Jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard was tutored by legendary New Orleans pianist and jazz patriarch Ellis Marsalis. Blanchard later brought his work as a composer to fruition through an association with the film director and actor Spike Lee. Initially a soloist on Lee’s 1980s soundtracks to School Days, Do the Right Thing and Mo’ Better Blues, Blanchard subsequently composed music for Lee’s screen and television films including Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Jungle Fever, Clockers, Get on the Bus, Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, She Hate Me, Inside Man and 2006’s four hour Hurricane Katrina documentary for HBO, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. His latest collaboration with the filmmaker, Miracle at St. Anna, will be released in September 2008. 

In addition to his soundtracks, Blanchard has recorded eight solo albums for the Columbia and Sony Classical labels, including Simply Stated, Romantic Defiance, Jazz in Film, Let’s Get Lost and Wandering Moon, all with critical success. He released 2003’s Bounce on Blue Note Records, following it up with Flow in 2005, which was produced by legendary pianist Herbie Hancock. Refusing to be constrained by archetypal jazz instrumentation and sound, Flow is Blanchard’s vision of a future where jazz, world music, funk, aural soundscapes and abstraction coexist. Lauded for both his soundtracks and small group work, Blanchard has received awards for his contributions to film including multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for Mo’ Better Blues, The Heart Speaks, The Promised Land and The 25th Hour, as well as instrumental Grammy nominations for solos from Wandering Moon and Let’s Get Lost. In 2005, Blanchard won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for his participation on McCoy Tyner’s Illuminations, an award he shared with Tyner, Gary Bartz, Christian McBride and Lewis Nash. His latest release,  A Tale of God’s Will: A Requiem for Katrina (Blue Note) received a Grammy Award in 2008. He continues to record and tour with legends of the jazz world, and is the Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance in New Orleans. For more information on Terence Blanchard visit www.terenceblanchard.com.

This year, for the first time, the McCormack Residency will operate in collaboration with the First Year Experience (FYE) and Blanchard’s residency will provide curricular, co-curricular, and residential opportunities as part of our year-long FYE program. Blanchard’s CD, A Tale of God's Will: A Requiem for Katrina, supplemented by a few additional readings, will be the required summer reading text for students entering Skidmore this fall. The salience of this CD is that it speaks as a text to a wide variety of powerful themes in American culture, including race, class, civic engagement, and the American identity, and will allow us at the same time to highlight Katrina as part of the residency. For more information please visit the First-Year Experience.

Fall 2008 Schedule:
Open Rehearsal – Skidmore Jazz Ensemble
Monday, September 15, 4 - 5:30 p.m
Filene Recital Hall

A Conversation with Terence Blanchard
Moderated by Thomas Denny
Tuesday, September 16, 5 p.m.
Gannett Auditorium

Spring 2009 Dates:
March 31 – April 3
Blanchard’s week-long visit will culminate in a formal performance with his quintet, Friday, April 3 at 8 p.m. Stay tuned for more details.