Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary Band and Tour is coming to Atlanta and we’re in for quite a treat! AtlantaJazz.Info recently had the opportunity to speak with the renowned trumpeter Terence Blanchard from his tour bus as the All-Stars headed to their next performance in Modesto, CA.
AJI: We’re really looking forward to you coming here to Atlanta.
TB: Yeah, Atlanta is one of my favorite places.
AJI: How have the audiences been reacting to your shows?
TB: The shows have been great, they’ve been really great. We have a well balanced type of show. We’ve got three generations of musicians, James Moody (sax), Benny Green (piano) and myself, Nneena Freelon (vocals), Derrick Hodge (bass) and Kendrick Scott (drums). It’s going well.
AJI: Speaking of Nneena Freelon, while looking at her bio I see that she just completed a (Grammy nominated) Tribute to Billie Holiday. You also did a Billie Holiday tribute CD some years ago. Do the two of you happen to perform any of that material in this tour?
TB: No, no, the show is really based around the Monterey Jazz Festival, so a lot of the music is based on the music that was performed there or the music that was inspired by the festival.
AJI: So will you be performing any of the pieces from your “Requiem for Katrina” suite?
TB: Well, we’ll be doing some Katrina pieces because we actually performed the Katrina work for the first time with an orchestra, live, at the Monterey Festival last year for its 50th anniversary. Actually at Monterey, we only had a couple of rehearsals before doing the gig.
AJI: Are you still the “Artist-in-Residence” for the Monterey Jazz Festival?
TB: Well, I was the AIR over the summer and I was working with some of the kids over the summer, but now we’re just touring. The AIR program is finished for me now. This tour is an extension of the festival, but separate from the AIR program.
AJI: Does this tour go to the New Orleans area?
TB: No, no, it’s not going to New Orleans and I’m a little bummed about that, but, that’s the way it goes. I mean we’re hitting a lot of places; we’re hitting 54 cities across the country.
AJI: Are you still working with the Monk institute? (…as one of the many projects that Terence Blanchard is involved with, he is also the Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at Loyola University in New Orleans, LA.).
TB: Oh yeah…We’re right now starting our second semester (…of the current school year) and it’s going extremely well. We’re having an impact on the community which is what I really wanted to happen. We’re sending our students to high schools to work with younger kids and the program itself has been just, ah, successful so far.
AJI: How long have you been working with the Institute now?
TB: Seven years.
AJI: In preparing for this interview I’ve looked over your body of work and you have accomplished far more than I knew of.
TB: Yeah, I’ve been fortunate.
AJI: With the amount of films that you’ve scored (…over 40), you’re really in the musical realm of a Quincy Jones stature of a musician.
TB: Yes, I’ve heard that comparison made before and that’s a great honor to be compared with him. I just saw him a few months ago in L.A. at the Thelonious Monk competition actually. He was judging the trumpet competition there.
AJI: Do you consider “A Tale of God’s Will” (A Requiem for Katrina) CD as a follow-up to the “Bounce” and (…Grammy nominated) “Flow” CD’s?
TB: No, I don’t think so. I think it was just a natural evolution of things in life, you know. Being an artist, the music should really just reflect what’s going on in your life and that was just the natural next step in what was happening. I mean it wasn’t something intentional - none of us really wanted to have the experience actually.
AJI: Who did you listen to when you were growing up?
TB: Miles Davis and Clifford Brown were the first people to have an impact on me. A lot of folks, man. Those who had innovation – Bird and Diz.
AJI: Who’s on your iPod right now?
TB: Aw dude, that’s a long list! I got a 160 gig iPod. (…laughs!). I’ve been listening to some Fred Hammond actually.
AJI:– Well listen, I’ve really enjoyed talking to you…
TB: Yeah, same here man. I really feel sorry for you guys and your football team. Being from New Orleans I’ve always looked for some healthy competition between both cities. I hope you guys bounce back in the coming future. But not bounce back strong enough to knock us out of the playoffs!
AJI: Yeah, well, in that sense we’re a rebuilding city too! Well, it’s good you’re coming to Atlanta because this city needs a strong jazz presence and tradition.
TB: Well I’m really looking forward to coming through there.
Terrence Blanchard was interviewed by Lateef Baaset for AtlantaJazz.Info