A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina), is New Orleans native Terrence Blanchard’s empathetic and compassionate memoir to the people of New Orleans, reflecting the pain and frustration of people that were forgotten during their greatest time of need. This 13-track recording has been called an emotional tour-de-force of anger, rage, compassion, melancholy, and beauty while being ultimately hopeful.
“We all asked ourselves how this could have happened,” says Blanchard. “You end up going through the whole scenario and you don’t get answers to most of the questions. And the only thing you can rest with is your faith and a sense of family.” Referring to the multitude of the city’s social strata he continues, “We were all put into the same boat in a matter of hours, all of us.”
Listen to excerpts from a 2007 interview with jazz great Terence Blanchard about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, and watch his quintet in performance at Blues Alley in Washington, DC playing music from the Grammy award-winning CD, A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina).