Six-time Grammy Award-Winning trumpet player and composer Terence Blanchard is a legend in his field composing dozens of films, many of them for Spike Lee. Blanchard talks about his creative process and shares stories from his more than 40 years in the business while also playing along on The Blackest Questions.
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Panama Jackson [00:00:00] You are now listening to theGrio’s Black podcast network Black Culture Amplified.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:00:06] Hi and welcome to the Blackest Questions. I’m your host, Doctor Christina Greer, politics editor for theGrio and associate professor of political science at Fordham University. In this podcast, we ask our guest five of the Blackest Questions so we can learn a little bit more about them and have some fun while we’re doing it. We’re also going to learn a lot about Black history. Past and present. So here’s how this works. We have five rounds of questions about us. Black history, the entire diaspora, current events, you name it. And with each round, the questions get a little tougher and the guest has 10 seconds to get it right. If they answer the question correctly, they’ll receive one symbolic Black fist and they’ll hear this. And if they get it wrong, they’ll hear this. But we still love them anyway. And after the five questions, there’ll be a Black bonus round at the end just for fun. And I like to call it Black Lightning.
Terence Blanchard [00:00:54] So our guest for this episode is two time Oscar nominee and six time Grammy winner Terence Blanchard. Terence has been a consistent artistic force for making powerful musical statements concerning painful American tragedies past and present. And from his expansive work, composing scores for almost 20 Spike Lee projects over three decades, ranging from the documentary When The Levees Broke to the latest Lee film The Five Bloods, where Terence received an Oscar nomination for his original score in 2021, which marked his second nomination. Terence previously received an Oscar nomination for his original score for Spike Lee’s Black Klansman. Tyrese became only the second Black composer to be nominated twice in the original score category, duplicating Quincy Jones feat from 1967 In Cold Blood and 1985 The Color Purple. More recently, Terrence also scored one night in Miami, wrote the original score for The Woman King, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, starring Viola Davis, which opened in theaters on September 16. And he wrote the original score for the upcoming Apple Plus TV documentary Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues, which will be released on October 28.
Terence Blanchard [00:02:01] Terence is also composed his second opera, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, Based on the memoir of celebrated writer and New York Times columnist Charles Blow. And he continues recording with his longtime jazz band absence The E Collective and the Turtle Island Quartet. And lastly, Terence just received another Emmy nomination this year for They Call Me Magic, which was nominated for the outstanding musical composition for a documentary series or special. I am so excited to welcome you, Terence. Thank you so much for joining the Blackest questions.
Terence Blanchard [00:02:41] Hey, how are you doing, Dr. Greer?
Dr. Christina Greer [00:02:44] Oh, yes. So the last time I saw you, you were performing with Herbie Hancock.
Terence Blanchard [00:02:49] Yes.
[00:02:50] And now you’re about to present your second opera at the Met. And you’re working on this new Louis Armstrong project. Please tell us about both of those exciting new projects.
Terence Blanchard [00:03:00] Well, you know, I’m excited about the opera at the Met. It’s actually my first opera, and it’s about Emile Griffith, who is a welterweight fighter, you know, who never came out as gay but struggled with his sexuality. And in one of his fights in the press event before the fight, he was outed by his opponent. And he was outraged because, you know, he didn’t do those types of things back then in the sixties, and he wound up killing that opponent in the ring, you know, and it was a really rough thing for him because there’s a tagline in his biography, whereas where he said, you know, “I killed a man and the world forgave me, but I loved a man and the world wants to kill me.” And that became the kind of motive behind doing the opera and the whole notion of redemption. Then with Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues, I mean, that was just an honor to work on. I frankly, you know, when people call me to be a part of it, I was just overwhelmed, you know, because, I mean, that’s Louis Armstrong and he’s the father of all of this stuff, man.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:04:05] Right.
Terence Blanchard [00:04:06] So the first thing I thought of was, don’t play on it. Don’t play on it. You know.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:04:12] Are you going to do you don’t play on it or do you play?
Terence Blanchard [00:04:15] Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don’t play on it at all.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:04:17] No way. I mean, you are arguably one of the best trumpet players of our generation. How are you not playing on a Louis Armstrong piece?
Terence Blanchard [00:04:25] Because it’s Louis Armstrong, you know. So and we have a lot of his music there, you know, I mean, so I didn’t feel a need to have competing trumpet. It’s really about Louis and we just wanted to hear his music, his musical voice and his actual voice. But what I did was I brought the turtle on a string quartet and and I took this kind of harmonic segment from this old rocking chair, which is a piece, you know, Louis would do with Jack Teagarden. The cover just was so sentimental and so emotional for me. And I used that kind of as the emotional backdrop for the documentary.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:05:05] Wow. Okay. So most people know you as a trumpeter, but I know you play other instruments. Walk us through the other instruments and sort of tell us how you got into each of those instruments.
Terence Blanchard [00:05:18] Well, I play piano. You can see the keyboard behind me, but that was the first thing. That’s where I actually started from the outside of playing piano. I was about five years old and I always wanted to be a drummer and my mom would never let me be a drummer because we had a drummer in the house, my cousin.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:05:32] Okay,.
Terence Blanchard [00:05:33] So she didn’t want to have two drummers in the house. So those basically are two instruments that I kind of mess around with as I compose on the piano all the time. But like in, for example, some of the percussion stuff that you hear in the Woman King is actually me playing.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:05:47] Oh, really?
Terence Blanchard [00:05:48] Mm hmm. It’s not all.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:05:51] Your late drummer.
Terence Blanchard [00:05:53] Of course. All the time.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:05:54] But now with the with the Louis Armstrong piece, you know, so many people know him. First trumpet. I personally absolutely love his voice. So what about, you know, what did you discover in working on this this piece? Was there anything new that you know? I mean, obviously, you’re a son of New Orleans. You know a lot about Louis Armstrong and sort of the entire orbit that he was in. But did you learn anything new, not just about either his playing style or his vocal style that sort of surprised you even this late in the game?
Terence Blanchard [00:06:25] Well, the things that I learned had nothing to do with the music, actually. It had more to do with his social awareness. You know, I kind of knew that Pops was always socially aware of what was going on in America. He just didn’t speak on it. The way his wife talked about it in the documentary was profound for me because Pops knew where he was in his life and where his career was in the development of America. And he knew that the most important thing for him to get this music out there. So he decided not to make statements about some social events, but it didn’t mean that he wasn’t aware of those things, you know? And as a result, what started to happen is it allowed the younger generation to flourish in this world of jazz. And then they became the spokespeople to speak out about social injustice in this country. But the problem was, since we didn’t know this about Lewis, we always used to make this assumption about. Him and it’s totally false. And you actually hear this in his own words in a documentary. That’s one of the things that I love about it.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:07:31] I cannot wait for this documentary. I love, love, love. Louis Armstrong on a whole host of levels. But I have such a great love and admiration for his work. And I cannot wait to see what you did to it. Okay, so are you ready to play the Blackest Questions?
