Close
Current temperature in Boston - 62 °
BECOME A MEMBER
Get access to a personalized news feed, our newsletter and exclusive discounts on everything from shows to local restaurants, All for free.
Already a member? Sign in.
The Bay State Banner
BACK TO TOP
The Bay State Banner
POST AN AD SIGN IN

Trending Articles

Sarah-Ann Shaw, Boston's reporting legend, 90

Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey honors first African American Master Distiller’s legacy

NAACP urges Black student-athletes to consider alternatives to Florida public schools

READ PRINT EDITION

World-renowned trumpeter and composer discusses music

Colette Greenstein
Colette Greenstein has been a contributing arts & entertainment writer for the Banner since 2009. VIEW BIO
World-renowned trumpeter and composer discusses music
Terence Blanchard (Photo: Henry Adebonojo)

A four-time Grammy award winner, Terence Blanchard has been making music for more than 30 years. The multi-talented musician is also a jazz trumpeter, arranger, band leader and a film score composer.

Blanchard first burst onto the music scene in 1980 with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and then worked with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers before embarking on a solo recording career in 1991. That same year, he began his collaboration with director Spike Lee and has written the score for every one of Lee’s films including Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Get On The Bus and Inside Man. His recent film project includes scoring the Kevin Costner film Black Or White starring Costner and Octavia Spencer.

Over the course of his stellar career, Blanchard has recorded more than 30 albums. His latest musical effort includes the album Breathless with his new quintet, The E-Collective performing original material and covers of jazz vocalist and pianist Les McCann, singer and songwriter Hank Williams and Coldplay for Blue Note Records. The album, which was released on May 26, also features guest vocals from Maroon 5’s PJ Morton.

In addition to the release of his new album, the musician was recently named as a visiting scholar by Berklee College of Music where he’ll work with students in the Jazz Composition department this fall. Blanchard also will work in the Film Scoring and Brass departments, and for the Berklee Global Jazz Institute.

Currently on tour, Blanchard spoke to the Banner by phone recently about his upcoming role as a visiting scholar at Berklee, his mentor Clark Terry and the inspiration behind his new album Breathless.

How did the visiting professor collaboration with Berklee come about?

Terence Blanchard: I was there last year for a composer’s conference that Eric Gould had put together. In talking to Eric and George Clinton they made mention of it and it kind of went from there. They asked me if I was interested, and I thought, sure. I saw what had been going on with Berklee and I had always been impressed with the school. It seems like the school has kicked it into a whole other gear now.

As a visiting scholar does that mean you’re teaching as well as working on your own projects?

On the Web

Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective are currently on tour. For a complete

schedule of venues and dates for, visit www.terenceblanchard.com.

TB: It’s more of me coming in on a monthly basis and working with students on their jazz composition, compositions and their performance.

Last year I saw the documentary on Clark Terry and I was just blown away by the man. Was he one of your idols or a mentor?

TB: Oh, he was like a father figure to me. Clark Terry was generous. First of all he was a genius and a great musician but he was a generous person. He was the type of person that always cared about individuals as you saw in the documentary. Whenever I saw him he was always giving me a musical lesson whether he was trying to or not. He was always genuinely concerned about my welfare and anybody else’s. He was just a great person.

Can you tell me what the inspiration was behind Breathless?

TB: Breathless is all about everything that’s going on in our country right now with our youth and law enforcement — things that are happening around the country. I think there are obvious issues that we’ve forgotten about but haven’t paid as much attention to as we should, and we’re starting to see those things come to a head. I think it’s time for us not to just to take a look at it. We have to take action. That’s the thing. When I was putting all of this music together it was one story after another about somebody being killed by a police officer. At a certain point, like the old saying goes, a million hearts can’t be wrong. I thought it was important for us to make our own musical commentary about all of this and hopefully change some hearts and minds. Hopefully we’ll get to a point where we can change policy and laws. When people are accountable for their actions, no matter who they are, things will change.

A lot of music has coincided with movements much like Motown and the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Can music help to spark the change that’s needed?

TB: Well, art and music have always played a role in our society. It’s always either helped change thought or helped document actions. In this case I definitely think that music can change hearts and minds because that’s what happened to me. That’s the reason why I’m a musician. The first time I heard John Coltrane play Alabama it was the four little girls that were killed there. I was extremely moved by the music and by his representation of emotion and sorrow that seemed to represent what was going on in the country.

How do you keep it fresh, bouncing between being a composer, an arranger and a musician, and reflecting who you really are?

TB: The first thing I have to say is, stay socially conscious. There are things that are happening in our society all day, every day. There are millions of stories to be told and there are lives and inspirations for a number of pieces of art, a number of pieces of music to be created. You have to keep your mind and your ears and your hearts open. That’s where you find inspiration.

Which is your favorite Spike Lee movie that you’ve created a composition for?

TB: It’s hard to say. With Spike I think all of his stories are unique. For me when I look at him, I look at our growth as artists together. Miracle at St. Anna means one thing to me, while Inside Man means something totally different, and Malcolm X, it means like the start of it all.

What has held the relationship that you and Spike have together?

TB: I think we’ve grown together. He’s allowed me to grow in vision that’s the main thing. The main thing is not only do we have a common language and common artistic minds but we’ve been growing in all of it.