Terence Blanchard
Encyclopedia
Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) 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. He was an integral figure in the 1980s jazz resurgence having recorded several award-winning albums and having performed with the jazz elite.
He is known as a straight-ahead artist in the hard bop
tradition but has recently utilized an African-fusion style of playing that makes him unique from other trumpeters on the performance circuit. However, it is as a film composer that Blanchard reaches his widest audience. His trumpet can be heard on nearly fifty film scores; more than forty bear his unmistakable compositional style. Since 2000, Blanchard has served as Artistic Director at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
. He lives in the Garden District of New Orleans
with his wife and four children.
, the only child to parents Wilhelmina and Joseph Oliver Blanchard, a part-time opera singer and insurance company manager. Blanchard began playing piano at the age of five and then the trumpet at age eight upon hearing Alvin Alcorn
play. Blanchard played trumpet recreationally alongside childhood friend Wynton Marsalis
in summer music camps but showed no real proficiency on the instrument. Then, while in high school, he began studying at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts
(NOCCA) under Roger Dickerson and Ellis Marsalis, Jr.
. From 1980 to 1982, Blanchard studied under jazz saxophonist Paul Jeffrey
and trumpeter Bill Fielder at Rutgers University
, while touring with the Lionel Hampton
Orchestra. In 1982, Wynton Marsalis recommended Blanchard to replace him in Art Blakey's
Jazz Messengers and until 1986, Blanchard was the band's trumpeter and musical director. With Blakey and as co-leader of a quintet with saxophonist Donald Harrison
and pianist Mulgrew Miller
, Blanchard rose to prominence as a key figure in the 1980s Jazz Resurgence. The Harrison/Blanchard group recorded five albums from 1984-1988 until Blanchard left to pursue a solo career in 1990.
In the 1990s, after a laborious but successful embouchure
change, Blanchard was as busy as ever. He recorded his self-titled debut for Columbia Records which reached third on the Billboard Jazz Charts. After performing on soundtracks for Spike Lee
movies, including Do the Right Thing
and Mo' Better Blues
, Lee wanted Blanchard to compose the scores for his films beginning with "Jungle Fever
" (1991). Blanchard has written the score for every Spike Lee film since including, Malcolm X
, Clockers, Summer of Sam
, 25th Hour
, Inside Man
. In 2006, he composed the score for Spike Lee's 4-hour Hurricane Katrina
documentary for HBO entitled When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. Blanchard also appeared in front of the camera with his mother to share their emotional journey back to find her home completely destroyed.
Blanchard has also composed for other directors, including Leon Ichaso
, Ron Shelton
and Kasi Lemmons
. With over forty scores to his credit, Blanchard is the most prolific jazz musician to ever compose for movies. Entertainment Weekly
proclaimed Blanchard "central to a general resurgence of jazz composition for film." Yet in a 1994 interview for Down Beat
, Blanchard was quoted as saying, "Writing for film is fun, but nothing can beat being a jazz musician, playing a club, playing a concert".
All the while, Blanchard has remained true to his jazz roots as a trumpeter and bandleader on the performance circuit. He has recorded several award-winning albums for Columbia, Sony Classical and Blue Note Records, including In My Solitude: The Billie Holiday Songbook
(1994), Romantic Defiance (1995), The Heart Speaks (1996), Wandering Moon (2000), Let's Get Lost
(2001) and Flow
(2005), which was produced by pianist Herbie Hancock
and received two Grammy Award
nominations.
Terence Blanchard's 2001 CD Let's Get Lost
was his most commercially successful album to date. It features new arrangements of classic songs written by Jimmy McHugh
and performed by his own quintet along with the leading ladies of jazz vocals: Diana Krall
, Jane Monheit
, Dianne Reeves
, and Cassandra Wilson
.
In 2005, Blanchard was part of the ensemble that won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for his participation on McCoy Tyner
’s Illuminations, an award he shared with Tyner, Gary Bartz
, Christian McBride
and Lewis Nash
.
Blanchard was a judge for the 5th annual Independent Music Awards
to support independent artists' careers. In 2009 in the Disney movie, The Princess and the Frog, Blanchard played all of the alligator Louis’ trumpet parts. He also voiced the role of Earl the bandleader in the riverboat band.
The book is the 42nd title in the publisher's well-regarded "Series In Jazz" headed by editors Dan Morgenstern and Edward Berger.
"Written in an intimate, conversational style, Contemporary Cat: Terence Blanchard with Special Guests begins in the birthplace of jazz, Blanchard's hometown, New Orleans. His family and famous musician teachers speak of a disciplined youngster who matured alongside the Marsalis brothers and saxophonist Donald Harrison to become a leader in the important 1980s jazz resurgence."
