Trumpeter, pianist, and composer Terence Blanchard is a seven–time Grammy winner and two–time Academy award nominee whose fearless improvisations and prolific compositions have left an indelible mark on music.

Blanchard’s newest release, Absence, is a grooving, exploratory tribute to the inimitable Wayne Shorter, a saxophonist and composer that profoundly influenced Blanchard’s career. Absence features the trumpeter with his band the E–Collective, as well as the Turtle Island Quartet led by violinist David Balakirshnan.

Raised in New Orleans, Blanchard played music from a young age, often alongside the Marsalis brothers. While studying Rutgers University, Blanchard began touring with Lionel Hampton Orchestra before joining Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. In the 1990s, he carved his own path as a solo recording artist and began working in the film industry, particularly in a partnership with director Spike Lee as the composer of most of his soundtracks.

Today, he has composed scores for catalog of feature films, recorded twenty–five records as a leader, and he recently became the first Black composer to have had an opera presented by the Metropolitan Opera with “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.”

Arrive early for a free public appearance of Close Act Theatre’s Birdmen outside of the venue beginning at 6:50 p.m.

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Terence Blanchard
Charles Altura (guitar)
Taylor Eigsti (piano)
David Ginyard Jr. (bass)
Oscar Seaton (drums)
David Balakrishnan (violin)
Gabriel Terracciano (violin)
Benjamin von Gutzeit (viola)
Naseem Alatrash (cello)