Terence Blanchard [00:07:45] A little nervous, but I’ll be okay.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:07:47] Well, as I tell every guest, Black history is American history. And so we’re on this journey together. Okay. So we’re going to first question, Popularizing a new approach to Improvization, arguably making it the best jazz album ever to be released. Although released nearly 65 years ago, this album remains popular among its listeners. What is the name of the album?
Terence Blanchard [00:08:12] Kind of Blue. Miles Davis.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:08:14] Ding, ding, ding. So Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded on March 2nd and April 22nd in 1959 at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio in New York City. And it was released on August 17th of that year by Columbia Records. Kind of Blue brought together seven now legendary musicians in the prime of their careers. There is tenor saxophonist John Coltrane. Alto saxophonist Julian Cannonball Adderley, pianist Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Jimmy Cobb, and, of course, trumpeter Miles Davis. And rather than basing its five tunes on a rigid framework of changing chords, it was conventional for post-bop music. And Miles Davis and Bill Evans wrote pieces for more limited set of scales in different modes. So you got that one quick, fast in a hurry. Well, I know.
Terence Blanchard [00:09:05] My wheelhouse, so.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:09:07] I know Miles Davis is one of your musical inspirations. He’s mentioned Clifford Brown in the past and Clark Terry, and Roger Dickerson. You know, it also sounds like in other interviews we’ve done and that I’ve heard you come from somewhat of a musical family. So tell us about some of these musical inspirations for you.
Terence Blanchard [00:09:25] Well, yeah, I mean, it all started with my family. I mean, and growing up in New Orleans, you know, you hear music all the time. You hear a live performance all the time, and you don’t really think about it. You think the rest of the world is like it was like that, you know, And you kind of take it for granted at first. But once I started to realize that we were special, it really made me understand how, you know, this had such a huge effect on my life. My father sang opera. My mom’s sister taught piano and voice. My grandfather played guitar. They all sang and performed in church on every Sunday, you know? And then we’d go out to recitals and stuff like that. But then when I started to really delve into the world of modern jazz, when I started to listen to Miles Davis and Claude Cherry and Clifford Brown, all of those guys just really, really just opened my eyes to the possibility of what was able to be accomplished in the world of creativity. But here’s the thing about it, though. You know, it really also opened my eyes to, again, this whole thing of social injustice in our country. Because I grew up believing that if you accomplished something, you would be a household name in this country. And most people didn’t know these things. They didn’t know who these guys were. And for me, that was a travesty, because there were great musicians. There were people who really changed the course of music. Nobody’s changed the course of music more than Miles Davis, you know. And, you know, when you think about Clark Terry and Clifford Brown, those guys have a huge effect on the world of music as well. You know, and also should be household names.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:10:59] Time for a quick break. We’ll be right back.
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Dr. Christina Greer [00:12:01] Welcome back to the Blackest Questions. Do you remember the first piece that you ever composed? You know, it’s like, I know that you play piano and you know, you learned your scales and the trumpet. And I’ve told you, you know, when I finished my dissertation, I went out and bought a trumpet the next day because I just needed to, like, let the world know that I finished this project. And there’s this long history of Black women playing the trumpet. But what do you remember how old you were and where you were when you composed your very first piece?
Terence Blanchard [00:12:27] Yes, I was about 15 or 16 years old, and I was studying with Roger Dickerson in New Orleans, and he made me write a piano piece, bass level with six note tone row. And it was it was called Fantasy in Space when I was a kid. The unfortunate thing is that, man, I lost it in the hurricane, you know, But I had a I had a printed version of it, and it was the only one you know, we didn’t have digital stuff back then, so it was the only one that I had. And it got destroyed in the hurricane.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:12:58] Oh, my goodness. So what’s your creative process? Because, I mean, you know, you have created the soundtrack, I mean, for you, not just for Spike Lee before a lot of Black folks who know your music and really appreciate your music, you’ve created a soundtrack for our lives. How do you sort of sit down either at the piano or what is your process? Do you need do you need to be alone? You need to be with your people, you know, do you have a a glass of wine? You know, where are we? Is it morning time and then.
Terence Blanchard [00:13:27] All of the above?
Dr. Christina Greer [00:13:28] All of the above?
Terence Blanchard [00:13:29] No, no. I mean, for me, it’s a solitary kind of existence, you know? And it’s one of the things that I tell my students in terms of studying composition, because inspiration comes from anywhere, you know? So the process always changes based on the project sometimes. And, you know, I can hear rhythm and then all of a sudden that will become the basis of something. Or I can hear a sound and the color of the sound will kind of give me inspiration. You know, sometimes a little melodic things popped in my head. It really depends. You know, like when I’m working on a film, I try to let the film speak to me. I try to let that tell me what it means by the pace of the dialog where it’s cut and all of those things. And when it’s time for me to write for my band, it’s really just about what it is that I want to say. So I try to clear my mind and allow these things to give me starting points in more places and start. And then the then the composer in me kind of takes over and takes this idea and say, okay, well, I can do this, I can do this. What are the things that I want to how do I want to use this idea? Then it’s lost. Everything starts to fall into place. So but you know what it really boils down to? You know, it boils down to listening. You know, it boils down to being open to what the idea is telling you that it needs and what it wants to do.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:14:50] That’s brilliant. So, I mean, what do you do? I know we have a lot of musicians who listen to the podcast. What do you do if you’re stuck? You know? So it’s like there’s something, you know, I’m, I used to quilt and so sometimes it’s like it’s moving along. I feel like the the quilt is speaking to me, but then there’s a piece where it’s just like I’m, I don’t know where to go next, and I know that I’ve been on this road, but like, I’m a I’m a little stuck.
Terence Blanchard [00:15:15] Well, you know, that happens time from time to time. But that’s the reason why your tools really, that’s where the tools come into play. You know, like, for example, when I’m working with my students and they come up with an idea, I show them how to get, you know, thousands of permutations of their idea, different key, retrograde, flipping it around all of these different things. And when you get stuck, I always tell them to play through them.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:15:39] Mhm.
[00:15:40] Play through these ideas because you know it’s, it’s, it’s one of the things that I said to my students all the time. When you go to church you learn it a seeking you shall find it doesn’t say you shall find I to go out and seek in order to do that. You know, a lot of times we want things to just come our way and think that it’s going to fall into place. No, but you have to do the work because, you know, I there’s there’s there’s been times when I’ve gotten stuck and I’ve gone through this process and I find an identical oh, there it is right there. And then other times when I’ve gotten stuck going through the process and I go, Oh, that’s cool idea. And that becomes a new. Right.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:16:19] I mean, that’s I mean, I guess it’s sort of like writing in the sense that, you know, sometimes when I have writer’s block, it’s like, well, then sit down and write something. Right? But the the activity of writing is the activity. I do think it should be noted. That I am speaking to the Miles Davis award winner from the Montreal International Jazz Festival. Just a little bit back to our first question. So we’re going to take a quick commercial break, and I’m here with Terence Blanchard on the Blackest Questions.