. Herbie Hancock
serves as chairman; Wayne Shorter
, Clark Terry
and Jimmy Heath
sit on the board of trustees. The conservatory offers an intensive, tuition-free, two-year master's program to a limited number of students (only up to eight per every two years).
In his role as artistic director, Blanchard works with the students in the areas of artistic development, arranging, composition, and career counseling. He also participates in master classes and community outreach activities associated with the program. "Out of my desire to give something back to the jazz community, I wanted to get involved. In fact, I've always said that if I wasn't a musician, that I would like to be a teacher. So I was glad to get involved and to be a part of this unique program that fosters such an open and accessible environment."
In April 2007, the Institute announced its "Commitment to New Orleans" initiative which includes the relocation of the program to the campus of Loyola University New Orleans
from Los Angeles. Blanchard had passionately lobbied the Institute to relocate saying, "After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was shaken and its musical roots were threatened. I grew up in this city and learned about jazz here at Loyola with other young jazz musicians like Wynton and Branford Marsalis and I know that the Institute will have a great impact on jazz and in our communities. We are going to work hard to help jazz and New Orleans flourish once again."
(*denotes score available on CD).
For further reading, including TV scores, see http://imdb.com/name/nm0005966/
in the category of Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. His two other Grammy Awards were as a sideman for Art Blakey (1984) and McCoy Tyner (2004).
In 2007, the Monterey Jazz Festival
named Blanchard Artist-In-Residence, citing him as "one his generation’s most artistically mature and innovative artists and a committed supporter of jazz education." The Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary Band featuring Blanchard on trumpet will make a 54-date, 10-week tour of the United States from January 8, 2008 to March 16, 2008. Rounding out the band will be saxophonist James Moody
, pianist Benny Green
, bassist Derrick Hodge
and drummer Kendrick Scott
. The special ensemble will also feature jazz singer Nnenna Freelon
.
In December 2007, the Terence Blanchard Quintet performed the movie music of Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard with an orchestra and singers Dee Dee Bridgewater
, Kurt Elling
, and Raul Midón
at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
in Washington, D.C.
In November 2008 he was a guest on Private Passions
, the biographical music discussion programme on BBC Radio 3
.
Blanchard composed original music for Stephen Adly Guirgis
's new Broadway play The Motherfucker With the Hat
, which premiered at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
on April 11, 2011. The show is described as "a high-octane verbal cage match about love, fidelity and misplaced haberdasher
y."
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
Orchestra and then shortly thereafter with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Blanchard has been a leading artist in jazz. He was an integral figure in the 1980s jazz resurgence having recorded several award-winning albums and having performed with the jazz elite.
He is known as a straight-ahead artist in the hard bop
Hard bop
Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
tradition but has recently utilized an African-fusion style of playing that makes him unique from other trumpeters on the performance circuit. However, it is as a film composer that Blanchard reaches his widest audience. His trumpet can be heard on nearly fifty film scores; more than forty bear his unmistakable compositional style. Since 2000, Blanchard has served as Artistic Director at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz is a non-profit music education-oriented organization co-founded in 1986 by the family of the late American jazz musician Thelonious Monk, opera singer Maria Fisher and Thomas R...
. He lives in the Garden District of New Orleans
Garden District, New Orleans
The Garden District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Central City/Garden District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: St. Charles Avenue to the north, 1st Street to the east, Magazine Street to the south and Toledano Street to the...
with his wife and four children.
Life and career
Blanchard was born in New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, the only child to parents Wilhelmina and Joseph Oliver Blanchard, a part-time opera singer and insurance company manager. Blanchard began playing piano at the age of five and then the trumpet at age eight upon hearing Alvin Alcorn
Alvin Alcorn
Alvin Alcorn was an American New Orleans jazz trumpeter.Alcorn was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He learned music from his brother, though not much is known about his youth. He played freelance in New Orleans in the late 1920s and early 1930s; he appears with Armand J. Piron's Sunny South...
play. Blanchard played trumpet recreationally alongside childhood friend Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
in summer music camps but showed no real proficiency on the instrument. Then, while in high school, he began studying at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts
New Orleans Center for Creative Arts
New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, or NOCCA, is a professional arts training center for secondary school-age children. NOCCA is located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The school offers instruction in creative writing, dance, media arts, music, theatre arts, and visual arts, with a summer culinary...
(NOCCA) under Roger Dickerson and Ellis Marsalis, Jr.
Ellis Marsalis, Jr.
Ellis Marsalis is an American musician. He can usually be seen performing on Fridays at Snug Harbor jazz bistro in New Orleans.- Life and career :...
