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Terence Blanchard

The crucible of catastrophe impels creative expression. Since the turn of the century, this has taken shape in manifold ways, from artistic responses to the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the war in Iraq to the pummeling of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It is this latter calamity that informs Crescent City native son Terence Blanchard's impassioned song cycle, A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina), a 13-track emotional tour de force of anger, rage, compassion, melancholy and beauty. A Tale of God's Will, which features Blanchard's quintet—pianist Aaron Parks, saxophonist Brice Winston, bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Kendrick Scott—as well as a 40-member string orchestra, is his third album for Blue Note Records. (Since signing with the label in 2003, Blanchard has released two other critically acclaimed albums, Bounce and Flow, the latter of which was nominated for two Grammys in 2006.)

"This is what we are called to do as artists," says the trumpeter, bandleader, arranger and film-score composer." We document our social surroundings and give our impressions of events. The problem with Katrina is that the devastation is so vast that there's only been a trickle of art so far. We're all still digesting what went on and what continues to happen. It's like an unending story. For me, like so many others, it's taken me a moment to get my mind around all of this. I knew I needed to express this musically to keep the story alive, but so many important things—the safety of family members, figuring out how to rebuild my mother's house—never allowed me the time to breathe for a minute."

An important jumpstart for A Tale of God's Will was director Spike Lee's decision to document the aftermath of Katrina on film,in what turned out to be the four-hour HBO documentary, When The Levees Broke, which aired last year. Lee, who has enlisted Blanchard on numerous occasions to score his films, such as Mo' Better Blues, Malcolm X, The 25th Hour and Inside Man, tapped him once again for his documentary. "That started me to make some musical statements for this moment in time," Blanchard says. "It's part of the grieving process. Once I wrote some of the music for Spike's film,I knew I could take it and expand upon it. Meanwhile, guys in my band were writing music that reflected on what happened in the aftermath of Katrina. This provided me with the perfect opportunity to bring the band all together."

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Live Review

Terence Blanchard at The Carver Community Cultural Center

Read "Terence Blanchard at The Carver Community Cultural Center" reviewed by Katchie Cartwright


Terence Blanchard with the E-Collective and Turtle Island Quartet The Carver Community Cultural Center / Jo Long TheatreSan Antonio, TXNovember 4, 2023 San Antonio's Carver Community Cultural Center has long been a primary presenter of African American musical and educational programming in the city. Its first incarnation was as the Colored Community House, built in 1905 on land purchased by the NAACP. The building was set for demolition after desegregation in the 1970s but was ...

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Album Review

Ben Wendel: All One

Read "All One" reviewed by Claudio Bonomi


Classe 1976, canadese di nascita, cresciuto a Los Angeles e attualmente residente a Brooklyn (New York), Ben Wendel è considerato un astro nascente del jazz contemporaneo da diversi anni. Sassofonista e compositore, oltre ad essere stato nel 2001 tra i fondatori dei Kneebody, si è costruito negli anni una solida reputazione di solista e leader firmando ben sette album che hanno suscitato l'attenzione di pubblico e critica. Questo All One non fa eccezione. È stato concepito in tempi ...

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Album Review

Ben Wendel: All One

Read "All One" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Saxophonist Ben Wendel came up with a unique approach for this album of duets. He plays with a different musician on each of these six tracks, but while his guests stick to their primary instruments, Wendel fills in the space around them with multiple saxophone and bassoon parts, electronic effects, and percussion. The most conventional results of this approach are heard in the two vocal tracks. Cecile McLorin Salvant's sensitive singing on “I Loves You Porgy" and Jose ...

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Live Review

Boston Lyric Opera Plays the Music of Terence Blanchard at Emerson Cutler Majestic Theater

Read "Boston Lyric Opera Plays the Music of Terence Blanchard at Emerson Cutler Majestic Theater" reviewed by Doug Hall


Terence Blanchard Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre Boston Lyric Opera's Champion: An Opera in Jazz Boston, MA May 22, 2022 Now in its 45th season, Boston Lyric Opera is the largest and longest-lived opera company in New England (founded in 1976). Standing away from popular themes, BLO's programming has remained faithful to the tradition of trail-blazing new ground and offering new ways to enhance the opera-going experience. Always pursuing productions on the edge ...

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Album Review

Terence Blanchard featuring The E-Collective: Absence

Read "Absence" reviewed by Chris May


Trumpeter Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective's Absence is dedicated to saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter, who for health reasons has been obliged to retire from performing, at least temporarily. Some people celebrating their 88th birthday, as Shorter did on August 25 2021, might not welcome being the dedicatee of an album with such a title. They might consider a more appropriate choice of words to be Presence or even I'm Feeling Fine Thanks For Asking. But you never know with ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Terence Blanchard, John Ellis, Ben Goldberg, Becca Stevens & Other New Releases

Read "Terence Blanchard, John Ellis, Ben Goldberg, Becca Stevens & Other New Releases" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


Two beautiful and diverse renditions of Nefertiti-era Wayne Shorter, two exciting new albums featuring John Ellis, yet another surprise from Becca Stevens and much more in the second part of this week's edition focusing on recent and upcoming releases.Happy listening!PlaylistBen Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 John Ellis, Adam Levy, Glenn Patscha “Magnolia Triangle" Say It Quiet (Sunnyside) 0:16 Host talks 4:30 Pete Rodríguez “Academic Backstabbing 101" Obstacles (Sunnyside) 5:25 Pete ...

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Building a Jazz Library

Lift Every Voice And Sing: Twenty #BlackLives Albums That Matter

Read "Lift Every Voice And Sing: Twenty #BlackLives Albums That Matter" reviewed by Chris May


Jazz has been inextricably linked with social and political protest since at least the late 1930s, when Billie Holiday made famous the leftist songwriter and poet Abel Meeropol's “Strange Fruit." The song, which has a power to move that is undiminished by familiarity, likens the bodies of lynched African Americans to fruit hanging in trees. But the alignment of jazz and protest goes back further than “Strange Fruit." It is likely to have begun with the emergence ...

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Festival

The 11th TD James Moody Jazz Festival At The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) Announces Artist Line-Up

The 11th TD James Moody Jazz Festival At The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) Announces Artist Line-Up

Source: AMT Public Relations

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) today announced the exciting line-up of the highly anticipated TD James Moody Jazz Festival. This year’s program offers events combining jazz luminaries in collaboration with artists known for R&B, poetry, hip hop, and so much more. The festival kick-starts November 10th with two powerhouse concerts: one of the today’s most creative forces in the contemporary jazz scene, Terence Blanchard, will bejoined by his E-Collective and Turtle Island Quartet for a special tribute to ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Dawn Weber, Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective, "Honoring Our Own" with Wycliffe Gordon, and more

Jazz this week: Dawn Weber, Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective, "Honoring Our Own" with Wycliffe Gordon, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features plenty of brass, with performances headlined by one local trumpeter and singer; one visiting trumpeter who's become quite familiar to local listeners; one star trombonist who's helping pay tribute to some St. Louisans; and more. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, May 16 Cabaret Project St. Louis has found a new home for their monthly “Broadway Open Mic," which starting this week will take place at Sophie's ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Cyrus Chestnut; Peter Martin, Brian Owens & Terence Blanchard; and more

Jazz this week: Cyrus Chestnut; Peter Martin, Brian Owens & Terence Blanchard; and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a couple of first-call piano players- one visiting, one home-grown- plus the usual assortment of performances in a variety of musical styles from the city's talented contingent of local players. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, January 31 Pianist Cyrus Chestnut returns with his trio for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro. Chestnut has applied his virtuoso technique to all sorts of material ...

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Music Industry

Jazz this week: Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective, Funky Butt Brass Band, and more

Jazz this week: Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective, Funky Butt Brass Band, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music performances in and around St. Louis features the return of a famed trumpeter with a brand-new band and sound, plus a varied assortment of gigs from local favorites. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, June 10 Tonight, trumpeter Terence Blanchard opens a four-night engagement with his new band, the E-Collective, at Jazz at the Bistro. The New Orleans native released a new album, Breathless, just a couple of weeks ago, featuring ...