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Dr. Christina Greer [00:17:38] Okay, We are back. I’m here with Terence Blanchard. We’re playing the Blackest Questions. Terence, are you ready for question number two?
Terence Blanchard [00:17:45] Maybe.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:17:47] Okay. This director is a professor of the master series Directing Strategies. It’s a course at a prominent university. Who is he?
Terence Blanchard [00:17:56] Spike.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:17:57] That’s great. All right, so you were on a role. Spike Lee, Academy Award winner Spike Lee’s iconic. But a body of storytelling has made an indelible mark on filmmaking and television. Most recently in 2021, he he directed New York City Epicenters about 911, which was a four episode television mini series, And he co-wrote the five Bloods for Netflix. He’s directed the version of David Byrne’s American Utopia, which was released on HBO. And prior to the Five Bloods, the visionary filmmaker co-wrote and directed the Academy Award nominated and critically acclaimed hit film BlacKkKlansman, which he won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. His career spans over 30 years and includes She’s Gotta Have It School Days, which is my favorite. Do the Right Thing Mo Better Blues Jungle Fever. Malcolm X Crooklyn Clockers Girl six Get on the bus. He got game. Some are saying Bamboozled 25th hour She hate me Inside man Miracle It’s in Red Hook Summer, Oldboy and Chi-Raq and Lee’s outstanding feature documentary work includes the double Emmy Award winning If God is Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise, and a follow up to his HBO documentary film When the Levees Broke a Requiem in four Acts, and the Peabody Award winning the Huey P. Newton story. So you and Spike go way back. And most of the films I mentioned where Spike was the director, you were also the composer. So how did you come to work with Spike for all these years? And what’s that? What’s that sort of creative relationship like?
Terence Blanchard [00:19:24] You know, when it comes to working with Spike, man, it totally happened by accident. But you see, that’s one of the things that I try to tell my students, too. You have to be prepared at any given time because opportunity will knock when you least expect it, you know. So we were working on, I think it was model blues and we were doing the prerecorded music for the actors to sing to and all of the band scenes and we are taking a break and I was working on an album, my first solo album for Columbia Records, and I had written this tune called Things The Way To, which is a tune written for those kids who were massacred, you know, in later years ago. And when I started playing it, you know, Spike walked by and goes, “Hey, man, was that?” I said, “Oh, this is this tune I’m working.” He goes, “Man, I want to I want to use it. Can I use that?” And I said, “Sure.” So when we recorded it that day, we just recorded it as a solo trumpet piece and they shot the scene with Denzel on the bridge, you know, and. Once they got that scene back to the editing room, you know, Spike felt like there was wasn’t enough stuff going on in the scene and it felt kind of empty. So he called me up and he goes, Hey, man, you thinking about a string arrangement for that for that tune? And I always tell people I lied and yes, of course, of course. Then I called Roger, you know, my composition teacher. I said, Hey, Roger, I got this project and I don’t know what to do. And I’m thinking he’s going to give me something like really concrete, you know, being my mentor, he said, “Trust your training.” That was his answer. But, you know, it was the best thing that he could tell me to do because I went back and I just kind of sat down and I said, Well, look, if I’m going to do this, I’m a go whole hog. And if I fail, I still have a career as a jazz musician. So I just went for my heart roader and handed it in. It is the kicker that to the studio and handed the music to Spike’s dad, Bill Lee, who was writing all of the other music. And Spike’s dad goes, Hey, man, you wrote it. You conduct it. And I was like, “Excuse me?”
Dr. Christina Greer [00:21:31] Oh, right now I’m a conductor, too.
Terence Blanchard [00:21:34] Right? So then the next thing you know, I was so fortunate for my upbringing in New Orleans and the arts high school that I went to when we did sites in Class, they taught us how to wear the beats, whereas a conductor’s one, two, three, four. So at least I knew that part. This hand didn’t know what to do. So this hand is jazzy. And yeah, it’s like, Hey, that’s all. He did this and did all the work. And once we finished it, you know, Spike goes, “Man, you’ve got a future in this business.” And I said, “Oh, thank you.” And I didn’t think nothing of it. But then he called me to do Jungle Fever, and then we’ve been working together ever since.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:22:15] Now, I know that, you know, most times artists are like, Oh, I don’t have a favorite. All my projects are different. I love them all. Come on. This is just the two of us talking. And, you know, if you listen, there’s what Spike film that you’ve worked on has like, a special place in your heart? Where you’re just like, You know what this was? This one is. I mean, I know Mo, but it was kind of your first big one. But like, what are some of the other ones where you’re like, Yeah, I kind of love this one special.
Terence Blanchard [00:22:44] Well, the one that’s really special is Malcolm X. It was my second film, and there’s a lot of things that I needed to learn, you know, after doing that film. But I think it was just the nature of what it was. You know, it’s a it’s an it was an epic movie. And Spike did an amazing job. Denzel’s performance was off the chain, and I was just totally inspired by what I saw on screen, you know, and try to do my best to help support the film. And then next, after that, probably Miracle, at St. Anna for similar reasons. You know, when I worked on Miracle at St. Anna, Spike was sending me all in still pictures. And I thought it was just gorgeous, the way it looked in a way. And that school kind of wrote itself. I just remember nervous about it. But once I sat down to work with it, all of the scenes just started to flow and work. You know, I always tell people that’s probably the easiest one that I’ve ever written, because even though it’s a lot of music, you know, it just came to me and, you know, it was something it was a unique experience that I really had.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:23:53] You know, it’s Malcolm X had such a special place in a lot of folks, you know, hearts and minds, just because, you know, people of my generation, you know, some of us had read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, but Spike’s book, I think, introduced a lot of people to Malcolm X. Spike’s work and motivated them to then go ahead and read the book. But that soundtrack is it’s an emotional guide to how we should feel as far as, you know, the depth of Malcolm’s intellect and his love of Black people. I always remember there’s some scenes with Delroy Lindo. They just have such beauty. I mean, his acting, you know, I’m a Delroy Lindo fan. When I went to go see the Fire Shut Up in My Bones. Your your opera at the Met. First Black man to put on an opera at the Met over there, 130 year history, by the way. He was in the audience. And I just remember bumping into him and him having just such wonderful things to say about you and your work, because as an actor, you brought out the best in him in some ways by supporting his brilliant performance with this, with this score. So, yeah.
