Department of Theatre and Film

Music Composer for Spike Lee’s 25th Hour
By Krystal Bolden

Biography

Terrence Oliver Blanchard was born March 13, 1962 in New Orleans, Louisiana. A world renowned trumpeter/composer/band leader and Blue Note recording artist, Terence Blanchard is one of the most prolific jazz musician to ever compose for motion pictures. Born and raised in New Orleans, he studied with the Marsalis brothers at the famed New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. In 1980, he won a scholarship to Rutgers University and immediately began performing in the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. Two years later, he succeeded Wynton Marsalis in the legendary Jazz Messengers before forming his own influential groups. Blanchard originally began performing on Spike Lee’s soundtracks, including Bamboozled (2000) Love and Basketball (2000) , Malcolm X (1992), 4 Little Girls (1997), Jungle Fever (1991) “Mo Better Blues (1990) in which he ghosted the trumpet for Denzel Washington. He was nominated for the Black Reel Award in 2005 for She Hate Me (2004) and Inside Man (2006) and was nominated for the Golden Globe and won the Central Ohio Film Critics Associate Award for 25TH Hour ( 2002)

ME: What was the worst and best thing about working with Spike Lee?

TERRENCE: The worst and best thing about him is that he’s driven. He works hard and expects everyone else to work hard as well. He pushes you to constantly put
forth and produce your absolute best. But he gave me a lot of room for composing. And you really don’t get much time to compose for film; you get like 4-6 weeks. {In the film 25TH Hour} He wanted to represent Alkaida ,the police and fire department in the music to keep a real post 9-11 feel. He wanted specific instruments to represent each type of people so we had to find specialist musicians. We had people specifically come to play the bag pipes just for that authentic feel for each culture represented.

ME: Is composing for film a pretty lucrative and stable job?

TERRENCE: It pays good but it’s not stable. I know Grammy Award Winners who are not working and looking for work. It’s not because they’re not talented; they’re brilliant, but that’s just the business. You can’t take it personal, it’s a business. It’s like hitting the lotto. If you hit it, it’s cool. So yeah, it can be very lucrative.

ME: Who’s somebody that you would love to work with that you haven’t already?

TERRENCE: You. (chuckles) I really don’t think about that type of stuff. I believe in fate. If we are supposed to work together, we will. I can’t worry about that because it stresses you. You have to keep your eye on the prize and think about more important things.

ME: How did your collaborations with Spike Lee come about?

TERRENCE: To be honest, composing for film, for me, just happened. Spike heard me playing piano one day and asked me what I was playing and asked me to orchestrate the piece for Mo’ Better Blues. Months later I got a call asking me to do the score for Jungle Fever.

ME: What other instruments do you play besides trumpet and piano?

TERRENCE: My beautiful singing voice (laughs) I play around with percussion as well.

ME: What’s the hardest part of composing for film and how is it different from composing for concert?

TERRENCE: The hard part is when you have to work on a bad film. I have had to work on some bad films I had a good music editor though. But when you work on a bad film, you feel like you have to fix it with music and it makes you feel like you can’t play/compose because you can’t fix it. You have to be honest. I had a hard time with a scene in the movie Dark Blue. It was this static shot and the director couldn’t move the camera because of spatial restrictions and it was really hard composing for this static scene. But you have to let the music help move the story. Allow your music to breathe and grow.
I’ve also had to deal with not wanting to compose for some scenes. But I had to realize that I was hired; they asked me to help. Sometimes I suggest no music but we just really try to make it work and it’s a process figuring out what’s best. Everyone wanted me to do the scores for all the black movies after my success with Spike Lee but I started declining many of them. People come calling me to compose for some movie called Lock Down. And I was like Lock Down?! What is tha heck is that? I didn’t want my race to determine who I worked with, I wanted my talent to. So it did hurt me financially to decline some of those films but it’s a battle.

ME: What are the most critical parts of filmmaking for you?

TERRENCE: It’s the first day of scoring, focusing on hitting the finish line. A lot of questions pop up that need to be answered before recording. Then before you know it, it’s time to record. When it’s recording time I’m always there hours early. If we’re recording at 10 then I’m there at 8 doing tests making sure everything is in place and is functioning. Then once that’s squared away, I can say ‘Where the muffins?’ and sit back and relax. Also, take a lot of notes, especially for all you music composers out there. Note taking is crucial.

ME: What’s the next project for you?

TERRENCE: I’m working on a documentary about African American men in War World II.

ME: Any advice for future musicians or filmmakers?

TERRENCE: Be who you are. Who you are is perfect for what you want to do artistically. Study techniques but dig deep. And it can only come out through trial and error. It takes a lot of investigation. The real work starts after you now how to do music, after you know how to make a film. Also as a side note, I share something with you that I learned along the way. I don’t know if you all know but Jazz musicians complain a lot “when they gone do this, when they gone do that” But if God put the question in your head, you may be the one with the answer.