Press room

Ahead of the EFG London Jazz Festival 2024 which starts this week running from Friday 15 November to Sunday 24 November, the Barbican announces a duo of jazz performances for 2025: Theo Croker’s DREAM MANIFEST (15 Feb 2025) and the Jazz at Lincoln Centre with Wynton Marsalis presenting Marsalis’ new work The Democracy! Suite (16 Mar 2025).

Full details about each of these performances in 2025 follow below.

For the full line-up for this year’s London Jazz Festival 2024 at the Barbican (15–24 Nov 2024), please click here.

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Theo Croker’s DREAM MANIFEST + special guests
Barbican x Brick Lane Jazz Festival
Saturday 15 February 2025, 8pm
Barbican Hall
Tickets from £20 plus booking fee

The Barbican and local friends Brick Lane Jazz Festival present DREAM MANIFEST: a unique evening led by US-based trumpeter extraordinaire Theo Croker, co-curated by acclaimed fashion designer Nicholas Daley. Bringing together an exploration of soundscapes, style and the global jazz community for a very special night, Theo Croker’s DREAM MANIFEST will see Croker joined on stage at the Barbican by a suite of special guests from the London and international jazz and wider music scenes in February 2025.

A collaborative oratorio about imagination, DREAM MANIFEST explores the power to manifest in our universe. It is a sonic exploration that defies genre while being deeply rooted in tradition. This Barbican presentation of DREAM MANIFEST will also include a retrospective on Croker’s last two full length albums BLK2LIFE : A Future Past (Star People Nation, 2021) and Love Quantum (Star People Nation, 2022).

When performed live, DREAM MANIFEST also sees Croker add the role of DJ to his palette (in addition to the trumpet), performing and manipulating samples from the albums and reassembling elements of the band’s real-time performance to architect a sonic world live on stage.

Renowned for entrancing trumpet melodies and an innovative musical approach, Theo Croker is a standout figure in the contemporary music scene. The grandson of legendary trumpeter Doc Cheatham, Croker continues the legacy, collaborating with a diverse range of musicians, including the likes of Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ari Lennox, J. Cole, Jill Scott and Common, showcasing his versatility across jazz, hip hop, pop, and R&B landscapes. 

Croker’s live performances command the stage with an infectious energy that captivates audiences globally. With a Grammy nomination, a memorable Tiny Desk performance, and three recent releases, BLK2LIFE : A Future Past, Love Quantum and Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XIII: Sketches of Miles, Croker continues to transcend genres, leaving an indelible mark on the evolving landscape of music with each resonant note.

Performers will include a core unit of Idris Frederick (keys), Eric Wheeler (bass), and Miguel Marcel Russell (drums). The performance will be supported with wardrobe and styling by Nicholas Daley renowned for his intricate interplay weaving across music, fashion and culture (www.nicholasdaley.net). Special guests for DREAM MANIFEST will be announced soon.

Produced by the Barbican in association with Brick Lane Jazz Festival
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Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis: The Democracy! Suite
Sunday 16 March 2025, 7.30pm
Barbican Hall
Tickets from £35 plus booking fee

Led by trumpeter, composer and band leader Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra presents the European premiere of Marsalis’ new work: The Democracy! Suite, as well as a selection drawn from the globally renowned ensemble’s vast canon of jazz masterworks.

“Jazz music is the perfect metaphor for democracy” says Wynton Marsalis. At a time when America, and indeed, the whole world, finds itself at a crossroads, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer was inspired to write a poignant work, The Democracy! Suite, which proves that the joy and beauty of jazz can bring us all closer together. Released as a digital album (JLCO inc., 2021) recorded by Marsalis and a septet comprising members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, The Democracy! Suite features impassioned compositions that are a reflection of turbulent times, urging us into action.

Presented as a two-part concert at the Barbican, a septet will perform the European premiere of The Democracy! Suite in the first half, after which the full orchestra will perform a selection of works drawn from their vast canon.

This concert will take place on the same weekend as a previously announced performance by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (15 Mar 2025) at the Barbican when they will join forces with Barbican Resident Orchestra the London Symphony Orchestra and Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano to perform Marsalis Symphony No.4 The Jungle.

Produced by the Barbican
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