Grammy-winning composer/trumpet player Terence Blanchard completes score for Cadillac Records
Film starring Beyonc Knowles and Adrien Brody to be released Dec. 5 by Tristar Pictures
World-renowned film composer and trumpet player Terence Blanchard has completed the score for Cadillac Records, the feature film about the story of Chess Records, the label in the 1950s that was home to Chuck Berry, Etta James, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. To be released Dec. 5th by Sony’s Tristar Pictures, the film stars Beyonc Knowles, Oscar® winner Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright and Mos Def.
Blanchard, whose composing talents were most recently seen on the big screen in Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna, created the score of Cadillac Records. The score was recorded in New York with Blanchard performing along with his celebrated quintet band.
The film is set in Chicago in the 1950s when a new record label emerged as the preferred home to the greatest blues, R&B and early rock & roll artists of the day. The “Chess Records” sound would go on to heavily influence the next generation of rock artists including the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and countless other American and British rockers. (The Rolling Stones paid tribute to the label in their song “2120 S. Michigan" – which was the Chicago address of Chess. In fact, the song was recorded there during their first U.S. tour in 1964.)
Says Blanchard of Cadillac Records, “This is really the story of the beginning of rock & roll and the artists who laid its musical foundation. It was a time when blues, R&B and even jazz and Gospel rock were very fluid genres with musicians frequently switching back and forth between styles. However, they all shared one thing – they were the ‘alternative’ to the popular commercial music of the day.”
As an artist himself, Blanchard is best known for his work as a composer and a “jazz musician,” and explains the challenges in composing in the “early rock & roll” idiom. “Growing up in New Orleans, I saw perform many of the artists who recorded on Chess – Muddy Water, Etta James, Bo Diddley…. And you know, New Orleans itself is one big musical gumbo, where musical styles often mix it up. So while this was my first bona fide ‘rock & roll’ musical score, I already was well-versed in the music that defined Chess Records.”
Written and directed by Darnell Martin, Cadillac Records marks the 44th feature film that Blanchard has scored. His work includes film scores for Spike Lee’s Mo Better Blues, Malcolm X and Inside Man, along with HBO’s critically lauded Emmy-winning series, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem In Four Acts. Blanchard’s CD, A Tale Of God’s Will (A Requiem For Katrina), is based on the music that he wrote for the series and included new music written by his band members. A beautifully haunting and impassioned song-cycle about Hurricane Katrina and the ravages incurred by it upon the city of New Orleans and its residents, A Tale Of God’s Will (A Requiem For Katrina) was the recipient of a 2008 Grammy Award.
Other films scored by Blanchard include Kasi Lemmons’ films Eve’s Bayou and Talk To Me, Oprah Winfrey’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Tim Story’s Barbershop and Ron Shelton’s Dark Blue.
The recipient of two Grammy Awards and multiple Grammy and Golden Globe nominations, this past year has been an incredibly prolific one for Blanchard on a number of other levels. In addition to touring worldwide, he also played a pivotal role in the moving of The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz from Los Angeles to New Orleans, a move that as Artistic Director he feels will benefit not only the city of New Orleans, but the students themselves who will be surrounded by the ever-present rich diversity of music in the Crescent City.
Blanchard was born in New Orleans on March 13, 1962, and began playing piano at 5 years of age. In elementary school, he added on the trumpet and was coached at home by his opera-singing father. In high school, Terence came under the tutelage of Ellis Marsalis and Roger Dickerson, and after graduation, attended Rutgers University on a music scholarship where one of his professors was so impressed by his talent that he brokered him a touring gig with Lionel Hampton’s band.
In '83, Wynton Marsalis recommended Terence as his replacement in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Part of the Blakey legend was his ability to foster performances and individual personalities from the young, malleable talents he brought into his fold. Blakey utilized and nurtured the improvisation and compositional ideas of his band members to solidify his own unique artistic vision. The legacy of the working band as jazz workshop is at the essence of jazz, and Terence remains one of the few on the scene today who fully embrace that dynamic.
