As a leader, trumpeter Terence Blanchard has been an important mainstay on the jazz circuit since the ‘80s, recording dozens of albums either with fellow New Orleans artist Donald Harrison or on his own with his own bands (which often serve as a farm system for future greats like his mentor Art Blakey who brought him up in his Jazz Messengers). Add to that the numerous soundtracks he’s recorded over the years (significantly with director Spike Lee) as well as an opera (2013’s Champion: An Opera in Jazz. While Blanchard has traversed many paths musically, there had been one zone in which he had not traveled: electric jazz fusion.
By Dan Ouellete