Absence (Terence Blanchard album)

2021 studio album by Terence Blanchard

Absence

Studio album by

Terence Blanchard

Released| August 27, 2021
Genre| Jazz
Length| 64:51
Label| Blue Note
Producer| Robin Burgess, Terence Blanchard
Terence Blanchard chronology
| Live
(2018)  | Absence
(2021)  |

|
|

Professional ratingsAggregate scores

Source| Rating
Metacritic| 87/100[1]
Review scores
Source| Rating
All About Jazz| [2]
AllMusic| [3]
DownBeat| [4]
Jazzwise| [5]
Mojo| [6]
PopMatters| 8/10[7]

Absence is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard featuring the E-Collective and the Turtle Island Quartet. The album was released on August 27, 2021, by Blue Note.[8] In this album, Blanchard celebrates his mentor Wayne Shorter.[9]

## Reception

[edit]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 87, based on four reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[1]

Steve Futterman of The New Yorker wrote, "With “Absence,” the trumpeter Terence Blanchard pays tribute to the influential octogenarian composer in a project that reconsiders a handful of Shorter's works..., along with originals dedicated to the iconic patriarch. Employing his plugged-in E-Collective unit, with ample contributions from the Turtle Island Quartet, and tellingly shedding any additional wind instruments, Blanchard avoids deliberate stylistic intimations of Shorter's own classic work, or of his collaborations with both Miles Davis and Weather Report, in favor of a lush and dramatic soundscape that calls to mind Blanchard's career as a successful film composer."[10] John Garratt of PopMatters commented, "Absence sounds too perfect to be the product of nine musicians struggling for their art. As far as complaints go, that's a meager one. There is a great deal going on inside these 64 minutes of music, and that alone should be enough to provoke many revisits. The composition quality and all-around musicianship are foregone conclusions with Blanchard, who somehow manages not to spread himself thin when premiering an opera in New York while scoring multiple works for Spike Lee. To imagine Absence as another brick in that wall is rather staggering."[7] Mike Hobart in his review for Jazzwise added, "An impressive, densely-textured album, with headlong improvisations spiced by dramatic juxtapositions of electric band and strings."[5]

## Track listing

[edit]

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "Absence"| David Ginyard| 6:55
2.| "The Elders"| Wayne Shorter| 6:04
3.| "Fall"| Wayne Shorter| 5:38
4.| "I Dare You (Intro)"| Terence Blanchard| 1:36
5.| "I Dare You"| Terence Blanchard| 7:46
6.| "Envisioned Reflections (Intro)"| David Ginyard| 1:32
7.| "Envisioned Reflections"| David Ginyard| 2:35
8.| "The Second Wave"| David Balakrishnan| 10:43
9.| "When It Was Now"| Wayne Shorter| 5:22
10.| "Dark Horse"| Charles Altura| 7:17
11.| "Diana"| Wayne Shorter| 7:06
12.| "More Elders"| Wayne Shorter| 2:20
Total length:| 64:51

## Personnel

[edit]

* Terence Blanchard – trumpet

The E-Collective

* Charles Altura – guitar
* Fabian Almazan – piano
* David Ginyard – bass
* Oscar Seaton – drums

The Turtle Island Quartet

* David Balakrishnan – violin
* Benjamin von Gutzeit – viola
* Gabe Terraciano – violin
* Malcolm Parson – cello

Cover Art

* Andrew F. Scott
* Sarah N. Wall

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Absence by Terence Blanchard". Metacritic. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
2. ^ May, Chris (August 28, 2021). "Terence Blanchard featuring The E-Collective: Absence album review @ All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
3. ^ Collar, Matt. "Absence - Terence Blanchard | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
4. ^ Margasak, Peter (November 2021). "Terence Blanchard: Absence (Blue Note)". DownBeat. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
5. ^ a b Hobart, Mike. "TERENCE BLANCHARD: ABSENCE". Jazzwise. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
6. ^ Cowan, Andy (November 2021). "Terence Blanchard: Absence". Mojo (336). Retrieved December 30, 2021.
7. ^ a b Garratt, John (September 29, 2021). "Terence Blanchard: Absence (Album Review)". PopMatters. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
8. ^ "TERENCE BLANCHARD - ABSENCE". Blue Note. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
9. ^ "ABSENCE". Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth. July 14, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
10. ^ Futterman, Steve. "Terence Blanchard: "Absence"". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Terence Blanchard

Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.

Albums|

* Black Pearl (with Donald Harrison, 1988)
* Terence Blanchard (1991)
* Simply Stated (1992)
* The Malcolm X Jazz Suite (1992)
* In My Solitude: The Billie Holiday Songbook (1993)
* Romantic Defiance (1994)
* The Heart Speaks (1995)
* Jazz in Film (1998)
* Wandering Moon (1999)
* Let's Get Lost (2001)
* Bounce (2003)
* Flow (2004)
* A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) (2007)
* Choices (2009)
* Chano y Dizzy! (with Poncho Sanchez, 2011)
* Magnetic (2013)
* Breathless (2015)
* Live (2018)
* Absence (2021)

Film scores/
soundtracks|

* Mo' Better Blues (with Branford Marsalis, 1990)
* Inside Man (2006)
* BlacKkKlansman (2018)
* Da 5 Bloods (2020)
* One Night in Miami... (2021)
* The Woman King (2022)

Operas|

* Champion (2013)
* Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2019)

Related articles|

* List of awards and nominations
* The Jazz Messengers

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