Film starring Beyonc Knowles and Adrien Brody to be released Dec. 5 by Tristar Pictures
World-renowned film composer and trumpet player Terence Blanchard has completed the score for Cadillac Records, the feature film about the story of Chess Records, the label in the 1950s that was home to Chuck Berry, Etta James, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. To be released Dec. 5th by Sony’s Tristar Pictures, the film stars Beyonc Knowles, Oscar® winner Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright and Mos Def.
Blanchard, whose composing talents were most recently seen on the big screen in Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna, created the score of Cadillac Records. The score was recorded in New York with Blanchard performing along with his celebrated quintet band.
The film is set in Chicago in the 1950s when a new record label emerged as the preferred home to the greatest blues, R&B and early rock & roll artists of the day. The “Chess Records” sound would go on to heavily influence the next generation of rock artists including the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and countless other American and British rockers. (The Rolling Stones paid tribute to the label in their song “2120 S. Michigan" – which was the Chicago address of Chess. In fact, the song was recorded there during their first U.S. tour in 1964.)
Says Blanchard of Cadillac Records, “This is really the story of the beginning of rock & roll and the artists who laid its musical foundation. It was a time when blues, R&B and even jazz and Gospel rock were very fluid genres with musicians frequently switching back and forth between styles. However, they all shared one thing – they were the ‘alternative’ to the popular commercial music of the day.”
As an artist himself, Blanchard is best known for his work as a composer and a “jazz musician,” and explains the challenges in composing in the “early rock & roll” idiom. “Growing up in New Orleans, I saw perform many of the artists who recorded on Chess – Muddy Water, Etta James, Bo Diddley…. And you know, New Orleans itself is one big musical gumbo, where musical styles often mix it up. So while this was my first bona fide ‘rock & roll’ musical score, I already was well-versed in the music that defined Chess Records.”
Written and directed by Darnell Martin, Cadillac Records marks the 44th feature film that Blanchard has scored. His work includes film scores for Spike Lee’s Mo Better Blues, Malcolm X and Inside Man, along with HBO’s critically lauded Emmy-winning series, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem In Four Acts. Blanchard’s CD, A Tale Of God’s Will (A Requiem For Katrina), is based on the music that he wrote for the series and included new music written by his band members. A beautifully haunting and impassioned song-cycle about Hurricane Katrina and the ravages incurred by it upon the city of New Orleans and its residents, A Tale Of God’s Will (A Requiem For Katrina) was the recipient of a 2008 Grammy Award.
Other films scored by Blanchard include Kasi Lemmons’ films Eve’s Bayou and Talk To Me, Oprah Winfrey’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Tim Story’s Barbershop and Ron Shelton’s Dark Blue.
The recipient of two Grammy Awards and multiple Grammy and Golden Globe nominations, this past year has been an incredibly prolific one for Blanchard on a number of other levels. In addition to touring worldwide, he also played a pivotal role in the moving of The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz from Los Angeles to New Orleans, a move that as Artistic Director he feels will benefit not only the city of New Orleans, but the students themselves who will be surrounded by the ever-present rich diversity of music in the Crescent City.
Blanchard was born in New Orleans on March 13, 1962, and began playing piano at 5 years of age. In elementary school, he added on the trumpet and was coached at home by his opera-singing father. In high school, Terence came under the tutelage of Ellis Marsalis and Roger Dickerson, and after graduation, attended Rutgers University on a music scholarship where one of his professors was so impressed by his talent that he brokered him a touring gig with Lionel Hampton’s band.
In '83, Wynton Marsalis recommended Terence as his replacement in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Part of the Blakey legend was his ability to foster performances and individual personalities from the young, malleable talents he brought into his fold. Blakey utilized and nurtured the improvisation and compositional ideas of his band members to solidify his own unique artistic vision. The legacy of the working band as jazz workshop is at the essence of jazz, and Terence remains one of the few on the scene today who fully embrace that dynamic.
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