. From 1980 to 1982, Blanchard studied under jazz saxophonist Paul Jeffrey
Paul Jeffrey
Paul Jeffrey is an American jazz tenor saxophonist, arranger, and educator born in New York City. Perhaps best known for performing with Thelonious Monk from 1970–1975, Jeffrey also worked with musicians including Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Lionel Hampton, B.B...
and trumpeter Bill Fielder at Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
, while touring with the Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
Orchestra. In 1982, Wynton Marsalis recommended Blanchard to replace him in Art Blakey's
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
Jazz Messengers and until 1986, Blanchard was the band's trumpeter and musical director. With Blakey and as co-leader of a quintet with saxophonist Donald Harrison
Donald Harrison
Donald Harrison, Jr. is an American jazz saxophonist from New Orleans, Louisiana.-Biography:Harrison studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and Berklee College of Music. He played with Roy Haynes, Jack McDuff, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Terence Blanchard and Don Pullen in the...
and pianist Mulgrew Miller
Mulgrew Miller
Mulgrew Miller is an American jazz pianist who performs in a number of jazz idioms. He began his career as member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.-Biography:...
, Blanchard rose to prominence as a key figure in the 1980s Jazz Resurgence. The Harrison/Blanchard group recorded five albums from 1984-1988 until Blanchard left to pursue a solo career in 1990.
In the 1990s, after a laborious but successful embouchure
Embouchure
The embouchure is the use of facial muscles and the shaping of the lips to the mouthpiece of woodwind instruments or the mouthpiece of the brass instruments.The word is of French origin and is related to the root bouche , 'mouth'....
change, Blanchard was as busy as ever. He recorded his self-titled debut for Columbia Records which reached third on the Billboard Jazz Charts. After performing on soundtracks for Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
movies, including Do the Right Thing
Do the Right Thing
Do the Right Thing is a 1989 American dramedy produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee, who is also a featured actor in the film. Other members of the cast include Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, and John Turturro. It is also notably the...
and Mo' Better Blues
Mo' Better Blues
Mo' Better Blues is a 1990 drama film starring Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, and Spike Lee, who also directed. It follows a period in the life of a fictional jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam as a series of bad decisions result in his jeopardizing both his relationships and his playing career...
, Lee wanted Blanchard to compose the scores for his films beginning with "Jungle Fever
Jungle Fever
Jungle Fever is a 1991 American drama film directed by Spike Lee, starring Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra. It was Lee's fifth feature-length film. The film mainly explores interracial relationships...
" (1991). Blanchard has written the score for every Spike Lee film since including, Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
, Clockers, Summer of Sam
Summer of Sam
Summer of Sam is a 1999 crime-drama based around the Son of Sam serial murders. It was directed and produced by Spike Lee.-Plot:Summer of Sam is the story of a group of people in New York City in the summer of 1977, a time when the headlines were dominated by the Son of Sam serial killer...
, 25th Hour
25th Hour
25th Hour is a 2002 American drama film directed by Spike Lee and is based on the novel The 25th Hour written by David Benioff, who also wrote the screenplay. The film stars Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper, Rosario Dawson, Anna Paquin, and Brian Cox...
, Inside Man
Inside Man
Inside Man is a 2006 crime-drama film directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Willem Dafoe and Jodie Foster. The film's screenplay was written by Russell Gewirtz and produced by Brian Grazer...
. In 2006, he composed the score for Spike Lee's 4-hour Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
documentary for HBO entitled When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. Blanchard also appeared in front of the camera with his mother to share their emotional journey back to find her home completely destroyed.
Blanchard has also composed for other directors, including Leon Ichaso
Leon Ichaso
-Early life and education:Leon Ichaso was born in Havana August 3, 1948, into a family of well-known writers, journalists and artists. His father, Justo Rodríguez Santos, was one of Cuba's most respected poets and a pioneer in broadcast TV and radio -and his mother Antonia Ichaso had a radio...
, Ron Shelton
Ron Shelton
Ron Shelton is a U.S. film director and screenwriter, most notable for making movies about sports.Shelton is an alumnus of Santa Barbara High School and of the University of Arizona and Westmont College...
and Kasi Lemmons
Kasi Lemmons
Kasi Lemmons is an American film director and actress, most notable for her work on the films Eve's Bayou, The Caveman's Valentine and Talk to Me....
. With over forty scores to his credit, Blanchard is the most prolific jazz musician to ever compose for movies. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
proclaimed Blanchard "central to a general resurgence of jazz composition for film." Yet in a 1994 interview for Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
, Blanchard was quoted as saying, "Writing for film is fun, but nothing can beat being a jazz musician, playing a club, playing a concert".
