Terence Blanchard featuring the E-Collective

August 5, 2016 nycfreeconcerts_4nf0ji Clove Lakes Park, Jazz, Staten Island, SummerStage 0

Terence Blanchard

Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard breaks the mold with his new quintet, The E-Collective. This project journeys to an exciting realm of grooved fusion teeming with funk, R&B, and blues colors. The May 2015 Blue Note release Breathless is a first foray into straight-up grooveland for Blanchard, and he’s thrilled with the range of this band — from dance-steeped party to pensive, ambient sounds: “Breathless is the album I’ve been wanting to do for quite awhile.” Joined by guitarist Charles Altura, Fabian Almazan on piano and synths, bassist Donald Ramsey, and Oscar Seaton on drums, Blanchard’s Breathless is a master class in storytelling, written in response to social tensions and inspired by Eric Garner’s resounding words: “I Can’t Breathe.”