Obviously, Blanchard isn't one to make the same record twice. For me, making records is not just a means of putting together a commercial venture. I've always tried to make sure I do things that interest me. I don't want to fall into the habit of doing the same thing over and over. And that's what convinced Blanchard to accept his first movie score, for Lee's 1991 drama Jungle Fever.
Some people play the trumpet.
Terence Blanchard makes it sing. If you know his name, it's as likely you remember it from one of Spike Lee's colorful joints as anything. Lee has, after all, used the man generously throughout his soundtracks from School Daze to Jungle Fever to Get on the Bus. Part of the Jazz City lineup, Blanchard's sometimes haunting, other times violent jazz interpretations poured him a tall glass of Grammy for his Mo Better Blues score, and should have won him 10 more for his brilliant Malcolm X soundtrack and follow-up, Jazz Suite. But he isn't always a soundtrack man.