All the while, Blanchard has remained true to his jazz roots as a trumpeter and bandleader on the performance circuit. He has recorded several award-winning albums for Columbia, Sony Classical and Blue Note Records, including In My Solitude: The Billie Holiday Songbook
In My Solitude: The Billie Holiday Songbook
In My Solitude: The Billie Holiday Songbook is a 1994 jazz album by Terence Blanchard and Jeanie Bryson, released on the Columbia label....
(1994), Romantic Defiance (1995), The Heart Speaks (1996), Wandering Moon (2000), Let's Get Lost
Let's Get Lost (album)
Let's Get Lost is a 2001 jazz album by Grammy winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard, with four very well known female vocalists to help him, Diana Krall, Jane Monheit, Dianne Reeves, and Cassandra Wilson.-Background:...
(2001) and Flow
Flow (Terence Blanchard album)
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.-Background:...
(2005), which was produced by pianist 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...
and received two 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...
nominations.
Terence Blanchard's 2001 CD Let's Get Lost
Let's Get Lost (album)
Let's Get Lost is a 2001 jazz album by Grammy winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard, with four very well known female vocalists to help him, Diana Krall, Jane Monheit, Dianne Reeves, and Cassandra Wilson.-Background:...
was his most commercially successful album to date. It features new arrangements of classic songs written by Jimmy McHugh
Jimmy McHugh
James Francis McHugh was a U.S. composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he composed over 270 songs...
and performed by his own quintet along with the leading ladies of jazz vocals: Diana Krall
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide; altogether, she has sold more albums than any other female jazz artist during the 1990s and 2000s...
, Jane Monheit
Jane Monheit
Jane Monheit is a jazz and adult contemporary vocalist for Concord Records. She has collaborated with artists such as Michael Bublé, Ivan Lins, Terence Blanchard and Tom Harrell, and has received Grammy nominations for two of her recordings.-Early life:Jane Monheit was raised in Oakdale, New York...
, Dianne Reeves
Dianne Reeves
Dianne Reeves is an American jazz singer. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado.-Early life:Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan to a very musical family. Her father, who died when she was two years old, was also a singer. Her mother, Vada Swanson, played trumpet. A cousin, George Duke, is a...
, and Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson is an American jazz musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. Described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack [who has] expanded the playing field" by incorporating country, blues and folk music into her...
.
In 2005, Blanchard was part of the ensemble that won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for his participation on McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
’s Illuminations, an award he shared with Tyner, Gary Bartz
Gary Bartz
Gary Bartz is an American alto and soprano saxophonist and clarinetist.Bartz graduated from the Baltimore City College high school and The Juilliard School...
, Christian McBride
Christian McBride
Christian McBride is an American jazz bassist. His father, Lee Smith, and his great uncle, Howard Cooper, are well known Philadelphia bassists who served as McBride's early mentors...
and Lewis Nash
Lewis Nash
Lewis Nash is an American jazz drummer. According to Modern Drummer magazine, Nash has one of the longest discographies in jazz. and has played on over 400 records by musicians, earning him the honor of being named Jazz's Most Valuable Player by the magazine in it's May, 2009 issue...
.
Blanchard was a judge for the 5th annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
to support independent artists' careers. In 2009 in the Disney movie, The Princess and the Frog, Blanchard played all of the alligator Louis’ trumpet parts. He also voiced the role of Earl the bandleader in the riverboat band.
Print biography
In December 2002, Scarecrow Press published Contemporary Cat: Terence Blanchard with Special Guests, an authorized biography of Blanchard written by Anthony Magro.The book is the 42nd title in the publisher's well-regarded "Series In Jazz" headed by editors Dan Morgenstern and Edward Berger.
"Written in an intimate, conversational style, Contemporary Cat: Terence Blanchard with Special Guests begins in the birthplace of jazz, Blanchard's hometown, New Orleans. His family and famous musician teachers speak of a disciplined youngster who matured alongside the Marsalis brothers and saxophonist Donald Harrison to become a leader in the important 1980s jazz resurgence."
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
In the fall of 2000, Terence Blanchard was named artistic director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at the University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. 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...
serves as chairman; Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
, Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
and Jimmy Heath
Jimmy Heath
James Edward Heath , nicknamed Little Bird, is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He is the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath.-Biography:...
sit on the board of trustees. The conservatory offers an intensive, tuition-free, two-year master's program to a limited number of students (only up to eight per every two years).
In his role as artistic director, Blanchard works with the students in the areas of artistic development, arranging, composition, and career counseling. He also participates in master classes and community outreach activities associated with the program. "Out of my desire to give something back to the jazz community, I wanted to get involved. In fact, I've always said that if I wasn't a musician, that I would like to be a teacher. So I was glad to get involved and to be a part of this unique program that fosters such an open and accessible environment."
