Terence Blanchard : NPR

Terence Blanchard Turns A Tragic Champion Into An Opera Hero

Terence Blanchard is one of today's foremost jazz composers. Nitin Vadukul/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Nitin Vadukul/Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

Terence Blanchard Turns A Tragic Champion Into An Opera Hero

June 15, 2013 • The jazz composer's latest project is an opera based on the life of Emile Griffith, a gay boxer who became a world champion in the 1960s — at a price.

Terence Blanchard Turns A Tragic Champion Into An Opera Hero

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Music Interviews

Terence Blanchard Considers Life's 'Choices'

October 21, 2009 • The New Orleans trumpeter's newest CD, Choices, delves into choices we make as individuals and as a society. He returned to his hometown to record the project, and continues to ask questions about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Terence Blanchard Considers Life's 'Choices'

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Terence Blanchard: Free Will And 'Choices'

Jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard is a throwback to the socially engaged jazzman of the 1960s. Jenny Bagert hide caption

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Jenny Bagert

Review

Music Reviews

Terence Blanchard: Free Will And 'Choices'

August 24, 2009 • Jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard is a throwback to the socially engaged jazzman of the 1960s: He's as wrapped up in politics and society as he is in scales and improvisation. His new album, Choices, ponders questions about free will and personal responsibility.

Terence Blanchard: Free Will And 'Choices'

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Terence Blanchard Group: Live In New Orleans

David Tallacksen

Concerts

Terence Blanchard Group: Live In New Orleans

WBGO

July 29, 2009 • The trumpeter, film composer and Crescent City resident returned to his hometown for the live concert premiere of music from his forthcoming album, Choices. He was joined by his quintet and a special guest, soul singer Bilal.

Listen Now: Terence Blanchard Quintet In Concert

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Terence Blanchard Quintet: Live At The Village Vanguard

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John Rogers for NPR/johnrogersnyc.com

Live At The Village Vanguard

Terence Blanchard Quintet: Live At The Village Vanguard

WBGO

February 18, 2009 • The New Orleans trumpeter is known as a film composer for Spike Lee, and as a standard-bearer of modern jazz innovation. He brings his quintet into lower Manhattan.

Terence Blanchard Quintet in Concert at the Village Vanguard - 02/18/2009

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Music Interviews

Terence Blanchard on Scoring Spike Lee Joints

February 15, 2008 • Terence Blanchard, an internationally renowned jazz trumpeter, has composed music for all of director Spike Lee's films — from Malcolm X to Inside Man. He talks to Farai Chideya about the relationship between music and the movies.

Terence Blanchard on Scoring Spike Lee Joints

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Music Interviews

Terence Blanchard: Musical Musings on 'God's Will'

Fresh Air

October 25, 2007 • The latest CD from New Orleans trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard is A Tale of God's Will, whose subtitle is "A Requiem for Katrina." Parts of the recording were heard in Spike Lee's HBO documentary When the Levees Broke.

Terence Blanchard: Musical Musings on 'God's Will'

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Concerts

Monk Institute of Jazz 20th Anniversary Concert

WBGO

October 4, 2007 • Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joshua Redman, Patti Austin and Stevie Wonder celebrate the Institute that offers young musicians college-level training from the masters. The namesake — Thelonious Monk — was born October 10, 1917, and would be 90 this fall. Hear the concert.

Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz 20th Anniversary Concert on JazzSet

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Monterey Jazz Festival

Next Generation Jazz Orchestra in Concert

WBGO

September 23, 2007 • Players from 17 high schools were chosen for the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. After studying to perform some of the most challenging big-band music available, the high-school all-stars perform alongside Terence Blanchard at the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Studio Sessions

Trumpeter Terence Blanchard Performs Live in 4A

August 16, 2007 • Born and raised among the jazz greats of New Orleans, renowned trumpeter Terence Blanchard captured the city's devastation in his film score for Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke. He discusses his latest project, A Tale of God's Will (a requiem for Katrina).

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Favorite Sessions

Blanchard Rebuilds New Orleans in Song

WBGO

August 14, 2007 • Part of jazz trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard's A Tale of God's Will served as the soundtrack to Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke documentary about Hurricane Katrina. Blanchard shares two solo piano performances with WBGO's Josh Jackson.

Concerts

Terence Blanchard in Concert at Jazz Fest

WBGO

May 17, 2007 • Terence Blanchard was born in New Orleans — a place where it means something to take up the trumpet. The trumpeter honors the legacy of jazz legend Louis Armstrong at the 2007 University of Michigan Jazz Festival recorded by JazzSet.

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Review

Director's Cuts

Music DVDs That Beat Expectations

May 6, 2007 • Occasionally a music DVD comes along that exceeds expectations. Shanda, a documentary about Zimbabwean musician Oliver Mtukudzi, and Flow,a look at the jazz of trumpeter Terence Blanchard, go the extra mile.

Music DVDs That Beat Expectations

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Music Interviews

Terence Blanchard, in the Jazz 'Flow'

July 18, 2005 • Jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard talks about his new, younger sound and his band's latest CD, Flow.

Terence Blanchard, in the Jazz 'Flow'

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Review

Music Reviews

Blanchard Evokes the Sound of Miles

July 7, 2005 • Trumpeter Terence Blanchard set out to make a record in the spirit of a Miles Davis Quartet record. He even hired Miles Davis' piano player, Herbie Hancock, to oversee the sessions. The result is a CD, Flow, which doesn't mimic Davis' sound, but takes it to a more contemporary setting.

Blanchard Evokes the Sound of Miles

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