Flow (Terence Blanchard album)
Encyclopedia
Flow is a 2005 jazz
album by Grammy
winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard
, released through Blue Note
, and was nominated for a Grammy Award
"Best Jazz Instrumental Album" in 2005.
winner Herbie Hancock
has produced for other artists, is imbued with a dark-hued melancholy that really comes to the fore on a pair of elegant, shape-shifting ballads -- "Benny's Tune," featuring Hancock on piano, and "Over There." Several pieces, Blanchard returning to his African roots thanks to a spirited "Wadagbe" and "Harvesting Dance." Lionel Loueke
, a native of Benin
, starred on his composition "Wadagbe," which he led off by tapping his guitar's hollow body like a percussion instrument. Then he added a West African chant as his melody, with his voice doubled via microphone effects. The title composition "Flow," split into three tracks spread across the album, opens with a low, hungry groove driven by the group's most recent additions (bassist Derrick Hodge
and drummer Kendrick Scott
) and offers variations on the theme for "Part II" and "Part III." This album Flow is an eclectic acoustic-electric hybrid, a nimble, uncompromising fusion of world music and mainstream jazz that suggests the shape of the genre to come.
.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
album by Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard
Terence Blanchard
Terence Oliver Blanchard is an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, arranger, and film score composer. Since he emerged on the scene in 1980 with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and then shortly thereafter with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Blanchard has been a leading artist in jazz...
, released through Blue Note
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
, and was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
"Best Jazz Instrumental Album" in 2005.
Background
This disc, one of only a few projects that ten-time GrammyGrammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winner Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
has produced for other artists, is imbued with a dark-hued melancholy that really comes to the fore on a pair of elegant, shape-shifting ballads -- "Benny's Tune," featuring Hancock on piano, and "Over There." Several pieces, Blanchard returning to his African roots thanks to a spirited "Wadagbe" and "Harvesting Dance." Lionel Loueke
Lionel Loueke
Lionel Loueke is a guitarist born in the west African country of Benin. He moved to Ivory Coast in 1990 to study at the National Institute of Art. He attended the American School of Modern Music in Paris, France from 1994-1998...
, a native of Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
, starred on his composition "Wadagbe," which he led off by tapping his guitar's hollow body like a percussion instrument. Then he added a West African chant as his melody, with his voice doubled via microphone effects. The title composition "Flow," split into three tracks spread across the album, opens with a low, hungry groove driven by the group's most recent additions (bassist Derrick Hodge
Derrick Hodge
Derrick Hodge is an American bassist, composer, and music producer. He is also the founder of Son of Knowledge Music and Son of Knowledge Entertainment.- Biography :...
and drummer Kendrick Scott
Kendrick Scott
Kendrick Scott is an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer. Scott is the founder of the World Culture Music Record Company.-Biography:Kendrick A.D. Scott was born and raised in Houston, Texas...
) and offers variations on the theme for "Part II" and "Part III." This album Flow is an eclectic acoustic-electric hybrid, a nimble, uncompromising fusion of world music and mainstream jazz that suggests the shape of the genre to come.
Performers
For four days in mid-December 2004, the trumpeter worked with his sextet at the Jim Henson Studios in Hollywood, California. Tracking the sessions at Henson was engineer Don Murray, who has a relationship with Blanchard dating back to 1995, when the trumpeter scored Kasi Lemmons' film Eve's BayouEve's Bayou
Eve's Bayou is a 1997 American drama film written and directed by Kasi Lemmons, who made her directorial debut with this feature. Samuel L...
.
- Terence BlanchardTerence BlanchardTerence Oliver Blanchard is an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, arranger, and film score composer. Since he emerged on the scene in 1980 with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and then shortly thereafter with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Blanchard has been a leading artist in jazz...
(trumpet) - Aaron ParksAaron ParksAaron Parks is a jazz pianist.-Personal:Aaron entered the University of Washington at the age of 14 through the Transition School and Early Entrance Program as a double major in computer science and music...
(keyboards) - Brice Winston (tenor and soprano saxophones)
- Derrick HodgeDerrick HodgeDerrick Hodge is an American bassist, composer, and music producer. He is also the founder of Son of Knowledge Music and Son of Knowledge Entertainment.- Biography :...
(bass) - Lionel LouekeLionel LouekeLionel Loueke is a guitarist born in the west African country of Benin. He moved to Ivory Coast in 1990 to study at the National Institute of Art. He attended the American School of Modern Music in Paris, France from 1994-1998...
(guitar/vocals) - Kendrick ScottKendrick ScottKendrick Scott is an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer. Scott is the founder of the World Culture Music Record Company.-Biography:Kendrick A.D. Scott was born and raised in Houston, Texas...
(drums) - Herbie HancockHerbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
(piano on "Benny’s Tune," "The Source") - Gretchen ParlatoGretchen ParlatoGretchen Parlato is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Lionel Loueke, Wayne Shorter and Kenny Barron....
(vocals on "Over There," "Child’s Play")
Track listing
| Track | Song Title | Composer | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Flow, Pt. 1 | Blanchard/Hodge | 5:29 |
| 2. | Wadagbe (Intro) | Loueke | 4:14 |
| 3. | Wadagbe | Loueke | 10:26 |
| 4. | Benny's Tune | Loueke | 7:43 |
| 5. | Wandering Wonder | Blanchard | 5:46 |
| 6. | Flow, Pt. 2 | Blanchard/Hodge | 3:37 |
| 7. | The Source | Scott | 8:01 |
| 8. | Over There | Hodge | 7:32 |
| 9. | Child's Play | Winston | 6:11 |
| 10. | Flow, Pt. 3 | Blanchard/Hodge | 2:45 |
| 11. | Harvesting Dance | Parks | 11:42 |
Billboard Chart
| Billboard Chart | ||||
| Year | Category | Weeks on Chart | Peak Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Top Jazz Album | 5 | 10 | |