In April 2007, the Institute announced its "Commitment to New Orleans" initiative which includes the relocation of the program to the campus of Loyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
from Los Angeles. Blanchard had passionately lobbied the Institute to relocate saying, "After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was shaken and its musical roots were threatened. I grew up in this city and learned about jazz here at Loyola with other young jazz musicians like Wynton and Branford Marsalis and I know that the Institute will have a great impact on jazz and in our communities. We are going to work hard to help jazz and New Orleans flourish once again."
Grammy Awards
- Career Wins: 5
- Career Nominations: 12
| Terence Blanchard Grammy History | ||||||
| Year | Category | Title | Genre | Label | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Group | New York Scene | Jazz | Concord | Winner | with the Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. |
| 1990 | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Group | Mo' Better Blues (Soundtrack) | Jazz | CBS | Nominated | with the Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.-Biography:Marsalis was born... Quartet. |
| 1996 | Best Latin Jazz Album | The Heart Speaks | Latin Jazz | Columbia | Nominated | features the compositions of Ivan Lins Ivan Lins Ivan Guimarães Lins is a Latin Grammy winning Brazilian musician. He has been an active performer and songwriter of Brazilian popular music and jazz for over 30 years. His first hit, Madalena, was recorded by Elis Regina in 1970. Beyond his own performance of his compositions, Simone is his most... . |
| 2000 | Best Jazz Instrumental Solo | Wandering Moon | Jazz | Sony Classical | Nominated | for the track "I Thought About You I Thought About You "I Thought About You" is a 1939 popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was one of three collaborations Van Heusen and Mercer wrote for the then recently established Mercer-Morris publishing company, started by Mercer and former Warner Bros. publisher Buddy... " |
| 2001 | Best Jazz Instrumental Solo | Let's Get Lost Let's Get Lost (album) Let's Get Lost is a 2001 jazz album by Grammy winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard, with four very well known female vocalists to help him, Diana Krall, Jane Monheit, Dianne Reeves, and Cassandra Wilson.-Background:... |
Jazz | Sony Classical | Nominated | for the track "Lost In a Fog" |
| 2004 | Best Jazz Instrumental Album | McCoy Tyner's Illuminations | Jazz | Telarc | Winner | featured as the band's trumpeter and composer of one song. |
| 2005 | Best Jazz Instrumental Album | Flow Flow (Terence Blanchard album) 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.-Background:... |
Jazz | Blue Note | Nominated | Herbie Hancock, album producer. |
| 2006 | Best Long Form Music Video | Flow: Living in the Stream of Music (DVD) | Jazz | Blue Note | Nominated | Jim Gabour, video director/producer; Robin Burgess video producer. |
| 2007 | Best Jazz Instrumental Solo | A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) A Tale of God's Will is an album recorded in 2007 by the Terence Blanchard Quintet.In 2008, won a Grammy Award for "Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album," and was nominated for "Best Jazz Instrument Solo" for his work on the song, "Levees."-Background:Film director Spike Lee commissioned New Orleans... |
Jazz | Blue Note | Nominated | for the track "Levees" |
| 2007 | Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album | A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) A Tale of God's Will is an album recorded in 2007 by the Terence Blanchard Quintet.In 2008, won a Grammy Award for "Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album," and was nominated for "Best Jazz Instrument Solo" for his work on the song, "Levees."-Background:Film director Spike Lee commissioned New Orleans... |
Jazz | Blue Note | Winner | features Blanchard's quintet with a 40-piece string orchestra. |
| 2008 | Best Jazz Instrumental Solo | Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival | Jazz | Blue Note | Winner | for the track "Be-Bop" |
| 2009 | Best Jazz Instrumental Solo | Watts | Jazz | Dark Key Music | Winner | for the track "Dancin' 4 Chicken" |
Awards
Selected film-related awards for Terence Blanchard.| Year | Award | Category | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Soul Train Music Award Soul Train Music Awards of 1994 The 8th Annual Soul Train Music Awards were held on Tuesday, March 15, 1994 at theShrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA. The show was co-hosted by Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, and Johnny Gill.-R&B Song of the Year:*Toni Braxton - Breathe Again... |
Best Jazz Album | The Malcolm X Jazz Suite | Nominated |
| 1995 | Emmy Award | Best Original Score for a TV Mini-Series | The Promised Land | Nominated |
| 2003 | World Soundtrack Award | Soundtrack Composer of the Year | "25th Hour" | Nominated |