Terence Blanchard [00:25:03] I have to you know, I have to tell you, something is so interesting about what you just said about Malcolm X. One of the things that made me so proud of that film was I never forget, once we had done it, it hadn’t come out yet. And I was in New Orleans and I went to the barbershop just going to have a car, and I walked in and you know, the barber. Obviously remember the world knew I was and knew that I had worked on this movie. So when I walked into like a barbershop, you know, was that was that was a and, you know, they were talking about what I was doing and then they said, you know, this guy just did the music for Spike’s new movie, Malcolm X. And within seconds, the conversation switched from me to responsibility in the African-American community and how Black men need to step up to the table. And I watched this conversation just shift. And it became it took over the entire barbershop. And it was amazing to think that man, just the mention of a film can spark this kind of debate in our community. And that made me feel proud to be a part of something that could do that.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:26:10] Mm hmm. I mean, I you know, I always love your scores, though, because as diverse and distinct as they are, they always seem to have a little Easter egg that sort of lets listeners know it’s like this is the Terence Blanchard joint. But every time I listen to it, you know, I was watching a movie, Gloria Estefan and.
Terence Blanchard [00:26:30] Oh yeah.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:26:31] We’re in a movie. I want to say like Father of the Bride.
Terence Blanchard [00:26:34] Father of the Bride.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:26:35] Yeah. Father of the Bride. And I just, you know, on a Saturday night, I was just, you know, let me just put on something nice and fun and kind of smooth it out is, you know, raining outside. And this would be, you know, it’s funny, the typical father story, you know, you think all this other stuff, but, you know, my heart stories were being pulled. The comedies a little rom com and I was just like this reminded me of, you know, other films that I’ve known and loved that are just kind of deeper, you know, like a Malcolm X level, a Jungle Fever, where it’s pulling me to really think about life and who I am. And then at the end, it’s this. Terence Blanchard original composition was like, I knew it. Like, there’s a reason why I’m watching this movie chuckling. But also few of them got away.
Terence Blanchard [00:27:18] But you know what was funny about that film? You know, whenever you do demos for four films, you try to make the demo sound as realistically as possible. Well, try to do a jazz score demo is and is incredibly difficult because I’m not a drummer. I’m not a pianist, I’m not a bass is right. So whenever I would have these demos, they would literally just sound very lame, you know what I mean? And, you know, and a director was in this room going, Well, I don’t know. I’m like, Hey, man, listen, let me tell you I said this. You hear real musicians, it’s going to be totally different. So we had Christian McBride.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:27:51] Oh, yeah.
Terence Blanchard [00:27:52] Jonathan Barber, Gerald Clayton and Charles Alter in the rhythm section, Right. So I never forget he was still nervous. He was really nervous. We get to the first days of the session, we do the first Q in the band is killer. They are just killing it. And and as soon as we finished the first tape, I looked into the control room and I said, Do you get it now? Like.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:28:18] I loved it. I loved it. And, you know, and I think what I always hear you saying and and we had a conversation about this with Herbie Hancock as well. It’s you’re constantly referencing your past mentors and you’re constantly referencing your students and the younger musicians that you’ve brought along to sort of show them some of the opportunities. But it’s also because other jazz musicians have done that to you in the process. And I remember you and some of your bandmates talking about Herbie Hancock doing that and really kind of just plucking folks, you know, who have talent and just showing them not just the world, but the industry and just other ways to work with musicians and how to be a professional jazz musician from start to finish. And I love that there’s always an education piece to every project and every interview that you give, where it’s a connection to the past mentorship and the future.
Terence Blanchard [00:29:10] Mentees know it’s it’s it’s part of that whole thing about what your show is about. You know what I mean? It’s really about passing on this information one generation to the next. And I’ve been working a lot with Herbie lately, you know, And, you know, when I saw you on tour with Herbie over the summer, you know, that was an incredible experience for me because, you know, being on tour with him for six weeks, playing with him every night was magical. But our conversations on the bus were even more impressive. You know, just listening to his thought process, getting the background of his history of some things that I didn’t know, you know, and then just being around him and watching how he operates has been a huge, huge blessing for me, you know, And it’s one of those things where you have to pass that on because that’s what happened to me. Clark Terry, uh, Milt Hinton, Freddie Hubbard, they all would Woody Shaw, Dizzy Gillespie, they all put their arms around me and just said, Hey, man, come on, you need to check this out. Why don’t you check this out? Listen to this. Do you know about the.
Terence Blanchard [00:30:23] Those kind of types of things are the things that really helped me to grow. So it would be very selfish of me to have that experience and not pay that forward.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:30:34] Mm hmm.
Terence Blanchard [00:30:35] Now, so for me, it’s all about paying it forward. And also it’s about allowing young people to realize their own strengths. You know, because if I’m telling you that I’m no different than you, and hopefully that strikes a tone within you to let you know you could do anything you want to do if you put your heart and mind to it. And I know we hear that all the time as a cliche, but I’m living I’m a living example of it. You know, I was a kid who didn’t think I was going to go too far in the music business. But I loved music and the only thing I wanted to do was to be good at it. And as a result of that, that opened doors for me that I didn’t know existed. I didn’t even know the doors were there. And traveling the world, playing for different presidents, doing all of the things that I’ve done over the course of my career. I have to, you know, go back to all of the people in that village that had a hand and just like, you know, giving me information and giving me inspiration.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:31:33] And establishing that foundation. I adored Terence Blanchard. You have no idea. Okay. We’re going to take a quick commercial break. And we are playing the Black Keys questions with Terence Blanchard.
[00:31:44] TheGrio Black Podcast Network is here, and it’s everything you’ve been waiting for news, talk, entertainment, sports and today’s issues, all from the Black perspective. Ready for real talk and Black culture amplified, Be inspired. Listen to new and established voices now on theGrio Black Podcast Network. Listen today on theGrio mobile app and tune in everywhere great podcast are heard.
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Dr. Christina Greer [00:32:44] And we are back. We’re headed to question number three. You are two for two, Mr. Blanchard. Are you ready?
Terence Blanchard [00:32:51] I know it’s going to get a little tougher.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:32:53] It’s just too much. Okay. This American jazz percussionist and bandleader began his music career playing drums and took up this instrument in the late 1920s. Who is he and what is the instrument?
Terence Blanchard [00:33:09] Wow. Percussionist. You got me. You got me there in the twenties. Wow.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:33:18] Percussionist and bandleader whose instrument in the late 1920s?
Terence Blanchard [00:33:25] Cab Calloway. No.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:33:27] Lionel Hampton.
Terence Blanchard [00:33:30] Played him for years.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:33:33] That’s right.
