For Immediate Release: February 3, 2005
Media Contact: Roy A. Wilbur, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 215.898.6706

Penn Presents celebrates the artistry of Grammy, Emmy and Golden Globe nominated jazz great Terence Blanchard at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on Penn's campus. Blanchard, who according to Vanity Fair, "plays the most coolly expressive trumpet in jazz" has also composed scores for Spike Lee films, including Malcolm X, Clockers and The 25th Hour. The celebration begins with a Free Spike Lee-Terence Blanchard Film Festival from February 28th through March 3rd in the Studio Theatre of the Annenberg Center. The celebration culminates on Friday, March 4th with a special dinner/lecture beginning at 6pm in the center's lobby, featuring food by Marathon Grill and a lecture on "Music in Movies" by Karen Beckman from Penn's Cinema Studies program. Then at 8pm, on March 4th, Terence Blanchard and His Band will perform live on the Zellerbach Theatre stage. For more on the performance by Terence Blanchard and His Band on March 4th and the Free Spike Lee-Terence Blanchard Film Festival, 215-898-3900 or Penn Presents dot org.

TERENCE BLANCHARD AND HIS BAND BRING PROGRESSIVE YET TRADITIONAL SOUND TO PENN PRESENTS® 2004-05 JAZZ SERIES

The fourth performance of Penn Presents 2004-05 Jazz Series features a multi-Grammy nominated trumpeter and composer whose commitment to excellence has become a benchmark for his gifted generation. On Friday, March 4, 2005 at 8:00 p.m., Terence Blanchard and His Band will perform in the Zellerbach Theatre of the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut Street. Blanchard has established himself as one of the most important Jazz musicians of this era. His twenty-year career encompasses over twenty recordings, including several original, award-winning Hollywood film scores. He has been nominated for a Grammy, and Emmy, and a Golden Globe. Blanchard recently signed with Blue Note Records, releasing his most recent compilation Bounce. Tickets for the performance are $46, $41, $34 and $22. There are discounts for seniors, students, groups, and Penn alumni, as well as the TIAA-CREF university faculty/staff discount. For tickets or more information, call 215-898-3900, or visit online at www.pennpresents.org. In addition to this performance, there will be a Student Discovery Series matinee performance on Friday, March 4 at 10:30 am in the Zellerbach. Tickets for the school matinee are $7. Media Sponsors: METRO Philadelphia and WRTI-FM.

In conjunction with this concert, Penn Presents the sixth of its 2004-05 University Square Dinner and Lecture Series, on March 4, in the Annenberg Center lobby, starting at 6:00 p.m. A buffet dinner featuring American style fare will be provided by Marathon Grill, with a buffet dinner including Hot Roast Turkey, Baked Ziti, Yankee Pot Roast, Grilled Vegetables, Roasted Potatoes and an assortment of Cookies and Brownies. Dinner will be followed by a lecture on music in movies by Karen Beckman, Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Assistant Professor, Penn's Cinema Studies Program. BYOB. Tickets for the dinner are $15. Please RSVP by February 25.

More than a musician and bandleader, Blanchard is committed to furthering appreciation for and love and understanding of Jazz. The New Orleans native recently accepted an appointment to the University of Southern California (USC) as the Artistic Director for the Theolonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance. The signing of the trumpeter/composer to Blue Note Records seems a natural. During the past 20 years, on the strength of poll-topping CDs and award-winning Hollywood film scores for directors including Spike Lee, Blanchard has solidly established himself (he composed the music for Lee's latest film, “She Hate Me”). The size of his filmography is impressive – he has recorded or collaborated on approximately forty soundtracks. Among the films he has composed music for are “Crooklyn,” “Eve's Bayou,” “Gia,” “Navigating The Heart,” “Love and Basketball,” “Original Sin,” and “Dark Blue.”

