From Flow to Fire: Terence Blanchard Brings Both Jazz and Opera to Life

The moment Terence Blanchard stepped onstage, sporting bedazzled silver sneakers paired with an otherwise casual full-black ensemble, his audience erupted into applause. Blanchard, the esteemed composer and jazz trumpeter, is the first Black composer to premiere an original opera at the Metropolitan Opera. He is also well known for his work scoring films such as Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005), BlacKkKlansman (2018), and Harriet (2019). His performance on April 6, the first in the Soraya’s LA Seen series, served as a sufficient introduction to his range, albeit one that failed to showcase the full breadth of his work’s emotion and storytelling. 

The performance opened with a collection of tracks from Blanchard’s 2005 album, Flow, performed by Blanchard and his band, the E-collective. There was Charles Altura on electric guitar, Victor Gould on keyboards, Dale Black on bass, and Oscar Seaton on drums. The set opened with the album’s title track, which set a moody, groovy tone for the evening. The first song was swiftly followed by the songs “Benny’s Tune” and “Wandering Wonder,” which gradually built up the energy of the performance. The only pitfall of this section of the night would have to be the distinctly AI generated visuals on screen. The visuals, a myriad of sci-fi-esque images featuring women clad in technological accessories and a manned space exploration mission, ultimately distracted from the performance on stage. The futuristic, space-age aesthetic blurred together as the music became more and more frantic, adding to the atmosphere. However, the AI blunders were hard to overlook. Four-fingered hands, eyeballs with multiple pupils, and humans with one too many limbs adorned the screen, seeming almost comical in the context of the performance. 

Following Flow, the next portion of the night highlighted a series of selections from Blanchard’s 2013 opera, Champion. Blanchard was joined by baritone Justin Austin, soprano Adrienne Danrich, and the Turtle Island Quartet for the operatic performances. Champion, inspired by the life of boxer Emile Griffith, was done a bit of a disservice during the show. The vocal performance was undoubtedly impressive and emotional, but only a measly four excerpts were featured. Even more confounding was the fact that these selections were sung out of chronological order, detracting from the opera’s storytelling. 

After intermission came a series of selections from Blanchard’s Fire Shut up in My Bones (2019) – Blanchard’s second opera. The evolution of Blanchard’s operatic composition was evident in the transition between Champion and Fire. These selections incorporated plenty of jazz elements, which distinguished them from the more classical sound of Champion’s excerpts. Fire also occupied 45 minutes of the evening, and this added breathing room contributed to a more cohesive storytelling experience. There was more variation in the selections performed as well. One of the standout selections was a duet from Act Three of the opera. In it, Charles (Austin) reveals to his lover Greta (Danrich) the secret that he was molested by his cousin as a child. The performance reaches its climax when Greta rejects Charles in favor of another man, leaving Charles pleading for her affection. Overall, Fire stood out as a well-thought-out performance, almost eclipsing the Champion selections from the first half of the evening. 

Blanchard closed out the night with a performance of “Sprocket”, a surprise song dedicated to the legendary Herbie Hancock, who happened to be in the audience. This performance was my personal favorite of the night. It was fun and free, a sharp departure from the more serious atmosphere of the operatic selections. 

Overall, Blanchard’s night at the Soraya was an engrossing showcase of his impressive body of work. Besides the AI generated visuals and the disjointed presentation of excerpts from Champion, the performance successfully highlighted Blanchard’s range as a performer. While definitely a flawed representation of his talents, Blanchard’s performance truly evidenced his standing as a celebrated figure in modern day jazz.