| 2003 | Sierra Award | Best Score | "25th Hour" | Nominated |
| 2003 | Golden Globe | Best Original Score - Motion Picture | "25th Hour" | Nominated |
| 2003 | Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA) | Best Score | "25th Hour" | Winner |
| 2005 | Black Reel | Best Original Score | "She Hate Me" | Nominated |
| 2007 | Black Reel | Best Original Score | Inside Man | Nominated |
Discography
A complete discography of Blanchard's jazz recordings as a bandleader.| Year | Title | Genre | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | New York Second Line (as Harrison/Blanchard) | Jazz | Concord |
| 1986 | Discernment (as Harrison/Blanchard) | Jazz | Concord |
| 1986 | Nascence (as Harrison/Blanchard) | Jazz | Columbia |
| 1987 | Crystal Stair (as Harrison/Blanchard) | Jazz | Columbia |
| 1988 | Black Pearl (as Harrison/Blanchard) | Jazz | Columbia |
| 1991 | Terence Blanchard | Jazz | Columbia |
| 1992 | Simply Stated | Jazz | Columbia |
| 1993 | The Malcolm X Jazz Suite | Jazz | Columbia |
| 1994 | In My Solitude: The Billie Holiday Songbook In My Solitude: The Billie Holiday Songbook In My Solitude: The Billie Holiday Songbook is a 1994 jazz album by Terence Blanchard and Jeanie Bryson, released on the Columbia label.... |
Jazz | Columbia |
| 1995 | Romantic Defiance - | Jazz | Columbia |
| 1996 | The Heart Speaks | Latin Jazz | Columbia |
| 1999 | Jazz in Film Jazz in Film Jazz in Film is a studio album by Terence Blanchard released in 1999 on Sony Records. The album was meant to be a portrait of jazz in cinema history, a way to chronicle the evolution of jazz score from the late 1940s to present day, and features highly influential themes from classics like Anatomy... |
Jazz | Sony Classical |
| 2000 | Wandering Moon | Jazz | Sony Classical |
| 2001 | Let's Get Lost Let's Get Lost (album) Let's Get Lost is a 2001 jazz album by Grammy winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard, with four very well known female vocalists to help him, Diana Krall, Jane Monheit, Dianne Reeves, and Cassandra Wilson.-Background:... |
Jazz | Sony Classical |
| 2003 | Bounce Bounce (Terence Blanchard album) Bounce is a 2003 jazz album by Terence Blanchard, released through Blue Note.- Background :Bounce is the Blue Note recording debut of trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard. The album is a mix of the sounds of Africa, Brazil and America, with the styles of swing, hard bop, free form, groove and... |
Jazz | Blue Note |
| 2005 | Flow Flow (Terence Blanchard album) 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.-Background:... |
Jazz | Blue Note |
| 2007 | A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) A Tale of God's Will is an album recorded in 2007 by the Terence Blanchard Quintet.In 2008, won a Grammy Award for "Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album," and was nominated for "Best Jazz Instrument Solo" for his work on the song, "Levees."-Background:Film director Spike Lee commissioned New Orleans... |
Jazz | Blue Note |
| 2009 | Choices | Jazz | Concord |
Filmography
A selected filmography of Terence Blanchard scores.(*denotes score available on CD).
- 1991 Jungle FeverJungle FeverJungle Fever is a 1991 American drama film directed by Spike Lee, starring Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra. It was Lee's fifth feature-length film. The film mainly explores interracial relationships...
- 1992 Malcolm XMalcolm XMalcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
* - 1994 Sugar HillSugar HillSugar Hill commonly refers to Sugar Hill, Manhattan, a section of Harlem, New York City, New York, US. The term may also refer to:Places:* Sugar Hill in Modoc National Forest, California* Sugar Hill, Georgia* Sugar Hill, New Hampshire...
* - 1994 Trial By JuryTrial by JuryTrial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...
- 1994 The InkwellThe InkwellThe Inkwell is a 1994 romantic comedy/drama film, directed by Matty Rich. This movie stars Larenz Tate, Joe Morton, Suzzanne Douglass, Glynn Turman, and Vanessa Bell Calloway...
- 1994 CrooklynCrooklynCrooklyn is a 1994 semi-autobiographical film co-written and directed by Spike Lee. The film takes place in Brooklyn, New York and the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant during the summer of 1973. Its primary focus is a young girl, Troy , and her family...
- 1995 Clockers*
- 1996 Get on the BusGet on the BusGet on the Bus is a 1996 film about a group of African-American men who are taking a cross-country bus trip in order to participate in the Million Man March. The film was directed by Spike Lee and premiered on the one-year anniversary of the march....
- 1996 Primal Fear (film)Primal Fear (film)Primal Fear is a 1996 American crime drama thriller film directed by Gregory Hoblit and starring Richard Gere and Edward Norton. The film tells the story of a defense attorney, Martin Vail , who defends an altar boy, Aaron Stampler , charged with the murder of a Catholic archbishop. The movie is an...