At Blue Note, he joins a jazz legacy that has shaped the contours of modern jazz today, stretching back to 1939 and including formative albums by one of Blanchard's mentors, the legendary drummer/bandleader Art Blakey. The timing couldn't be better, and the music on Blanchard's new CD, Bounce, is the proof. At 41, Blanchard joins fellow label mates and friends who, like him, have matured into modern standard-bearers, each with their own take on jazz tradition and their own particular interests. “Terence is a consummate musician and composer,” said Blue Note President Bruce Lundvall, “and his Blue Note debut is, in my opinion, a most exceptional musical statement from him and his amazing young band.” Here, Blanchard convenes a diverse group of talented young musicians, all of whom help highlight the many facets of his musical vision.

In clubs and concert halls around the world these days, Blanchard exudes the type of authority Blakey did when Blanchard was a young member of his Jazz Messengers. And, like Blakey, Blanchard invites his band members into the creative process, honed by playing in front of audiences. The music on Bounce doesn't stay in one place, and it exemplifies Blanchard's style, which prompted People Magazine to comment: “Blanchard's virtues spring from his sense of restraint. The joy is in the tease!”

For more information about Terence Blanchard, please visit www.terenceblanchard.com.

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FREE “SPIKE LEE – TERENCE BLANCHARD FILM FESTIVAL” IN CONJUNCTION WITH TERENCE BLANCHARD & HIS BAND

Penn Presents' 2004-05 Jazz Series continues with the Grammy, Emmy and Golden Globe nominated trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard and His Band on Friday, March 4, 2005 at 8:00pm in the Zellerbach Theatre of the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. Blanchard has established himself as one of the most important jazz musicians of this era. During the past 20 years, on the strength of poll-topping CDs and award-winning Hollywood films, Terence Blanchard has written a number of film scores, most of them for the films of Spike Lee, including his latest She Hate Me. Other collaborations with Mr. Lee have included The 25th Hour, Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Clockers, Bamboozled, and the documentaries Four Little Girls and Jim Brown-All American.

In conjunction with Terence Blanchard's concert on Friday, March 4 at 8pm and Penn's Center for Africana Studies' presentation of Spike Lee on Wednesday, February 2 at 5:30pm, in the Zellerbach Theatre, Penn Presents a free "Spike Lee-Terence Blanchard Film Festival" featuring pre-show lectures by a roster of noted film scholars and musicians. The lectures and films are open to the public and admission is free. No tickets are required and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The films will be shown in the intimate Studio Theatre on the lower level of the Annenberg Center.

Tuesday, February 1
6:30pm–Pre-show talk by Dr. Timothy Corrigan, Director of Penn's Cinema Studies Program
7:00pm–Movie: Do the Right Thing

Monday, February 28
6:30pm–Pre-show talk by Dr. Guthrie Ramsey, Associate Professor of Music at Penn
7:00pm–Movie: Mo' Better Blues
Terence Blanchard, featured performer

Tuesday, March 1
6:30pm–Pre-show talk by Dr. Herman Beavers, Director of Penn's Center for Africana Studies
7:00pm–Movie: Clockers
Score by Terence Blanchard

Wednesday, March 2
6:30pm–Pre-show talk by Dr. Peter DeCherney, Associate Professor of English at Penn
7:00pm–Movie: The 25th Hour
Score by Terence Blanchard

Thursday, March 3
6:30pm–Pre-show talk by Don Bogle
7:00pm–Movie: Malcolm X
Score by Terence Blanchard

Friday, March 4
The culmination of the Film Festival begins with the University Dinner/Lecture at 6:00pm in the Annenberg Center lobby. A buffet dinner by Marathon Grill will be followed by a lecture on “Music in Movies” by Karen Beckman, Professor in Penn's Cinema Studies Program. Terence Blanchard's performance will follow at 8:00pm.

Ticket information:
The "Spike Lee-Terence Blanchard Film Festival" films and lectures are free and open to the public. No tickets are required and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The presentation of Spike Lee is free, but tickets are required. Dinner/Lecture tickets are $15. Terence Blanchard concert tickets are $22-$46 with discounts with students, seniors, area University faculty/staff, Penn alumni and groups. For tickets and information, call 215-898-3900 or visit PennPresents.org.

The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts at Penn is a center for cultural and intellectual engagement in the Philadelphia region. We present and host a diverse program of music, theatre, dance, education and outreach for adult, student and children's audiences.

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