Terence Blanchard [00:33:34] Yeah. Yeah. And you know what? I always forget that he was a drummer. And see when you say percussionists, I’m thinking percussion. You know what I mean? Wow. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:33:44] So Lionel Hampton is one of the most extraordinary musicians of the 20th century, and his artistic achievements symbolize the impact of jazz music that’s had on our culture for the 21st century. So the Lionel Hampton Orchestra became known around the world for its first class jazz musicianship. And as a composer and arranger, Hampton wrote more than 200 works, including the Jazz Standards Flying Home, Evil Gal, Blues and Midnight Sun. He also composed the major symphonic work King David Suite. And so Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, Buddy Rich to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus and Quincy Jones. So you began you worked with Lionel Hampton at some point. So tell us a little bit more about that relationship.
Terence Blanchard [00:34:27] Oh, no, It was it that that was my first major gig in the business. You know, when I was going to school at Rutgers University and my teacher there, Paul Jeffries, was in the band and he said, Man, why don’t you come by and hang out on one of the gigs? And this is actually a week before school started. I got to New Jersey early, so I was just staying at his house. So and he said, “Man, bring your horn.” So we actually drove up to New York to drive down to Philly with the band, and we’re playing this outdoor gig. And I’ve been talking to some of the trumpet players on the bus and they wanted to hear me play, you know, So they asked me to pull on my horn.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:35:06] And what are you? You’re like 17?
Terence Blanchard [00:35:08] Yeah, I’m like, Yeah, 18, 18. And I’m just noodling around with them. Lionel walks up behind me and he called everybody champ “Hey, Champ, hey, Champ.” “Let me hear you play a blues with the piano player.” His name was Zeke Mullins at the time. And here I played the blues with him. And next thing you know, I was in the gig. I was on the gig the next week, you know. So we started going out on every weekend. Okay.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:35:39] Well, so, you know, Lionel Hampton, I had a four disc CD set that I used to listen to that was in in high school and in college. But would you mentioned earlier that you are composing the music for this documentary about legendary Louis Armstrong titled Louis Armstrong Black and Blues. And so being a jazz musician. Tell us what it means to you when you score these impactful documentaries of our legends. Because to my knowledge, has there ever been a documentary about Lionel Hampton?
Terence Blanchard [00:36:12] No, not that I know of. You know, and there should be.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:36:16] Maybe I’m putting some some homework on your plate.
Terence Blanchard [00:36:18] Oh, yeah? Yeah, Because. Listen. Because the thing is, when you said 1920s, I don’t even picture him in that period. You know, I’m picturing because. And I think that’s a testament to his brilliance in a way, because I’m still picturing him as part of the fifties and the sixties, right, because of everything that’s happened. But you go back to that earlier stuff he did with Teddy Wilson and Benny Goodman, all that stuff. That was those are great recordings as well, you know. But he definitely belongs, you know, amongst those who have documentaries done about their lives, because, you know, he was a he was an interesting guy. You know, politically, he was a Republican, you know, And he had a lot of different ideas about social injustice. And his musical prowess was just totally amazing. I’ll just tell you this one story he had. I think he had perfect pitch, you know? So I got to one of the gigs we were doing, the Radio City Music Hall. I got there early and I was sitting around messing around on piano, and then he jumped up and he started playing with me without knowing the music. And he started playing with me on the piano and I was like, “Wow, okay, that’s kind of cool, man. I’m playing with Ronald Hampton.” And then all of a sudden it sound like he wasn’t playing with me at all. I’m like, What is he doing? That’s crazy. And then I realized that we were playing in the lobby of the Radio City. The music that was playing in the speakers. He switched from playing the mean, the playing to the music. Oh, wow. Yeah. I mean, he is just incredible. I mean, you know, he was an incredible musician and I really learned a lot being in that band.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:37:59] Well, it seems as though, you know, each time you are on tour with someone, you learn something. I think that’s the beauty of, you know, when you talk to musicians, the beauty of going on tour and sometimes listen, it’s not always positive things that you learn, but sometimes you hear, okay, I don’t want to be like that person, but it seems like you you know, you mentioned before you had all these older jazz musicians that literally took you under their wing, but you had to also be present and prepared to be mentored.
Terence Blanchard [00:38:25] Yes. Oh, definitely. I never forget there was one gig that I did. It was with Jay McShane, it’s called the Jay McShane All-Stars. And you had all of these veteran Al Gray, all of these veteran musicians. And I never forget back in the dressing room, one of the things that blew me away was watching these guys who were in the seventies at the time still talk about music with a certain type of excitement and exuberance, you know? And I was like, Wow, look at this. You know, they’re not back. You’re talking about anything frivolous. They’re still talking about, Hey, man, you know, that tune was a beautiful tune. But the verse everybody plays the body of the tune but the verses. And that to me was it was there was a big, big moment in my life to understand why they were so successful, because we truly loved what they did. It wasn’t a job. It was really something that was inside of them.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:39:17] Well, I mean, I definitely saw that, you know, for our listeners out there, I had the opportunity of seeing Terence Blanchard perform with Herbie Hancock this summer when I was celebrating my birthday in Rome with my younger niece, who literally said that that was like a life changing experience. But to see Herbie Hancock, who looks fabulous, by the way, who is in his early eighties, just had this joie de vive, you know, I mean, like this excitement. I mean, there were young people on their feet, but you could tell he was giving them energy and they were giving him energy back. I mean, it was you know, I could only hope that at that age I could be that that excited about anything, but also had that much energy. I think the talent level was. I mean.
Terence Blanchard [00:39:59] Look, let me tell you some crazy one of the things we were laughing about that entire time throughout the entire crew, people say, Man, how’s it going? I said, Bro. What do you think you would feel like to get your butt kicked by an 82 year old man?
Dr. Christina Greer [00:40:12] Every night.
Terence Blanchard [00:40:13] Every night. You know what I mean? And the thing about it, I mean, you know, Herb is Buddhist, and I’ve been Buddhist, you know, for a number of years. And we would chant before the show, man. And I remember one night we chanted before the show, and just as we finished Herbie, he said, “All right, time to hit the killing fields.” Like what? Excuse me. You know, and we all looked at each other like, Oh, it’s going to be one of them type of maybe.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:40:42] One of those.
Terence Blanchard [00:40:43] Nights. Oh, my God. And, you know, when you saw it, you saw it firsthand. It was I mean, he’s the type of guy when when he’s playing a solo, you think he’s about to hit the apex of the solo, and next thing you know, there’s two other girls.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:40:58] Right. You know, here’s a question, because, you know, we’ve had comedians on the show, and I’ve talked to a lot of comedians who weren’t able to perform during COVID. And for many of them, it felt like they were like losing, they like, lost a limb, you know, like they need to be on a stage to feel whole, to feel alive during the beginning stages of COVID. And we’re all pretty much locked down. And you couldn’t, you know, connect with an audience. You couldn’t tour. How was it? Was it a helpful experience? So you can just kind of take a beat and write and think and reflect? Or were you kind of itching like some of these comedians was like, I need to perform in front of an audience to kind of get my mind right now.
