TERENCE BLANCHARD IS A MAN WITH A MISSION.
INITIALLY STARTING HIS CAREER WITH THE LAST OF ART BLAKEY’S JAZZ MESSENGERS, BLANCHARD HAS SUCCESSFULLY WALKED THE TIGHTROPE OF CONTINUING THE JAZZ TRADITION BUT MAKING IT RELEVANT TO TODAY’S GENERATION. HE’S BEEN ABLE TO RELEASE ALBUMS SUCH AS THE RECENT E-COLLECTIVE LIVE WITH TODAY’S YOUNG GENERATION OF ARTISTS WHO ADD ELECTRONICS AND URBAN SOUNDS, WHILE STILL ABLE TO DELIVER STRAIGHT-AHEAD MATERIAL AS ON HIS RECENT SOUNDTRACK FOR THE COMEDIAN.
JUST AS IMPORTANT, BLANCHARD IS ONE OF THE FEW ARTISTS WHO CAN DELIVER A SOCIAL MESSAGE THROUGH HIS MUSIC WITHOUT SOUNDING WHINEY OR PREACHY. HIS SOUNDTRACK FOR THE KATRINA HURRICANE DOCUMENTARY WAS A CLASSIC, AND HIS CHOICES ALBUM MIXED HARD BOP WITH INSPIRING MESSAGES FROM DR. ALAN WEST.
MOST RECENTLY, MR. BLANCHARD HAS FELT THE NEED TO ADDRESS THE PRESENT POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CLIMATE WITH SONGS WITH THEMES TITLED “KAOS” TO REFLECT HIS CONCERN ABOUT SOCIETAL AND FAMILY STRUCTURES.
WE RECENTLY HAD A CHAT WITH TERENCE AS HE WAS ON TOUR WITH HIS E-COLLECTIVE BAND. AS ALWAYS, HE WAS POLITE AND PASSIONATE WITH A SENSE OF URGENCY AND VISION.
YOUR WERE IN ART BLAKEY’S LAST BAND. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT WITH 30 YEARS OF RETROSPECT?
I feel extremely blessed to have had that opportunity. It was the best for me, just coming out of college. I was only in school for 1 ½ years before I started playing with Art Blakey. It was such a great education for me because it just threw me into a fire. It was like being a rookie and starting in the NBA playoffs. You’re kind of overwhelmed and excited at the same time; being around your heroes, getting a chance to have conversations with them. They took me seriously and accepted me with open arms because I was on the scene; it was something that I could never imagine.
And with all of that, Art was giving us a chance to explore and create while we were in his group. He wanted us to compose. He always talked about how he wanted us get our own sound and make our own version of The Jazz Messengers with the songs and arrangements, which we tried to do.
But, at the same time, the band was such a legacy with such a sound, as soon as he hit the drums it was “Uh Oh! There’s the Jazz Messengers Sound” 235 Also, there’s that classic 3 part harmony with the horn section and those great arrangements made playing with him an honor.
WHAT IS YOUR REFLECTION OF YOUR BOUNCE AND FLOW BANDS WITH LIONEL LOUEKE AND HERBIE HANCOCK?
All of those groups that I had like that were moments in time where I felt that I was growing musically. The thing with that group with Kendrick Scott and Derrick Hodge was that their youth, creative minds and openness brought something into my world that I could not have perceived in terms of playing different meters, playing “world” music. Being with Herbie at the time was the best experience of all, as he was open to all of it, and he reminded me what it means to be a bandleader. It doesn’t mean you tell everyone what to do (laughs).
You want to allow them to have creative input, and you wind up being the beneficiary of it.
SO WITH YOUR LATEST BAND, WHAT DOES FABIAN BRING INTO THE MIX? PUN INTENDED.
He brings in a lot. He is so creative. We just did a documentary “Up From the Streets” which is about the street music of New Orleans and how it has influenced today’s music. He represents the band that brings in all of this new stuff.
We were playing one of my tunes, “Kaos,” which normally has a piano introduction. We did three takes of the intro, but we couldn’t pick one because they were all so good. He’s good at the piano, but he also brings in his laptop for effects and he’s doing some real creative things with it. And the wild part about it for me is that sometimes, when you hear a guy using a lot of effects, they don’t go into the musical depth that Fabian has.
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“The thing I hate is when people coast. If you’re just coming in to make a gig you’re not going to stay long”
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So, for him to combine the two, it’s a unique thing. You can hear it a little bit on the new Live record. What I told him when he joined the band was “just be you. I don’t have any expectations.”
The thing that I hate is when people coast. If you’re just coming in to make a gig you’re not going to stay long. What I really love is for people to grow, experiment and try things.