* - 1997 Eve's BayouEve's BayouEve's Bayou is a 1997 American drama film written and directed by Kasi Lemmons, who made her directorial debut with this feature. Samuel L...
* - 1997 'Til There Was You'Til There Was You'Til There Was You is a 1997 American romantic drama film directed by Scott Winant. The screenplay, written by Winnie Holzman, traces thirty-odd years in the parallel lives of two people whose intertwined paths finally converge when their mutual interest in a community project brings them...
- 1997 4 Little Girls4 Little Girls4 Little Girls is a 1997 American historical documentary film about the 1963 murder of four African-American girls during the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It was directed by Spike Lee and nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Documentary".The incident...
- 1998 GiaGiaGia is a 1998 biographical television film about the life of model Gia Marie Carangi starring Angelina Jolie, Faye Dunaway, Mercedes Ruehl, and Elizabeth Mitchell. It was directed by Michael Cristofer and written by Cristofer and Jay McInerney...
- 1999 Summer of SamSummer of SamSummer of Sam is a 1999 crime-drama based around the Son of Sam serial murders. It was directed and produced by Spike Lee.-Plot:Summer of Sam is the story of a group of people in New York City in the summer of 1977, a time when the headlines were dominated by the Son of Sam serial killer...
- 2000 Love & Basketball
- 2000 Next FridayNext FridayNext Friday is a 2000 comedy film, and the sequel to the 1995 film Friday. This is the first film to be produced by producer Ice Cube's film production company Cubevision...
- 2000 BamboozledBamboozledBamboozled is a 2000 satirical film written and directed by Spike Lee about a modern televised minstrel show featuring black actors donning blackface makeup and the violent fall-out from the show's success...
- 2001 The Caveman's ValentineThe Caveman's ValentineThe Caveman's Valentine is a 2001 American mystery-drama film directed by Kasi Lemmons and starring Samuel L. Jackson based on George Dawes Green's novel of the same name. The film was released by Universal Focus, a subsidiary of Universal Studios and Focus Features.-Plot:A former family man and...
* - 2001 Original SinOriginal sinOriginal sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
* - 2001 GlitterGlitter (film)Glitter is a 2001 film starring R&B singer, songwriter Mariah Carey. It was produced by 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures and directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall. It centers on the life and times of a struggling singer from the early club music scene in the 1980s.-Production:Carey has said about...
- 2002 BarbershopBarbershop (film)Barbershop is a 2002 American comedy film directed by Tim Story, produced by State Street Pictures and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on September 13, 2002. Starring Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, and Anthony Anderson, the movie revolves around social life in a barbershop on the South Side of...
- 2002 Dark Blue
- 2002 25th Hour25th Hour25th Hour is a 2002 American drama film directed by Spike Lee and is based on the novel The 25th Hour written by David Benioff, who also wrote the screenplay. The film stars Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper, Rosario Dawson, Anna Paquin, and Brian Cox...
* - 2002 People I KnowPeople I KnowPeople I Know is a 2002 crime drama film directed by Daniel Algrant and stars Al Pacino, Kim Basinger, and Téa Leoni.-Plot:Eli Wurman is a Jewish publicist on the out, but all he knows is how to hustle and cajole, threaten and persuade. The hazy mania of his everyday life is fuelled by a steady...
* - 2003 "Unchained MemoriesUnchained MemoriesUnchained Memories is a 2003 documentary films about the stories of former slaves interviewed during the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project. This HBO film interpretation directed by Ed Bell and Thomas Lennon is a compilation of slave narratives, narrated by actors, emulating the...
"* - 2004 She Hate MeShe Hate MeShe Hate Me is a 2004 independent comedy-drama film directed by Spike Lee and starring Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Ellen Barkin, Monica Bellucci, Brian Dennehy, Woody Harrelson, Bai Ling and John Turturro....
* - 2006 Inside ManInside ManInside Man is a 2006 crime-drama film directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Willem Dafoe and Jodie Foster. The film's screenplay was written by Russell Gewirtz and produced by Brian Grazer...
* - 2006 When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
- 2007 Talk to MeTalk to Me (2007 film)Talk To Me is a 2007 biographical film about Washington, D.C. radio personality Ralph "Petey" Greene, an ex-con who became a popular talk show host and community activist, and Dewey Hughes, his friend and manager...
- 2008 Miracle at St. AnnaMiracle at St. AnnaMiracle at St. Anna is a 2008 war film, directed by Spike Lee and written by James McBride, based on McBride's novel of the same name. The film was released on September 26, 2008, and is set during World War II, in fall of 1944 in Tuscany and in the winter of 1983 in New York City and Rome...
