Theon Cross

Theon Cross is a London-based tuba player, composer, and bandleader. Since 2015, he has been a key component of the city's revitalized jazz scene for his unique brand of "tuba bass" in jazz, funk, dubstep, grime, hip-hop, soca, dub, and improvised music. He is a founding member of award-winning quartet Sons of Kemet, and, as a sideman, has worked with Moses Boyd, Jon Batiste, Makaya McCraven, and Courtney Pine. He is also a member of South London-collective Steam Down and leads his own eclectic ensemble. Aspirations, his self-released 2015 debut, garnered nominations for Best Instrumentalist of the Year from the Jazz FM Awards. In 2019, he issued Fyah and topped the U.K. jazz charts. After international touring was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic, Cross released his third album, Intra-I, in 2021. In 2025, he delivered the solo live Affirmations: Live at Blue Note New York.