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Baker's Dozen

Top Brass: Theon Cross' Baker's Dozen
Stewart Smith , October 4th, 2023 08:19

Ahead of a special performance at Kings Place’s Luminate festival later this month, London jazz outlier Theon Cross takes Stewart Smith through his 13 favourite records, from Stevie Wonder to Kano via Miles Davis and Lauryn Hill

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Charles Mingus – The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady

I remember getting into this album when I was studying at Guildhall. It feels like it's coming out of Duke Ellington, but it’s pure Mingus. The orchestration, it’s pure raucousness and fire, but it’s also beautiful at the same. The suites, the way it flows into each other, it was very different from anything I'd ever heard at that time. And obviously I'm sold l because there’s tuba in there as well. Yeah, love it.