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About Terence Blanchard
Terence Blanchard Sextet at the Village Vanguard
by David Adler
Terence Blanchard Village Vanguard New York, NY May 2000 Terence Blanchard's first appearance at the Vanguard in five years combined the no-nonsense tightness of a working band with the looseness of an inspired blowing session. Blanchard's sextet is certainly one of today's best straight-ahead bands, giving Roy Hargrove's, and for that matter Wynton Marsalis's, a serious run for their money. Joining Blanchard on the frontline were two marvelous saxophonists, Brice Winston on tenor and Aaron ...
Continue ReadingTerence Blanchard Live: The Interplay
by Gregory J. Robb
Terence Blanchard makes solo playing an intriguing puzzle that leaves us grasping to understand. That’s what happened to 350 patrons of Capilano College’s Theatre for the Performing Arts in North Vancouver (Canada) on November 8.Terence Blanchard plays with great autonomy. He is as comfortable holding a note until rapture as he is sizzling us with trumpet voicing. Curiously, this concert’s successes occurred more with Blanchard playing in solitary articulation than in a robust group framework. The most powerful ...
Continue ReadingTerence Blanchard: Bounce
by Eddie Becton
Bounce is a collage of swinging, soulful, and artistic cuts that are bound to strike the fancy of Terence Blanchard fans. The band's vast range covers territory from bop to African beats to traditional New Orleans marching band music, as demonstrated on the cuts Transform," Azania," and Bounce/Let's Go Off" respectively.
Blanchard calls on the services of Brice Winston, Lionel Loueke, Robert Glasper, Aaron Parks, Brandon Owens, and Eric Harland for Bounce. Interestingly, none of the band members (save Blanchard) ...
Continue ReadingA Fireside Chat with Terence Blanchard
by AAJ Staff
The biggest faux pas of this year's Golden Globes and their governing body, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (of which I am not a member, yet oddly foreign), was giving that hump Richard Gere an award for anything, much less prancing around in a Miramax hyped Chicago. A close second was not giving the Best Original Score--Motion Picture" award to Terence Blanchard for his haunting 25th Hour score. Elliot Goldenthal won the award for Frida, yet another Miramax film (coincidence). ...
Continue ReadingTerrence Blanchard: Let's Get Lost
by John Sharpe
Sub-titled “The Songs of Jimmy McHugh”, Let’s Get Lost features 11 original tunes by one of America's great popular tunesmiths. Ironically, while most listeners will be familiar with the songs, few would be able to identify McHugh (1894-1969) as the composer. Aiding trumpeter Terrence Blanchard are four of the hottest female vocalists in jazz today--Dianna Krall, Jane Monheit, Dianne Reeves and Cassandra Wilson. Backed by Blanchard’s working group, Canada’s own Dianna Krall gets things underway with a typically smoky, understated ...
Continue ReadingTerence Blanchard: Let's Get Lost
by AAJ Staff
As a follow-up to his previous album, Wandering Moon, Terence Blanchard has chosen to de-emphasize his compositional skills and to honor the often-overlooked popular songs written by Jimmy McHugh. That would be a fine project for a jazz musician were he or she to reinterpret the tunes, and some of that does occur on Let's Get Lost. However, many of its arrangements are straightforward, perhaps with the underlying addition of bass lines to elevate the tunes, as pianist Edward Simon ...
Continue ReadingTerence Blanchard: Wandering Moon
by David Adler
It’s been five years or so since trumpeter Terence Blanchard released a record of straight-ahead, small-group jazz, and it was well worth the wait. Blanchard has spent a good deal of his time scoring Spike Lee’s joints" and other films. As a result, his orchestrational chops exceed those of the average jazzman, and it shows throughout this fine album. The three-horn writing is impeccable. The flow of the music is also quite cinematic. And as far as the blowing is ...
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