Terence Blanchard

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans native son Terence Blanchard has created an impassioned song cycle, A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina), as his third album for Blue Note Records. (Since signing with the label in 2003, Blanchard has released two other critically-acclaimed albums, Bounce and Flow, the latter of which was nominated for two Grammys in 2006.) This 13-track emotional tour de force of anger, rage, compassion, melancholy, and beauty features Blanchard’s quintet — pianist Aaron Parks, saxophonist Brice Winston, bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Kendrick Scott — as well as a 40-member string orchestra.

An important jumpstart for A Tale of God's Will was director Spike Lee's decision to document the aftermath of Katrina on film, in what turned out to be the four-hour award-winning HBO documentary, When the Levees Broke, which aired last year. Lee, who has enlisted Blanchard on numerous occasions to score his films, such as Mo' Better Blues, Malcolm X, The 25th Hour, and Inside Man, tapped him once again for his documentary. Four of the tracks from the documentary were give new arrangements and expanded rounding out the album with the other nine new tracks inspired by the city of New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina.