Blanchard’s Tour Takes a New, Riskier Route

Terence Blanchard is that rare entity among jazz musicians--a player who knows how to manage his career. Among the trumpeter’s many successful projects are his film scores for Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X” and “Clockers,” and such well-conceptualized albums as “The Billie Holiday Songbook.”

But his latest recording, “The Heart Speaks,” is a riskier enterprise, devoted to songs written and performed by Brazilian composer Ivan Lins, all sung in Portuguese. Blanchard’s current tour in support of the album became even more chancy when the unavailability of Lins made it necessary to add American singer Philip Manuel to the lineup.

So there were some real doubts about what to expect Tuesday when he brought his group to the Jazz Bakery for a five-night engagement. And, when Manuel launched into the first Lins tune, “Aparecida,” his somewhat less than convincing Portuguese suggested that the moderate-sized audience might be in for a long evening.

But matters improved dramatically with the bossa nova sounds of “Antes Que Seja Tarde.” If Manuel’s readings could not match the interior emotions of Lins’ interpretations, they could, and did, provide a more overtly rhythmic energy. Sounding and looking a lot like Al Jarreau, Manuel scatted, added a colorful array of percussive sounds and generated a high-level, dynamic charge. It was not exactly the multilayered kind of subtlety one ordinarily envisions in songs by Lins, but it was exhilarating, spontaneous, straight-ahead jazz.

And it was aided immensely by Blanchard himself. Capable of moving with ease from the bottom to the top of his instrument, he nonetheless never used his virtuosity as an end in itself. Each solo had a thread, a line of musical and emotional logic, stretching from beginning to end. Clearly, Blanchard’s busy schedule of activities hasn’t at all hindered his growth as an improviser and an artist.

His rhythm team, with the remarkable Panamanian pianist Edward Simon, bassist David Pulphus and drummer Troy Davis, left little to be desired. They managed to create attractive musical settings, even during an excruciatingly slow Blanchard original, “Unconditional,” and shifted easily and appropriately from buoyant bossas and charging sambas to brisk, propulsive mainstream.

* The Terence Blanchard Group at the Jazz Bakery through Saturday. 3233 Helms Ave. (310) 271-9039. $17 tonight, $20 Friday and Saturday. Blanchard performs one show, at 8:30 p.m.