In making Magnetic such a collaborative, free-flowing effort, Terence Blanchard has fashioned one of his most layered studio efforts ever.
Set for release on May 28, 2013 via Blue Note, Magnetic is the trumpeter’s first Blue Note release since 2007’s A Tale of God’s Will, a shattering reflection on Katrina’s destruction of his hometown. If this new album is far less personal, it’s also far more intriguing.
Terence Blanchard offers four originals, including the gurgling, blissfully outside title track, on this 10-song release, with pianist Fabian Almazon (the complex and engrossing “Pet Step Sitter’s Theme Song,” the angular “Comet” and the exotic psychedelia of “Another Step”) adding three tunes, and saxophonist Brice Winston (the fleet, but finely attenuated “Time to Spare”), bassist Joshua Crumbly (the elegiac, involving “Jacob’s Ladder”) and drummer Kendrick Scott (the soaringly anthematic “No Borders, Just Horizons”) contributing, as well.
In between, Terence Blanchard — whose fizzy sense of musical adventure will lead him to premiere “Champion: An Opera in Jazz,” based on the life of boxer Emile Griffith, this June 15, 2013 in St. Louis — offers the sizzling bop of “Don’t Run,” the twilit Miles Davis-inspired fusion of “Hallacinations,” and the impossible cool of “Central Focus.”
Well-placed guest appearances from the likes of bassist Ron Carter, guitarist Lionel Loueke and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane only add to the essential complexity, and the endless intrigue, of Magnetic.
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