* - 2008 Cadillac RecordsCadillac RecordsCadillac Records is a 2008 musical biopic written and directed by Darnell Martin. The film explores the musical era from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, chronicling the life of the influential Chicago-based record-company executive Leonard Chess, and the musicians who recorded for Chess...
- 2010 BunrakuBunraku (film)Bunraku is a 2011 martial-arts action film written and directed by Guy Moshe based on a story by Boaz Davidson. The film stars Josh Hartnett, Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman, Kevin McKidd, and Gackt and follows a young drifter in his quest for revenge.The title Bunraku is derived from a...
For further reading, including TV scores, see http://imdb.com/name/nm0005966/
Current news
On February 10, 2008, Blanchard won his first Grammy Award as a bandleader for A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina)A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina)
A Tale of God's Will is an album recorded in 2007 by the Terence Blanchard Quintet.In 2008, won a Grammy Award for "Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album," and was nominated for "Best Jazz Instrument Solo" for his work on the song, "Levees."-Background:Film director Spike Lee commissioned New Orleans...
in the category of Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. His two other Grammy Awards were as a sideman for Art Blakey (1984) and McCoy Tyner (2004).
In 2007, the Monterey Jazz Festival
Monterey Jazz Festival
The Monterey Jazz Festival is one of the longest consecutively running jazz festivals. It debuted on October 3, 1958 and was founded by San Francisco jazz radio broadcaster Jimmy Lyons.-History:...
named Blanchard Artist-In-Residence, citing him as "one his generation’s most artistically mature and innovative artists and a committed supporter of jazz education." The Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary Band featuring Blanchard on trumpet will make a 54-date, 10-week tour of the United States from January 8, 2008 to March 16, 2008. Rounding out the band will be saxophonist James Moody
James Moody (saxophonist)
James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player. He was best known for his hit "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation based on "I'm in the Mood for Love"; in performance, he often improvised vocals for the tune.-Biography:James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia...
, pianist Benny Green
Benny Green (pianist)
Benny Green is a hard bop jazz pianist who was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He has been compared to Bud Powell in style and counts him as an influence. As a boy he grew up in Berkeley, California and studied classical piano from the age of seven...
, 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...
. The special ensemble will also feature jazz singer Nnenna Freelon
Nnenna Freelon
Nnenna Freelon, , is an American jazz singer, composer, producer, and arranger. She has been nominated for five Grammy Awards for her vocal work, and has performed and toured with such top artists as Ray Charles, Ellis Marsalis, Al Jarreau, Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, Dianne Reeves, Diana Krall,...
.
In December 2007, the Terence Blanchard Quintet performed the movie music of Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard with an orchestra and singers Dee Dee Bridgewater
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Dee Dee Bridgewater is an American Jazz singer. She is a three-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award - winning stage actress and host of National Public Radio's syndicated radio show JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater...
, Kurt Elling
Kurt Elling
Kurt Elling is an American jazz vocalist, composer, lyricist and vocalese performer. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Rockford, Elling first became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church...
, and Raul Midón
Raul Midón
Raúl Midón is a singer-songwriter and guitarist from New Mexico, based in New York City. He combines his distinct voice, strumming, beats, and vocal mouth trumpet sounds to create a one-man performance. His unique style shows influence of virtually every musical genre which came before him,...
at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
in Washington, D.C.
In November 2008 he was a guest on Private Passions
Private Passions
Private Passions is a weekly music discussion programme which has been running for over 10 years on BBC Radio 3, presented by the composer Michael Berkeley...
, the biographical music discussion programme on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
.
Blanchard composed original music for Stephen Adly Guirgis
Stephen Adly Guirgis
Stephen Adly Guirgis is an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He is a member and co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company. His plays have been produced on five continents and throughout the United States....
's new Broadway play The Motherfucker With the Hat
The Motherfucker With the Hat
The Motherfucker With the Hat is a 2011 play by Stephen Adly Guirgis...
, which premiered at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 236 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan named for Gerald Schoenfeld....
on April 11, 2011. The show is described as "a high-octane verbal cage match about love, fidelity and misplaced haberdasher
Haberdasher
A haberdasher is a person who sells small articles for sewing, such as buttons, ribbons, zips, and other notions. In American English, haberdasher is another term for a men's outfitter. A haberdasher's shop or the items sold therein are called haberdashery.-Origin and use:The word appears in...
y."
Further reading
- Magro, Anthony. Contemporary Cat: Terence Blanchard with Special Guests, Scarecrow Press (2002) - ISBN 0810843234
- Yanow, Scott. Trumpet Kings: The Players Who Shaped the Sound of Jazz Trumpet, Backbeat Books (2002) - ISBN 0879306084