WHAT’S THE STATEMENT OF PURPOSE OF YOUR E COLLECTIVE BAND?
First, it was to try to inspire some young kids that didn’t necessarily want to play straight-ahead to still play music at a high level. That was the initial idea.
But, while we were doing that, with all of these kids being shot by the police, we felt that we could also make a statement about gun violence. That’s how it started, and with Live, we’re trying to continue on, as after a kid gets shot in Sacramento 20 times, we’re still talking about the President with prostitutes. It’s ridiculous.
It’s frustrating when you see football players kneeling to bring awareness to people of color and violence and that being turned into disrespecting the flag. The bait and switch of the topic is disgusting, and it’s one of the reasons that we try to do what we can to keep the story alive. We’re not talking about it enough…
Every time you turn on the TV, the topic is about Trump; it’s not about the issues of the people. When you feel like all of the games that society plays to distract us, you have to do something.
So, I have this little microphone called an album and use the band to help start an engagement to bring some awareness to what is going on. We’re telling our listeners, “I know you’re frustrated. But being frustrated is one thing; what we need is to elect people that make intelligent decisions, especially with the police thing.”
It’s the same thing with the politicians and the coal people. They tell them, “We’ll bring it back,” and they’re lying to them while they are raiding our pockets.
So, we’re trying to help get things back on track for what’s best for the country, not on what is distracting us.
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“My father loved music and hated injustice”
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THIS ALBUM IS NOT YOUR FIRST FORAY INTO SOCIAL ISSUES, AS YOU DID AN ALBUM ABOUT HURRICANE KATRINA AND ANOTHER ONE WITH MESSAGES BY DR. CORNEL WEST ON CHOICES. WHO GOT YOU INSPIRED TO BE SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS?
I guess it was always in me, because of my parents. My father loved music, loved opera, and hated injustice. If he saw me playing outside and someone was being picked on, if he saw me doing it, it was my ass! That’s number one; but if I saw someone being picked on and didn’t come to their aid, it was still my ass!
We were taught to look out for one another. I was 10-11, and I saw a dog in the neighborhood, and I threw a rock at it. My dad saw that and wanted to beat my ass really bad! He instilled that awareness in me as a youngster.
THAT IS WHAT IS MISSING TODAY; AN AUTHORITY WHO LOVES YOU BUT ALSO SETS FIRM LIMITS.
Not just any authority, but parental authority
WHILE I LIKE MANY THINGS DR. WEST SAYS, HE TENDS TO THINK GOVERNMENT GIVES THE SOLUTIONS. DO YOU HAVE ANY CONSERVATIVE, MORE LIBERTERIAN AND LESS GOVERNMENTAL VOICES THAT YOU RESPECT AS WELL? VOICES LIKE THOMAS SOWELL, LARRY ELDER AND WALTER WILLIAMS?; DO YOU SEE THEM AS “SELLOUTS” AS SOME BLACKS DO?
I don’t see them as sellouts. They have a belief that they are fighting for that I sometimes disagree with.
I don’t necessarily believe that government is the solution, but it could be a primer to help people understand. If we didn’t have certain laws on, say, segregation, people wouldn’t get the opportunity to understand.
There’s a conservative talk show guy in Texas, and he told a brilliant story on how his father was a racist, and used the N-word all of the time. But, he wouldn’t use it for Mrs. Johnson who lived down the street because he knew Mrs. Johnson. So, laws can kind of open up a discussion.
The first time I went to South Africa, I ran into this guy and he’s a fan of mine. We were talking about how excited he was that he could finally fly on a plane from Capetown to Johannesburg for a jazz festival.
I asked him, “How come you’re not angry about what happened before here?” He said “It came from Mandela. Mandela said that what we went through was awful; but it’s over, and these people are our neighbors now; we have to move forward.” That’s political leadership 1512
ALEX DE TOQUEVILLE MENTIONED BACK IN THE 1830s SAID THE BEST SOLUTION WAS FOR INTERMARRIAGE TO OCCUR.
Here’s my thoughts on that. I don’t have a problem with who marries who, but I think that the main solution is to learn how to celebrate our differences.
When we look at “the other” as something strange, it creates fear and all kinds of problems. What’s better is when you say, “You do that? Wow, that’s interesting.”
ALSO, WHEN YOU APPRECIATE IT, YOU CAN ALSO MAKE FUN AND TEASE ANOTHER CULTURE WITH LOVE.
Yeah, you can’t do that anymore.
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“You want to allow them to have creative input, and you wind up being the beneficiary of it”
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I HAVE RELATIVES THAT ARE BLACK, LATIN, JEWISH AND EVEN DESCENDENTS FROM THE MAYFLOWER, AND THE FUN TIMES ARE DURING OUR GET TOGETHERS WHEN WE GET TO RIP EACH OTHER IN JEST.
