March 29, 2005
A sure-to-be unforgettable double bill of great jazz—vocalist Dianne Reeves and her band with special guest, trumpeter Terence Blanchard—at UCSB Campbell Hall
Summary Facts:
- Dianne Reeves and her band with special guest Terence Blanchard
- Three-time Grammy Award-winner Dianne Reeves, one of jazz’s best vocalists, returns to Santa Barbara after her February 2002 sold-out Arlington show
- Trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard regularly wins Down Beat polls
- Thursday, May 5 / 8 pm
- UCSB Campbell Hall
- General public: $45 / UCSB students: $19
- Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535
Dianne Reeves, one of jazz’s pre-eminent vocalists, will perform with her band and brilliant special guest trumpeter Terence Blanchard on Thursday, May 5 at 8 pm at UCSB Campbell Hall. While Dianne Reeves’ singing is steeped in tradition, her rhythmic virtuosity and improvisational ease are breathtaking. Reeves won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for each of her last three recordings: A Little Moonlight in 2003, The Calling in 2001 and In the Moment—Live in Concert in 2000. In fact, Reeves is the only recording artist in any singing category to have accomplished such a feat three records in a row. With her longtime trio of pianist Peter Martin, bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Greg Hutchinson, she will be joined by trumpeter Terence Blanchard, who has established himself among the most influential jazz composers and players of his generation. The result promises to be a concert of chops, grace and sheer musical pleasure.
People Magazine exclaims about Reeves, “She roams and explores, growls and catches at notes and phrasings. It is this audacity that makes Reeves’ voice an awesome instrument.” Vanity Fair writes, “Blanchard plays the most coolly expressive trumpet in jazz, transmuting the instrument’s repertoire of smears, growls, peeps and blasts into an astonishingly fluid language both luxurious and controlled.”
Dianne Reeves was clearly born of jazz; her singing draws upon a world of influences, and as with Carmen McRae and Billie Holiday, Reeves is tied to a powerful storytelling instinct. Reeves was the first vocalist signed to the reactivated Blue Note/EMI label in 1987. As a result of her unique R&B and jazz stylings, Reeves has since captured a huge following and tremendous critical acclaim throughout the world.
Reeves was featured with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra for several Duke Ellington projects in celebration of Ellington’s Centennial. A recording with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony, and a concert appearance at Carnegie Hall with Sir Simon Rattle and the Orchestra of St. Lukes were among her appearances associated with the Ellington Centennial salute.
Reeves also serves as Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In this role, she helps determine the scheduling of jazz programming and educational workshops at both the Hollywood Bowl and the heralded Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Down Beat has written, “Power. That’s the word that comes to mind when thinking of singer Dianne Reeves. The power of her presence on stage. The power of her spirit when she’s deep into a song. The power of her chops—gospel chops, like she could lullaby even the crankiest baby to peace.”
Terence Blanchard, an alumnus of the New Orleans Center of Creative Arts, emerged on the New York jazz scene in the 1980s where he was a key figure in a renaissance for acoustic jazz. Blanchard is a multi-Grammy Award nominee, most recently in 2002 for “Lost in A Fog” from his Sony Classical release Let’s Get Lost. On that disc, Blanchard remade the standards of composer Jimmy McHugh, a giant of the golden age of the American popular song, taking some of McHugh’s vast repertoire as the springboard for his own improvisational statements, and augmenting his band with four distinctive singers—Diana Krall, Jane Monheit, Dianne Reeves and Cassandra Wilson.
As a film composer, Blanchard received a Golden Globe nomination for his most recent film project, Spike Lee’s 25th Hour. Blanchard began his film scoring career in the late 1980s working with Lee on films such as Mo’ Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Clockers, Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, the Academy Award-nominated 1997 documentary Four Little Girls and the recently released documentary Jim Brown: All American. He recently scored the runaway hit, Barbershop, directed by Tim Story and starring Ice Cube.
Working to further jazz education, Blanchard has also accepted an appointment to the University of Southern California as the Artistic Director for the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance.
Entertainment Weekly calls Blanchard, “One of jazz’s trumpeter-of-choice, [providing an] ever-individualized vision, a distinctiveness that also juices up his creamy horn playing.”
Dianne Reeves and Terence Blanchard are presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by Casa Santa Barbara and KCSB 91.9 FM. Tickets are $45 for the general public and $19 for UCSB students who must show valid ID at ticket purchase and the evening of the show.
For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.
Editor: For photos, please call
Susan Gwynne at (805) 893-2098.