One might rightly call Terence Blanchard a man of many qualities. The 52-year-old trumpeter is a bandleader, arranger and composer, who has also written the soundtracks of over 50 movies and composed an opera. The five-fold Grammy winner has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival many times. Blanchard is innovative and progressive. This time he will come to Rotterdam with his latest project Terence Blanchard E-Collective, consisting of young potential stars Fabian Almazan (keyboard) and Charles Altura (guitar), who are accompanied by old hands Donald Ramsey (bass) and Oscar Seaton (drums). With this quintet Blanchard wants to explore musical ground he has never walked on before but which has fascinated him for many years, as he says himself. The first result of this creative cross-pollination is the wonderful debut album Breathless (2015). You can expect a virtuoso mix filled with jazz fusion, R&B, funk, blues, hip hop and, of course, ground-breaking improvisation.
