Trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard has carved out a career not only as one of the most important trumpeters on earth, but his composing and arranging skills are second to none, and yet sometimes overlooked. He’s done soundtracks and operas, all clever and creative. This time out, he brings his E Collective Band of Fabian Almazan/p, Charles Altura/g, David Ginyard/b and Oscar Seaton/dr, and juxtaposes it with the famed Turtle Island String Quartet of David Balakirshnan/vi-dir, Gabe Terracciano/vi, Benjamin von Gutzeit/vi and Malcom Parson/cel for a tribute to Wayne Shorter. The result is nothing less than inspiring and magnificent.
Blanchard is no stranger to melding strings with modern jazz, and he does it with the magic touch of David Copperfield. His horn pleads over Almazan’s pleading p iano along with the strings on the melancholic “Absence” while the serpentine “The Elders” has the strings and horn sway with Altura’s rich guitar. Ginyard leads the way in a brooding “Fall” that has Blanchard build up to an agonizing shriek. The two juxtaposing teams get frisky on “More Elders” while sounding like the rock group Electric Light Orchestra when they dig deep on “I Dare You” and “Dark Horse”. Blanchard experiments with just the strings and succeeds on the Coplandesque “The Second W ave” and the brooding intro of “Envisioned Reflections”. If this band goes on tour, I’m first in line.