Theo Croker remixes his latest albums live on stage at the Barbican

IN the hallway of my house is a photograph of a plaster model of someone’s dentition. It is actually Chet Baker’s teeth, a model taken in the 1960s when he had a tooth chipped by heavies hired by this dealer.

The legend that they broke all his teeth is not true, but even a broken tooth can be a catastrophe for a trumpet player. This is why most of them have models taken by dentists and stored in case anything untoward happens in the future to their all important embrouchure.

I was reminded of this recently, when in the hours after I had donated my flugelhorn to charity, which I have written about, I went to a concert at the Pizza Express. It was my trumpet-playing friend Guy Barker in concert with Ian Shaw.

Guy is one of those sensible players who has a replica of his teeth in storage somewhere in Harley Street.

As Guy navigated the changes on some Gershwin, my companion lent over and asked how old Guy’s trumpet was. Obviously, because of the vintage patina of the metal, he was expecting me to say, 20, 30, 50, years old.

“It’s about three years,” I said. “That is a Dave Monette trumpet.” Dave is one of the great craftsmen of the horn. Most serious players sooner or later end up at his door in Oregon.

The apparently vintage finish is part of the alchemy practiced by Monette – he swears the dull, mottled finish enhances the sound. Many agree – after all, the great Wynton Marsalis plays a Monette, and so does Theo Croker, another American trumpeter.

Musically, Theo is a generation apart from Wynton, as he incorporates inventive sampling and hip-hop beats into his work but the core element of his playing is the Monette.

As well as his horn, Theo was also the recipient of another of Monette’s specialties: craniosacral work. He believes it’s not just the mouth’s embrouchure that’s important for a trumpet player, but also the whole musculoskeletal system around the head.

So Theo, when he first met Monette, could not get on with the man’s trumpets. Could they have been over-hyped? Monette gave him several sessions of his craniosacral re-alignment, and afterwards he could play anything that the master could throw at him.

You can hear the results at the Barbican on February 15 for Theo’s genre-busting “Dream Manifest”, where he recreates, remixes and recasts his last two albums live on stage.

He has a fabulous supporting cast, including Scottish producer/trombonist corto.alto, tuba maestro Theon Cross, singers Ego Ella May and anaiis, fellow trumpeter Sheila Morris-Grey and more.

It’ll look good too, as it is co-curated by London-based music-centericfashion designer Nicholas Daley. It’s going to be rooted in the jazz tradition, but will also boldly push the idiom towards the future.

• Theo Croker’s Dream Manifest, Barbican Hall, February 15, 8pm
Tickets: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/theo-crokers-dream-manifest