. He previously released four critically acclaimed projects: I THINK I’M GOOD, Go Get Ice Cream and Listen to Jazz, Shades of Flu and Shades of Flu 2.