JAZZ.FM91 joins with all our listeners and jazz fans everywhere in congratulating legendary trumpeter, arranger and composer Terence Blanchard for his Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score on Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman.
This is Blanchard’s first Academy Award nomination. He was previously nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Score – Motion Picture in 2003 for Spike Lee’s 25th Hour and numerous Black Reel Awards for Original and Outstanding Score on films such as Chi-Raq, Red Tails and Inside Man. BlacKkKlansman has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award (the UK film and television awards) for Original Music. Blanchard also won a Grammy as part of the Branford Marsalis Quarter for their performance on the soundtrack of Spike Lee’s contribution to the jazz film canon, Mo’ Better Blues. This was just one of Blanchard’s five Grammy wins and 13 nominations.
A true virtuoso, Blanchard was named the Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (re-named as of January 2019 the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz) and was a key advocate in the Institute’s move to his beloved New Orleans post-Katrina. In addition to his soundtrack compositions, in the 2010s Blanchard composed several broadway scores and his first Opera Champion in 2013 at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. His most recent work is with his band The E-Collective. They released a live album on Blue Note in 2018.
For more information on Blanchard’s storied career and to access his music visit terenceblanchard.com
The 91st Annual Academy Awards will be held on Sunday February 24th.