A household-name figurehead of the mainstream jazz vanguard led by the Marsalis brothers, trumpet player Terence Blanchard is perhaps best known as Spike Lee’s go-to guy for film scores. Given the peer group he is most often associated with, it goes without saying that Blanchard’s approach is marked by technical proficiency on a highly cerebral level and, of course, an unmistakably traditionalist mentality. But, although Blanchard has always demonstrated a penchant for melodies, he is, in a sense, a changed man since the Katrina disaster. With his naked, radiantly mournful playing on Spike Lee’s documentary, When the Levee Broke, Blanchard sought to connect more deeply with universal themes — and succeeded by cutting through the bravura and aiming straight for the listener’s heart. All ages.

Tue., Aug. 25, 7:30 p.m.; Wed., Aug. 26, 7:30 p.m., 2009