Terence Blanchard [00:41:35] For me, it was it was a beautiful experience in a weird way. I hate to say it like that, because there was so much tragedy going around and around the world. But it was beautiful because our two younger daughters had come back home and we were all huddle up in the house and I got a chance to spend time with my family in a way that I hadn’t either. You know, and we were we were all there, at least there for at least a year, you know, in the house. And it was beautiful and rough because you got two young adults in the house and.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:42:12] Your wife didn’t put you out. Your daughters didn’t put you out. Like, I think this is a success.
Terence Blanchard [00:42:17] Yeah. No, as a matter of fact, I started deejaying some jazz shows, you know, But I saw D.J. Nice and what he was doing, D-Nice, And I said, Let me do something similar with with the jazz shows. And I remember one day when I did it, I said, This song is for everybody who’s tired of that person that’s getting on their last nerve in that apartment.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:42:39] I know. And I’m sure a lot of people.
Terence Blanchard [00:42:42] A lot of people. Oh, yeah. A lot of a lot of people.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:42:47] I think. Now here’s here’s my my last question before we move on to our next question. You know, you’ve documented the process for various documentaries. Have you ever thought about having the cameras turn on you so others can see your thought process and your creative process? Since mentorship is such a large part of who you are as a musician.
Terence Blanchard [00:43:09] You’re so in tune to what’s going on. There’s this talk about doing that right now, so let’s see what happens. I’m I’m a little nervous about it because I don’t tend to think that I do anything interesting enough that would want there being a documentary about me, you know?
Dr. Christina Greer [00:43:29] But this guy doesn’t know he’s Terence Blanchard, okay?
Terence Blanchard [00:43:34] You know, but people are talking about it, so let’s see what happens.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:43:36] Okay. Well, we’re playing the Blackest Questions. We can take a quick commercial break. And I’m here with Terence Blanchard.
Panama Jackson [00:43:44] Introducing Dear Culture with Panama Jackson on theGrio Black Podcast Network. Bring your friends for the shenanigans and stay for the edutainment. As Panama Debates Culture Wars, Janet Jackson versus Michael, Blackfessions, Blackmendations and Everything Black. Listen today on theGrio mobile app, for all the Black culture conversations you don’t want to miss, also available wherever great podcasts are heard.
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Dr. Christina Greer [00:44:38] And we are back playing the Blackest Questions. Terrence. Are you ready for question number four?
Terence Blanchard [00:44:42] yeah, after I blew three, and I should have known three. But the 1920 was the thing that got me. Okay.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:44:49] We like to throw in a little little spice here and there.
Terence Blanchard [00:44:51] You got me.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:44:52] Okay. Okay. So question number four, and spice is going to be a hint. This parade has roots in Harlem, where the founder and her West Indian friends celebrated carnival costume parties in ballroom spaces throughout the 1920s. What is the parade and who is the founder?
Terence Blanchard [00:45:08] Oh, I have no idea. I’m trying to rack my brain about it. But when you say parade, you know I’m going back home. So those are all I have no idea.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:45:20] Okay. So this is the West Indian Day parade.
Terence Blanchard [00:45:23] Oh, yes.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:45:24] Founded by Jessie Waddell. And so the origins of the West Indian Day parade can be traced back to private tree lantern carnival parties held by Caribbean immigrants in and around Harlem. And this Trinidad Joseph Waddle started a carnival in Harlem, complete with costume parties at renowned spaces such as the Savoy and the Audubon Ballrooms. And then the nature of the celebration soon required bigger venues and turn to the streets on Labor Day. Once model received a street permit in 1947. So in 1964, the Harlem permit was revoked due to a little bit of a violent riot. And so five years later, a committee was organized by Trinidadian Carlos Lezama and obtained he obtained another permit for a parade on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. So the parade has been held on Eastern Parkway ever since, and it begins on Eastern Broadway and Utica Avenue and ends at Grand Army Plaza. For those of our listeners who were in New York and experience the West Indian Day break. So you are a child of New Orleans, and we know Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras is part of your heritage. But you did live in Brooklyn for a time.
Terence Blanchard [00:46:28] And I’ve been to that parade.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:46:29] You’ve been to the parade, right? No. Did you ever go to juvie the night before? Do you know the parade? So what was the experience like back then? And did you ever play in the parade or were you. There is a revolution. No, no, no.
Terence Blanchard [00:46:40] No, no, no. I just wanted a parade. And you know the parades up north. No disrespect to the East Coast. That’s where I was so different from the parades down south that it was it was a unique experience because the parades down south just seemed like a party, you know, because the bands were playing, like, really exciting music. We get excited by all of the marching bands. They trying to outdo one another and it’s just a party atmosphere. And it was a similar it was a party atmosphere in Brooklyn. It was just different and it was culturally different. The food was different, the music was different and I enjoyed it. It was an eye opening experience for me because it helped open my eyes to another culture, you know, and how other cultures would celebrate certain events. So I really enjoyed it. I’ve been to a few times, I didn’t know it started in Harlem. That was the thing.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:47:31] Yes, indeed. And then it shifted to Brooklyn. And we know that Brooklyn and Harlem have such long histories of Afro-Caribbean, have been here for over a century now. You know, I always think about these geographic distinctions just because when I teach, I always want to know where my students are from, because that tells me a lot about just kind of how they think about things. You know, sometimes it’s cuisine. You know, when I teach in the fall, I always ask, you know, what they’re making for Thanksgiving? Because, you know, even Black folks from the north versus the south might have different food on the table. But when you think about your time in New York, what really resonates for you? You know, musically, you’re interacting with different types of musicians, presumably from all over the country. But what else was was part of your time in New York that you really hold tight to?
Terence Blanchard [00:48:18] Well, it was so interesting and part of it and it is a combination of things. Part of it was the traveling, but I was always traveling from New York back to New York. I wasn’t going to New Orleans much. And in doing that, I was going to all of these other countries and coming back to a city that was filled with all of these different cultures. You know, so my little country boy from New Orleans, man, it was like culture shock at first, you know, through my system. But it was something that I really enjoyed because I was learning so much. And I remember going to London and I had a friend of mine was a percussionist who was from Nigeria, and I told them, I said, Hey, man, I really want to experience traditional Nigerian food. So can you know, you have a Nigerian dinner for me at your home one night? He said, No problem, No problem. So I get to his house and he literally had a fish in a red gravy, Black eyed peas and rice and plantains. And I was like, “Yo, dude no, I want eat, I grew up on this.”
