As the composer of choice for director Spike Lee (Jungle Fever, Malcolm X), Terence Blanchard is familiar with the rich tradition of jazz in American cinema. His latest release, ‘Jazz in Film’, explores this tradition through a programme of classic themes performed by a master ensemble. The disc begins appropriately with Alex North’s A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), the first dramatic jazz score ever written and a glowing example of how jazz was incorporated and ultimately absorbed into film music during the 1950s. Other seminal composers represented include Elmer Bernstein (The Man with the Golden Arm), Quincy Jones (The Pawnbroker), Andre Previn (The Subterraneans), Duke Ellington (Anatomy of a Murder) and Bernard Herrmann (Taxi Driver). Blanchard’s arrangements highlight the central role played by instrumentalists in driving the orchestral settings of these scores. Whether it be his exchanges with Joe Henderson, or the pearly, impeccable chords of Kenny Kirkland, Blanchard uses the themes as a springboard for many haunting and intelligent solos.
‘Jazz in Film’ is dedicated to the late Kirkland, whose opening statement of Jerry Goldsmith’s Chinatown conjures images of coloured lights through waterfalls. Blanchard joins in at 1'22'', delivering a bluesy reading that rivals the spontaneity of Uan Rasey’s original 1974 performance. A splendid, reverential effort overall, warmly recorded and presented. '