Terence Blanchard

★★★★ Absence BLUE NOTE. CD/DL

Mixing Wayne Shorter standards with originals that pay homage to the soprano sax legend, Absence finds New Orleans trumpeter Blanchard and regular band E Collective effortlessly shifting textures, with disguised flares of long notes and high blasts casting fresh melodic light on much-covered works Fall and Diana. Elsewhere, Blanchard’s sophisticated orchestral skills are voiced by the Turtle Island Quartet, peaking on the quivering Second Wave.