Multiple Grammy-winning trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard is readying his new album Breathless for May 26 featuring his new quintet, The E-Collective (Charles Altura on guitar, Fabian Almazan on piano and synths, Donald Ramsey on bass, and Oscar Seaton on drums.
By Elle Breezy
Sometimes, there are moments in your life when you can’t believe what is happening right in front of you. For us, last night was one of those moments… But first, let’s rewind!
The New Orleans trumpeter recently released his new album, which uses electronic sounds and grooves to address age-old issues.
By Alex Rawls
Since top-tier jazz and multiple Grammy-winning trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard embarked on his solo recording career with his eponymous Columbia Records album in 1991, the New Orleans-born and -based artist has traveled many paths musically, including delivering adventurous and provocative acoustic jazz outings of original material, composing over 50 soundtracks and even, in 2013, debuting Champion: An Opera in Jazz. He has also, in the spirit of his onetime membership in the jazz school of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, mentored several musicians in his bands who have gone on to have significant recording careers of their own (including Lionel Loueke, Aaron Parks, Kendrick Scott and one of his current band members Fabian Almazan).
More than 1,000 miles separate Detroit and New Orleans, but the two towns are close in spirit.
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra will explore the cities’ kinship in a three-day event June 2-4 at The Max called “A Musical Tale of Two Cities: Motown Meets the Big Easy.” It kicks off with a Bourbon Street Party featuring Big Sam’s Funky Nation and continues with a master class and performances by youth groups from the Motor City and the Crescent City.
By George Bulanda
Trumpet player and composer Terence Blanchard could rest on his laurels with five Grammy Awards, a broad solo discography that spans 20 years, and film scoring credits that range from Love & Basketball to Spike Lee’s Mo’ Betta Blues.
But Blanchard keeps working. Back with a new band — the E-Collective, complete with a guitarist he met via Facebook — and a new sound (“It’s a band that has a groove philosophy,” he says), Blanchard is staying contemporary while continuing to use his music to bring attention to injustice. On his new record Breathless (out now on Blue Note), the trumpet player was inspired by the urgency behind Eric Garner’s plea-turned-national rallying cry, “I can’t breathe.”
By Natalie Weiner