Theon Cross is a British

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

player and composer.

Life and career

Born and raised in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, to a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n father and

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

n mother, he began taking

tenor horn The Tenor horn (British English; Alto horn in American English, Althorn in Germany; occasionally referred to as E horn) is a brass instrument in the saxhorn family and is usually pitched in E. It has a bore that is mostly conical, like the flu ...

lessons at the age of eight, then switched to tuba when he was in his mid-teens, discovering jazz through the

Tomorrow's Warriors Tomorrow's Warriors (TW) is a jazz music education and artist development organisation that was co-founded in 1991 by Janine Irons and Gary Crosby, committed to championing diversity, inclusion and equality across the arts through jazz, with ...

music education programme. He studied at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

. Cross is a core member of the jazz band

Sons of Kemet Sons of Kemet were a British jazz band formed by Shabaka Hutchings, Oren Marshall, Seb Rochford, and Tom Skinner (drummer), Tom Skinner. Theon Cross replaced Marshall on tuba after the first album, and Eddie Hick replaced Rochford on drums afte ...

. He has also worked with

Moses Boyd Moses Boyd (born 30 April 1991) is a British jazz drummer, composer, record producer, bandleader and radio host. His debut solo studio album ''Dark Matter'' (2020) was nominated for the 2020 Mercury Prize. In 2014, Boyd and saxophonist Binke ...

and

Nubya Garcia Nubya Nyasha Garcia (born 1991) is a British jazz musician, Saxophone, saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Early life and education Garcia was born in 1991 in Camden Town, London, the youngest of four siblings, to a Guyanese people, Guyanese ...

in his solo projects. Other collaborators include

Jon Batiste Jonathan Michael Batiste (born November 11, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, composer, bandleader, and television personality. He has recorded and performed with artists including Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Prince (musician), ...

Emeli Sandé Adele Emily Sandé ( ; previously Gouraguine; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a British singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Sandé rose t ...

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State ** Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom betwee ...

Lafawndah Yasmine Dubois, known professionally as Lafawndah (also known as KUKII) is a singer, songwriter, producer and director. Early life Lafawndah was raised in Paris, France, and is of Egyptian, Iranian, and English descent. She has lived across t ...

and

Makaya McCraven Makaya McCraven (born October 19, 1983) is an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Life and career McCraven was born in Paris, France, to jazz drummer and Hungarian singer Ágnes Zsigmondi (of the band Kolind, and from the age of three was r ...

. His solo releases include the 2015 EP ''Aspirations'' and the 2019 studio album, ''Fyah''. On 29 October 2021, Cross released his sophomore studio album ''Intra-I''.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

* ''Aspirations'' (2015)

Collaborative albums

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Theon Living people 21st-century Black British musicians Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama English male jazz musicians English people of Jamaican descent English people of Saint Lucian descent English tubists Jazz tubists Musicians from London Sons of Kemet members Tomorrow's Warriors alumni Year of birth missing (living people)