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Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

When we last saw Terence Blanchard here in jny: St. Louis back in February 2014, the jny: New Orleans-born trumpeter was playing on short notice at the Sheldon as a substitute for pianist Chucho Valdes, who had canceled his long-scheduled performance there due to a mid-tour injury. Blanchard also spent a good amount of time here the previous year, leading up to the world premiere of his opera Champion in June 2013 at Opera Theatre St. Louis. And local jazz ...

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Education

Terence Blanchard Named Visiting Scholar At Berklee College Of Music

Terence Blanchard Named Visiting Scholar At Berklee College Of Music

Source: Berklee Media Relations

Berklee College of Music has named world-renowned trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and Blue Note recording artist Terence Blanchard as a visiting scholar in the Jazz Composition department beginning in the fall of 2015. Blanchard will also work in the Film Scoring and Brass departments, and for the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. “Coming to Berklee feels like I’m coming home. Even though I never went to Berklee, I hang out there a great deal and learn a lot from my friends who ...

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Event

Tech & Jazz Communities Unite In Dallas To Help Build Technology Careers For U.S. Veterans

Tech & Jazz Communities Unite In Dallas To  Help Build Technology Careers For U.S. Veterans

Source: Muse Media

Dallas, TX – NPower, 7-Eleven, PepsiCo and the greater North Texas tech community are proud to present multiple Grammy Award- winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard for a benefit concert at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center on April 7, 2015, at 8 p.m. Tickets on sale now at TicketDFW.com or see event sponsorship opportunities at npower.org Over 30,000 new U.S. Armed Forces veterans enter the job market each year—but finding a good civilian job can be a challenge, and veteran unemployment ...

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Festival

Grammy U Teams With Terence Blanchard For New Orleans Jazz Fest May 4

Grammy U Teams With Terence Blanchard For New Orleans Jazz Fest May 4

Source: Michael Ricci

GRAMMY U Students From Mancini Institute To Perform With The Legendary Jazz Musician SANTA MONICA, Calif. — GRAMMY U— a Recording Academy program created to prepare college students interested in pursuing a career in the music industry — announced today their partnership with GRAMMY-winning jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard during the famed New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest on May 3–4. GRAMMY U students chosen from the Henry Mancini Institute at the Frost School of Music at the University ...

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Award / Grant

Terence Blanchard's Champion Nominated For International Opera Award

Terence Blanchard's Champion Nominated For International Opera Award

Source: Muse Media

Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer’s CHAMPION, which received its world premiere at Opera Theatre in June 2013, is one of five finalists for “World Premiere” of the year in the 2014 International Opera Awards. Funds currently being raised via IndieGoGo for recording/distribution of project for CD Los Angeles, CA: Opera Theatre’s 2013 world premiere Champion, which was co-commissioned with Jazz St. Louis, continues to garner international recognition with the February 13 announcement from the 2014 International Opera Awards that the ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Terence Blanchard, Erin Bode, Valentine's Day Jazz Around Town, and More

Jazz This Week: Terence Blanchard, Erin Bode, Valentine's Day Jazz Around Town, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

With a slight warmup in the weather coinciding with  Valentine's Day, it should be a good weekend in St. Louis to get out and celebrate your love of live jazz and creative music. Let's see what's happening around town over the next few days... Tonight, pianist Kara Baldus will play solo in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and songwriter Al Hammerman will joined by singers Alan Ox, Kim Fuller and Arvell Keithley plus ...

"[The musicians] are able to take these compositions and immediately translate them into the particular sound of Terence's band, which in many ways reminds me of what used to happen with Miles." —Herbie Hancock

"His impressive new album for Blue Note [is] a purposeful convergence of his film-composer and jazz-musician identities... The result is a melancholy suite that feels both intensely personal and broadly cinematic." —The New York Times

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

All One

Edition Records
2023

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Absence

Blue Note Records
2021

buy

Live

Blue Note
2018

buy

Breathless

Blue Note Records
2015

buy

Magnetic

Blue Note Records
2013

buy

Watts

Self Produced
2010

buy

Videos

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