For his latest disc, Caravan, trumpeter Terence Blanchardwanted to continue to explore a theme he had dealt with on his 2015 studio session Breathless: the growing tension between members of the African-American community and police. Blanchard decided to make Caravan a live recording and selected four cities, including Cleveland, that had seen high profile confrontations between the two groups.
Terence brought his group “E-Collective” to the Bop Stop at the Music Settlementto perform and record on January 4 and 5.
Blanchard’s specific reason for choosing Cleveland was the 2014 death of Tamir Rice who was shot by police. Blanchard described himself as “incredibly frustrated” by the Rice incident.
Blanchard said “I’m not a cop, but I know that if you get a man with a gun call you don’t drive up on the suspect.”
Blanchard went on to say, “there are a lot of great cops out there. I know a lot of them. I’ve gone to church with a lot of them, but it’s time for them to speak up.”
You can hear more of Blanchard's conversation with Dan Polletta by listening on Friday at 1:33 p.m. to Hear and Now featuring The Sound of Applause. Watch part of his Bop Stop performance on Friday at 8:30 p.m. on Applause on WVIZ-PBS.