This band was HOT!

We had tickets for this for a few months, and it’s a good thing, because the house was packed. The audience at Blues Alley is always interesting – a mix of young and old, black and white and just about everything in between. The food is old-fashioned, with each dish named after a jazz great. I had Jerry “the Iceman” Butler Baked Salmon and Yolanda chose Sarah Vaughan’s Filet Mignon.

Terence Blanchard Quintet

Terence hails from New Orleans and has played trumpet with the likes of Lionel Hampton, Art Blakey and Herbie Hancock. Not only that, but he has composed and played in over 50 film scores. That night he played a mix of his own Afro-fusion-funk on a customized Monette with a heavy integral mouthpiece.

Terence Blanchard

We were really impressed by the young players in the group, two fresh out of Juilliard (bass, drums) and two…just hot (sax, keyboards). They were all musically wise beyond their years and in spite of their short time together, they had amazing rapport. It doesn’t get better than that.