Terence Blanchard, a Grammy-Award winner on trumpet, and his band, the E-Collective, have created a groove-infused R&B album titled Breathless. The musicians will shine at Hancher at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

A New Orleans native, Blanchard had a sense for music even as a little kid. Starting with piano at the age of 5, he soon worked his way to the trumpet. After making various leaps and bounds in the music industry, Blanchard founded his own record label.

The trumpeter has also composed music for films and documentaries. The accomplished musician has collected four Grammys, has been nominated for 11, and continues his reign in jazz and R&B with his latest works.

Breathless is a political force to be reckoned with, and it casts a bright light on the social injustices that still occur in the United States. Eric Garner, a resident of Staten Island, New York, was put in a chokehold during an apparent arrest. Garner repeatedly told the police officer, “I can’t breathe,” but those three words were his last. In Garner’s memory, Blanchard and his crew forged Breathless in hope of expanding the view of raw and horrific social injustice.

Blanchard also writes music about large incidents that spark but never ignite a flame in the general public. Currently immersed in writing music for his next album, he means to tilt the light on cities in which police shootings have occurred.