Dr. Christina Greer [00:49:25] This is my food. I didn’t say cook what I want. I said cook what you want. Right.
Terence Blanchard [00:49:31] And that was one of the first moments where you start to really feel connected to something that you have been disconnected from. And it was an eye opening experience. But I had a lot of those types of experiences in New York. You know, when you talk about the West, Indian culture meant that food was something that was like really, really, really interesting to me because it was similar to Louisiana cooking in terms of concept. Mm hmm. You know, about making do with what you had. You know what I mean? And it really enforced this whole notion of the creativity. Mm hmm. Our cultures have have had over generations that we now kind of take for granted. I mean, you know, because when you think about these cuisines, man, somebody had to sit down and look at those ingredients and put those things together in a way that was distinctly ours.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:50:24] Absolutely. You know, I’ve had a few chefs on the Blackest Questions. We had Michael Twitty, who’s Black and Jewish, and he has a new book out called Kosher Soul. We have a Nadege Fleurimond who’s a Haitian chef right here in Brooklyn. And, you know, we talked about different things from okra and plantains and Black eyed peas. And, you know, I eat my grits in a special way that I don’t want to tell you, because you might leave the podcast. But I’m fascinated by, you know, we’re eating the same foods sometimes in very similar ways. And how food is this great connector, the same way. In many ways, music is this great connector know across boundaries. Now, do you do this? Just a quick question. Do you do the the Coca-Cola shop when you travel? Because I know your passport is hot.
Terence Blanchard [00:51:06] No, no. What is the color?
Dr. Christina Greer [00:51:08] I have this thing whenever I travel internationally, I wake up every morning and just take like a little shot of Coca-Cola because it coats the stomach. And so then and I love street meat. I love to eat whatever the locals are eating. I want to eat it. So as long as I have a little bit of Coca-Cola in the morning, I’m good to go for I don’t know how long I’m on the road. Does it matter? And Coca-Cola is my miracle drug when I travel. So ask people who travel a lot, you know, like, what’s what if we had a Jessica Nabongo, who’s the first Black woman who went to every country in the world? And, you know, she gave us some little tricks of the trade as to what she likes when she travels. But my secret is Coca-Cola. What’s your secret when you’re on the road?
Terence Blanchard [00:51:47] Vodka? Yeah. It kills anything that’s there.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:51:54] Right? It’s like a medicine.
Terence Blanchard [00:51:56] Well, look, I had a saxophone player in my band years ago. He was starting to get a cold. And I said, Listen, bro, take a shot about that right now. And I said, Man, take a shot about your right now. And when you did it, you know, next thing you know, it just kind of cleared everything out. And he was fine.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:52:12] Right.
Terence Blanchard [00:52:12] That’s been my kind of like my go to. But I don’t do it anymore.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:52:17] You never, never do anything. But Coca-Cola’s my it sort of make sure I can I can eat everything I want. Bourbon is my little when I feel a cold coming on. I got that from my grandmother. And, you know, my grandparents are from my maternal grandparents are from Florida, northern Florida, which is like the deep, deep south. So, again, you know, when the New Orleans relatives would come to northern Florida, I mean, it was basically like, oh, you guys are just like down the street doing basically the same things. A little bit of flair.
Terence Blanchard [00:52:45] Exactly.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:52:46] Yeah. All right. We’re going to take a quick break and come back with question number five for Terence Blanchard.
Panama Jackson [00:52:53] Introducing Dear Culture with Panama Jackson on theGrio Black Podcast Network. Bring your friends for the shenanigans and stay for the edutainment. As Panama Debates culture Wars, Janet Jackson versus Michael, Blackfessions, Blackmendations and everything Black. Listen today on theGrio mobile app, for all the Black culture conversations you don’t want to miss. Also available wherever great podcasts are heard.
[00:53:22] theGrio Black Podcast Network is here, and it’s everything you’ve been waiting for. News, talk, entertainment, sports and today’s issues all from the Black perspective. Ready for real talk and Black culture amplified. Be inspired. Listen to new and established voices now on theGrio Black Podcast Network. Listen today on theGrio mobile app and tune in everywhere great podcast are heard.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:53:53] And we are back. We’re playing the Blackest Questions. I’m here with Oscar nominee and Emmy Award winner Terence Blanchard. Terence, are you ready for question number five?
Terence Blanchard [00:54:04] Sure.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:54:05] Okay. So what is the most common language spoken as a first language by South Africans?
Terence Blanchard [00:54:12] Oh, by South Africa. Yoruba
Dr. Christina Greer [00:54:15] No.
Terence Blanchard [00:54:16] No?
Dr. Christina Greer [00:54:17] It’s Zulu.
Terence Blanchard [00:54:19] Oh, come on.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:54:21] Zulu in South Africa’s biggest language, spoken by almost a quarter of the population.
Terence Blanchard [00:54:25] Oh, South African.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:54:27] South Africa.
Terence Blanchard [00:54:27] I know.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:54:29] I speak Yoruba, actually. I went to the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and I learned Yoruba. But Zulu is. And so there are other official language, Hausa and Afrikaans, English. But South Africa is a country on the southernmost tip of the African continent, marked by several distinct ecosystems. You’ve got your inland safari destination, Kruger National Park with big game, you’ve got your Western Cape with beaches and lush winelands around Stellenbosch, you’ve got your craggy cliffs, the Cape of Good Hope. You’ve got forests and lagoons along the garden route and the city of Cape Town beneath a flat top table mountain. So I know that you spoke to my producer about the eye opening safari in South Africa when you visited. I went to Kruger National Park many years ago over Christmas, actually, for like a ten day safari. So that was an eye opening experience for you. When was your last visit and when do you plan on going back?
Terence Blanchard [00:55:20] It’s been a few years since I’ve been there and I hope to go back pretty soon because I’ve been there twice, and each time that I’ve gone there, I can’t even explain the experience to you. You know, it’s it’s you know, when people tell you when you get there, welcome home. You know, it really resonates because while I’m walking around the country, I have to stop my inclination to speak to everybody because they look like somebody I know or somebody that I grew up with. And I mean and it’s like in the wild part about it, what was really freaking me out was I saw a couple of people that looked like people I know in their younger years. Hmm. You know what I mean? It’s like, wait a minute. No, he’s my age. The other part of it, too, is that I remember doing a master class, you know, at a couple of schools there, and I thought I was bombing because the kids were so quiet, and I realized that they were hanging on every word.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:56:17] Mm hmm.
Terence Blanchard [00:56:18] And they were really anxious to learn, you know? So for me, I really would love to be a part of that. That educational process in South Africa, because it’s also a learning thing for me. That’s the part that I went on was, man, first of all, you know, you go on this Iraq and you’re in you’re in this big vehicle. And when they tell you that the Springbok could jump over that thing where, you know, you sit there and you go, okay, so we’re really not as safe as I thought we were.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:56:53] Right.
