Terence Blanchard Quintet + Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg ‘A Tale of God’s Will’ (A Requiem for Katrina) - live at Jazzfest Berlin 2009 - Update

Photo © by JennyBagert

Terence Blanchard · trumpet
Brice Winston · tenor sax
Fabian Almazan · piano
Michael Olatuja · bass
Kendrick Scott · drums
and
Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg
Scott Lawton · conductor

recorded live at Haus der Berliner Festspiele, November 4, 2009

1. Levees (Terence Blanchard)
2. Ashé (Aaron Parks)
3. In time of need (Brice Winston)
4. Mantra (Kendrick Scott)
5. Dear Mom (Terence Blanchard)
6. Wading Through (Terence Blanchard)

The crucible of catastrophe impels creative expression. Since the turn of the century, this has taken shape in manifold ways, from artistic responses to the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the war in Iraq to the pummeling of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It is this latter calamity that informs Crescent City native son Terence Blanchard’s impassioned song cycle, A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina). An important jumpstart for this recording was director Spike Lee’s (Mo’ Better Blues, German premiere at JazzFest Berlin ’09) decision to document the aftermath of Katrina on film, in what turned out to be the four-hour HBO documentary, When the Levees Broke.
Blanchard’s Quintet and Potsdam’s own Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg make a rare and perfect match – bringing the opus to life as an audible piece of cinemascope.