Wed 1/4 & Thu 1/5 @ 8PM
New Orleans trumpeter Terence Blanchard got his big break in the 1980s when fellow NOLA trumpet player Wynton Marsalis recommended him or a gig with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He released his first solo album in 1991 and since then has branched out in a whole bunch of directions. He performed on soundtracks for Spike Lee’s films and graduated to scoring his films, then began working for other directors, making him one of the most prominent contemporary film composers.
He’s written music for stage plays, penned an opera, and served ten years as the artistic director of UCLA’s Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. And he’s a familiar face to Cleveland jazz fans and musicians because he’s now in his second year as Tri-C JazzFest’s artist in residence.
He’s also used his music as an instrument for social justice. His Grammy-winning 2007 album, A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina), spoke of the aftermath of the hurricane which altered the lives of so many of his fellow New Orleanians. His next album, to be called Caravan, will focus on the issue of police violence against unarmed African-Americans and will be recorded live in three cities which have endured high-profile incidents of such violence: Minneapolis, Dallas and Cleveland.
He and his band E-Collective — guitarist Charles Altura, piano/sythns player Fabian Almazan, drummer Oscar Seaton and bassist David “DJ” Ginyard — will perform two consecutive nights at the Bop Stop. “This band represents the best of America’s ideals,” says Blanchard. “We’re five very different personalities with different visions who play together for a common goal: Creating music that hopefully heals hearts and opens minds.”
The evenings will also feature participation from the art project “A Color Removed” and student photography project Shooting Without Bullets. Tickets are $20.
terence-blanchard-featuring-the-e-collective-recording-live-bop-stop
Cleveland, OH 44113