Terence Blanchard [00:56:54] And you start to see all of these different animals. But the thing that got me was, you know, you get back to home base and they prepared a lunch for us outside and we’re outside sitting on the on the balcony, not the balcony door on the porch, on the ground of this building. And just like maybe a hundred yards away, I see movement and I’m like, Oh my God, that’s Springbok, right? Like right there. You know what I mean? And then a guy was telling me he’d go, Oh, yeah, He says, Usually it’s the hippos, but the hippos are over by the owner’s house that he’s feeding them for lunch. And I went, What? Yes.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:57:32] I mean, you know, I think, you know, being in nature also is so helpful with the creative process. I was just telling someone, you know, I’m a birder. And so going out and birding helps me come back and like, sit down and write. But I’ll never forget, you know, white water rafting on the Zambezi, which was part of like this Kruger trip. And I asked the guy, “I said, Hey, listen, are there crocodiles in the water?” He says, “Yes, of course they’re crocodiles.” So, you know, we’re all splashing around. We stay in the water for 30 minutes waiting for the other boats to come down, and then we finally get out. You know, we get our boat out. We sort of getting ready to walk back up this massive cliff. He says, “Hey, look, there’s a crocodile.” And I was like, “Sir, I asked you specifically if there were crocodiles.” And he said, “And he said, And Chrissy I said, Yes.” I said, “No. You said yes. Ha ha ha.” I was like, “In America, that means no.” He said, “But like in Zimbabwe, that means yes.” I think of a culturally. You know, you have to remember. I was like, my grandparents are looking down on us like, “What are you doing out here with these animals?”
Terence Blanchard [00:58:34] Of course. Aye man, you know, I’ve thought about the same thing. You know, when you said that. Luckily, we didn’t see, you know, the the cats. The big cats weren’t around. None of those, you know, they weren’t around. But still, when you’re out there and you’re in their world, you know, it’s something. And I think the driver man played a trick on us. I’m not sure. I’m not sure. But, you know, every now and then they stop the truck, you know, for us to just sit there and they talk to us. Right. Well, one of the stops man to do can get the truck to stop, you know? And I’m like, Yo, bruh, that ain’t funny. You know what I mean? It’s like.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:59:14] A situation.
Terence Blanchard [00:59:16] We were getting ready to get out there and pushed out that thing.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:59:18] And now here’s the thing. I know you’ve traveled extensively, you know, from a very young age with so many musicians. What’s still on your bucket list? What’s on your wish list of a place that you want to go and visit and perform?
Terence Blanchard [00:59:34] I’ve never really I’ve been to Northern Africa and Southern Africa, South Africa. I’ve never really been in the central part, and that’s something that’s been on my bucket list for a long time, you know, because a one of the things as a jazz musician and as an African-American that I’ve always had a deep feeling about is that we mostly tour European countries, you know, and we we talk to to America, obviously, you know what I mean? But when you look at the global perspective, you know, people around the globe, you know, where the where, where a good portion of this music emanates from is a place that we don’t get to tour much. And that’s something that’s always been a curious thing for me as to why. Mm hmm. Mm. And I in it’s an interesting thing because I know what those trips have done for me. You know, what they’ve how they’ve opened my eyes to a lot of things that are going on in the world, you know, made me have more confidence in myself and made me have more pride, you know, and where I come from and the history that comes behind just what it took to make me, you know. So that’s those are the things that are on my bucket list, you know, And I remember hearing a story, you know, about Louis Armstrong wanting to retire there. I’m about I think he was in Nigeria. I’m not sure he looked at it. The audience, similar experience that I have. He looked out in the audience and saw a woman that looked like one of his aunts and just blew him away while, you know, reportedly. I don’t know if that’s true or not, because I don’t even think I don’t I can’t remember if it’s in the documentary. But reportedly he was building a retirement house there where he wanted to go and spend more time there.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:01:37] Oh, I cannot wait for this documentary to come out. I can’t wait to see what you do with your work. We’re going to take a quick commercial break and then we’ll come back. We’re going to play Black Lightning with Terence Blanchard.
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Terence Blanchard [01:02:47] Uh Oh. Black Lightning.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:02:49] Okay, we’re back. Terence, before we let you out of here, we’ve got time for the Black bonus round, which is called Black Lightning. Now, this is just. It’s a yes or no answer, right? These are just from the gut. There’s no right or wrong answer. Okay.
Terence Blanchard [01:03:01] Okay.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:03:02] Okay. Here we go. Black Lightning. City with the best food. New Orleans or New York?
Terence Blanchard [01:03:07] Oh, New Orleans.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:03:08] Best boxing champion. Tyson or Mayweather?
Terence Blanchard [01:03:14] Tyson.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:03:15] School Daze or Jungle Fever?
Terence Blanchard [01:03:18] Ooh. Schooldays.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:03:20] Yes. Okay. Both are on and you can’t flip the channels. Are you watching the Pelicans or the Saints?
Terence Blanchard [01:03:26] Saints. Oh, well, you know what? Let me back up. Let be back up. Right now. This year, Pelicans.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:03:34] Okay. Magic Johnson or Dr. J?
Terence Blanchard [01:03:38] Oh, that’s so wrong. That’s so wrong. Magic.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:03:43] Trumpet or keyboard?
Terence Blanchard [01:03:44] Trumpet.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:03:46] If you had to choose composing or playing music?
Terence Blanchard [01:03:49] Playing.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:03:51] Billie Holiday or Etta James?
Terence Blanchard [01:03:53] Oh. Ooh, Billie Holiday.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:03:56] Gumbo or jambalaya?
Terence Blanchard [01:03:58] Gumbo. Okra. Gumbo.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:04:01] Mm. Crawfish or po’boy.
Terence Blanchard [01:04:04] Po’boy.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:04:05] And your favorite city to perform.
Terence Blanchard [01:04:07] Live anywhere with those people who love music.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:04:13] Absolutely. Oh, Terence, thank you so much for joining the Blackest Questions. I learned a ton. I’m motivated. I’m inspired. I cannot wait to check out your documentary. I can’t wait to see your opera at the at the opera in New York. And that that opens in April.
Terence Blanchard [01:04:30] April, yes.
Dr. Christina Greer [01:04:31] Okay. I’ve got the email open. I got to get my tickets to Smith. I just want to thank you so much for joining us here at the Blackest questions and sharing your love of music and your knowledge of music with all of us. And I want to thank you listeners for checking us out at the Blackest questions. The show is produced by Sasha Armstrong and Akilah Shederick. Geoffrey Trudeau and Regina Griffin is our managing editor podcast. And if you like what you heard, subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode. And please download the app to listen to listen and watch many more great shows.
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