A TRULY BREATHTAKING (IN MANY SENSES OF THE WORD) DISPLAY OF JAZZ MASTERY

By Sophie Clark | Muck Rack Portfolio | Press Invite

I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time at Ronnie Scott’s, but the energy for a late Friday night show when the headliner, Theon Cross, is a born and raised Londoner is something else.

The air was crackling with pride, support, and excitement for Theon Cross, a truly exceptional tuba talent who combines his classical education from the prestigious Guildhall School with the homegrown improv scene of Peckham Levels to make a wonderfully fun, entrancing, and ethereal night of jazz and dance music.

Cross and his band, equal parts supporting and outstanding in their own right, put on a truly breathtaking (in many senses of the word) display of jazz mastery for the overflowing crowd at the iconic venue.

I’d be willing to bet most people in that room entered without thinking much of the tuba. As much as I was excited to see Cross, some of my interest in this show was out of curiosity for how he could stretch out almost two hours of jazz that focused around what I thought of as, well, not exactly a soloist’s instrument.

When I thought of jazz solos, being the basic person I was prior to the show, I would jump to trumpet, trombone, saxophone, not the giant hulk that is a tuba. I’m very glad to say that my perspective has now changed.

Cross put on what could really only be described as an athletic performance, with total control and mastery over his instrument and the room.

I sometimes struggle with total improvised jazz, but as my world gets more and more algorithmic, I love to hear something get created in front of me that feels entirely human, and that’s what took place on the Ronnie Scott’s main stage on Friday night.

There were notes played by Cross that felt otherworldly, and riffs created by his drummer, LOX, a rising star in the jazz and hip-hop world, that swept the room up into their musical creations.

The room truly lit up when the band leaned into dance music, using loop pedals and LOX’s beat to loosen everybody up.

Speaking with people after the show, the sentiment of the overflow section was that everybody wanted to come out to support London’s own.

The London jazz scene has always been fantastic, but big names such as Raye, the Ezra Collective, and Cross’ own band, Sons of Kemet, are bringing even more attention and excitement to our homegrown artists. I’m really looking forward to seeing support for Cross continue to grow in and beyond this city.

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