SFJAZZ announces the appointment of 7-Time Grammy Winner and 2-Time Academy Award Nominee Terence Blanchard as Executive Artistic Director. This new position will lead the organization’s artistic programming and guide its overall creative direction. Blanchard’s appointment comes as SFJAZZ Founder Randall Kline prepares to step down this year from the organization he founded in 1983.

This year, SFJAZZ is celebrating its 40th Anniversary and the 10th Birthday of the award-winning SFJAZZ Center. Blanchard joins SFJAZZ as it prepares for the 2023-2024 season beginning September 7.

Blanchard is a renowned composer, bandleader, and trumpet player who has been a consistent artistic force for making powerful musical statements for over 40 years. From his stint with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers to writing scores for Spike Lee and other films, he is unique in the jazz world as an artist whose creative endeavors go far beyond the genre into film scoring, crafting television series soundscapes, and conceiving grand operas that have been recognized at the highest levels of art appreciation.

A recipient of a 2018 USA Artist Fellowship and a 2023 Peabody Medal, Blanchard is also a passionate educational mentor, having held positions at the Berklee Institute of Music, The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, and as Chair of Jazz Studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, amongst many others. Additionally, Blanchard has been at the forefront of giving voice in his works to socio-cultural issues and racial injustices of our time.

The brother of U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville is speaking out on social media, saying he is “compelled to distance” himself from some of the lawmaker’s recent statements.

“Due to recent statements by him promoting racial stereotypes, white nationalism and other various controversial topics, I feel compelled to distance myself from his ignorant, hateful rants,” Charles Tuberville stated in a Facebook post.

“What I’m trying to say is that, I DO NOT agree with any of the vile rhetoric coming out of his mouth. Please don’t confuse my brother with me. Thanks, Charles Tuberville.”