“I can remember at a NAMAD banquet there were two tables, maybe three at a conference of minority dealers,” he said. “But I watched it grow to the level that it is today with many and, to be in a position within General Motors and to assist the industry and see it grow, has been gratifying,” he said.
Pop, Rock, Jazz, and Classical. These are all separate genres of music. But what happens when you put two of them together? You get “opera in jazz” rather than “jazz opera,” according to jazz musician and opera composer Terence Blanchard, who is the former Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance Artistic Director. Blanchard is also a jazz trumpeter from New Orleans who has over 20 albums to his credit, won three Grammy’s and written music for many of Spike Lee’s films. Blanchard just premiered his first opera, (the opera’s second production run), “Champion,” the story of former Welterweight Boxing Champion Emile Griffith and his life-defining fight with reigning Welterweight Champion Benny “The Kid” Paret.