People come from so many different angles now, you don’t know what’s what. The levels of trust and community have been blown apart.
That’s what we’re trying to say with this record. That’s why we have the song “Kaos” because that’s where I’m afraid we’re headed.
Politicians blame everyone else, but they have only themselves to blame. On both sides. One thing I can’t stand is how everyone tries to over exaggerate a point. Let’s just deal with facts.
I saw a show on CNN a few years ago. It was the most brilliant show I’d seen in a long time. Donna Brazile had a show called The Roundtable. The had some liberals, but without spin or dog whistles; she next had a group of conservatives on. Same thing; smart people, and I found myself agreeing with some of their fiscal policies. This is what the country needs.
YOUR ALBUM INCLUDES THE FAMOUS THOMAS JEFFERSON QUOTE “I TREMBLE FOR MY COUNTRY WHEN I REFLECT THAT GOD IS JUST.” WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?
When I first saw it, I trembled.
I grew up in the church. One of the things that I still deal with is, even as an adult, is that quiet moment with myself, where I sit down and think of who I am as a person. How all of this relates to my faith, and how my faith guides my actions.
When I see the actions of some of these people, the thing I keep saying is “You cannot be a believer.” I don’t care what side of the aisle you’re on; the way things are going on and the way people are deceiving the American people for the sake of power. The whole thing is a farce.
THERE’S AN EXCELLENT BOOK BIND US APART, WHICH DEALS WITH JEFFERSON’S ABILITY TO END SLAVERY DURING HIS PRESIDENCY, BUT HE ENJOYED THE BENEFITS OF IT TOO MUCH TO REALLY DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
That’s where the distrust comes in.
People aren’t stupid, and what’s going on right now is a big civics lesson of how a system has gone wrong.
The system was designed to have checks and balances.
YOU”VE HAD ROBERT GLASPER IN BOTH PHASES OF HIS CAREER, WHEN HE FIRST STARTED OUT AS A MAINSTREAMER AND NOW WITH URBAN R&B SOUNDS. IS THE CURRENT SOUND MORE OF A MUSICAL STATEMENT OR IS IT A WAY TO CONNECT WITH A YOUNGER GENERATION?
It’s both. You’ve got to remember the history of great jazz musicians like Miles Davis, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock doing this; we’re standing on their shoulders, first of all.
Second, we’re trying to reach younger kids, but we want to show them possibilities. How to go further into this.
For me, I got a little bit nervous when I saw a bunch of kids trying to be musicians by pressing one note on the keyboard and letting the keyboard do all of the work.
With this band, we’re trying to push the envelopes in terms of creativity, so that it’s not just reaching kids. It’s also how to take rhythmic phrases and be creative with them.
YOU’RE STILL TAKING TIME FOR STRAIGHT-AHEAD STUFF LIKE THE SOUNDTRACK FOR THE COMEDIAN
That was a lot of fun. Taylor Hackford was the director for that film, and it was surreal. You never have a guy come up to you and say, “Hey, man. I want a score that echoes the Blue Note era.” (laughs)
We had big horn sounds and lines with harmony, and he said “I want a whole album of that,” so I said “Cool!”
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“You want to allow them to have creative input, and you wind up being the beneficiary of it”
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YOU HAVE A GOOD BALANCE IN YOUR CAREER BETWEEN ART AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. IT’S PROBABLY BECAUSE OF YOUR STRONG FAMILY AND CHURCH UPBRINGING
Let me tell you something. We were at a birthday party yesterday, and were talking about strong parents, and how there was a moment in my career when Art Blakey and I had a dispute, and I thought he was going to fire me.
My father called me while I was in my Brooklyn apartment going through this. He heard the disappointment in my voice, and I’ll never forget what he said.
I’m trying to be a man about it, but he told me “I don’t know what you’re going through, but if it ever gets too rough, you can always come home and there will be no questions asked.” That’s empowering.
EMPOWERMENT IS SOMETHING THAT’S TALKED A LOT ABOUT, BUT BLANCHARD DELIVERS MESSAGES THAT ARE PRACTICAL. STRONG FAMILIES, A FAITHFUL GOVERNMENT AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY MIXED WITH FAITH GO A LONG WAY IN REMEDYING TODAY’S SOCIETAL PROBLEMS. HIS COMMITMENT TO TODAY’S UPCOMING GENERATION IS NOTICED IN HIS MESSAGE TO THEM AS WELL AS TO HIS ENCOURAGEMENT TO HIS MUSIC, A BONUS FOR ALL OF HIS FANS.