Terence Blanchard: Jazz in Film

Friday's guest, legendary trumpeter Terence Blanchard, has recorded a lot of music over his illustrious career. The New Orleans native has recorded more than 30 albums, some of which are his own compositions, and some the music of others.

It's the latter category I want to speak to today, particularly Blanchard's 1999 album, Jazz in Film, which is a collection of classic jazz film scores, reinterpreted and paid homage to by Blanchard and an equally notable group of supporting musicians.

Blanchard, who was himself a member of Art Blakey's famed Jazz Messengers, brings on two of his fellow alumni for the recording, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison and trombonist Steve Turre. Kenny Kirkland plays piano, Reginald Veal holds down the bass, and Carl Allen takes care of the drums. The album also features an appearance by Joe Henderson on tenor sax.

The caliber of the musicians on this recording makes it worth listening to, no matter what, but it's the songs themselves that really make this album swing. Tunes like Alex North's haunting theme to A Streetcar Named Desire, Jerry Goldsmith's cool and atmospheric Chinatown, and Duke Ellington's Anatomy of a Murder elevate the music epically, and are enough to make any jazz fan wish films like that (and, more importantly, film scores) were still being made.