But one of the most heartbreaking moments in Lee's 2006 documentary "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" is provided by a native New Orleanian whom the director has counted as a close collaborator for nearly 20 years.

On the day that composer/bandleader/trumpeter Terence Blanchard accompanied his mother as she re-entered her flood-ravaged home for the first time, Lee, who will be on hand at the Kimmel tomorrow to introduce an evening of Blanchard's scores from his films, followed close behind.

Although this was the first time Blanchard had stepped in front of Lee's camera, his music had flowed behind it through more than a dozen films. Despite such close ties, or perhaps because of them, the experience weighed heavily on the documentarian and his subject.

"That was a very traumatic experience for the both of us," Lee recalled over the phone recently from his New York advertising agency. "I asked Terence early on if we could film when his mother went back to her house, and he and his mom graciously agreed. But it was very personal."

Having lived the experience, Blanchard then set it to music, along with the rest of the four-hour film chronicling the catastrophic event.

"It was probably one of the hardest things I ever had to score," Blanchard said from his home in slowly recovering New Orleans. "You're looking at videotape and then you go outside and see the reality of what it is that you're working on. That was pretty crazy."

His score for "When the Levees Broke" then became the basis for "A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina)," Blanchard's masterful jazz/orchestral suite.

The Grammy-winning album, which pairs the composer's quintet with a 40-piece orchestra, traces events before, during and after Katrina with heartfelt emotion and a cinematic sweep borne of composing music for Lee and other filmmakers. But the recording, and live performances of the music, dredge up painful memories.

"It's cathartic in a sense," Blanchard said, "but also it's dark.

"Sometimes I don't want to revisit that stuff. But at the same time, we're not done here. All of us who are from New Orleans still feel a responsibility to keep the narrative and the conversation alive. I do it through playing music."

Keeping score

Blanchard and the members of his quintet - saxophonist Brice Winston, pianist Fabian Almazan, drummer Kendrick Scott and bassist (and Philly native) Derrick Hodge - will be accompanied by a 20-piece orchestra. There will be guest appearances by jazz/R&B diva Patti Austin, singer/guitarist Raul Midón, and neo-soul crooner Musiq Soulchild, to perform Blanchard's scores to films ranging from "Malcolm X" to "Jungle Fever" to "Inside Man."

"The music in my films is part of the bedrock," Lee said. "It has a very integral part in what makes up a Spike Lee Joint, the same as the cinematography, the acting, the editing, the production design, the costume design. Music is one of those pillars that holds a movie up."

Music was an integral part of Lee's upbringing, and his soundtracks became a family affair. The director's father, Bill Lee, who as a bassist accompanied many of jazz's greats, scored his son's earliest films, including the landmark "Do the Right Thing."

"I was fortunate being the son of a great jazz musician," Lee said.

"We grew up in a jazz household. I've always had a great appreciation for the music and also a great appreciation for musicians. I think musicians are the greatest artists on this planet. I know other people might say painters, sculptors, writers or whatnot, but for me, musicians really have God-given talent."

His jazz message

Blanchard's horn first appeared in the ensemble of Lee's "School Daze" and "Do the Right Thing," then doubled for Denzel Washington's bandleader in "Mo' Better Blues."

During a break in filming "Mo' Better," Lee recalled, "We were waiting for something in the studio and Terence was messing around on the piano. I heard this beautiful melody, and I said, 'What was that?' "

The piece, "Sing Soweto," ended up in the film, and Blanchard soon found himself on the receiving end of more questions from the director.

"Spike is the kind of guy who's always sizing you up while he's talking to you," he said. "The first time I wrote a piece for 'Mo' Better Blues,' he asked me, 'How long did it take you to write that?' At the time, I didn't know why he was asking, but later I realized he was interested in me scoring his films."

The call came for Lee's next film, 1991's "Jungle Fever," and Blanchard has been involved on all the filmmaker's projects since. Blanchard has recently begun work on Lee's latest, "Miracle at St. Anna," based on James McBride's novel about black American soldiers battling in Tuscany, Italy, during World War II.

"I've got Terence working extra time," Lee said, adding with a laugh, "In fact, I don't even know how he's going to come to Philadelphia to do this show."

The one constant in their working relationship, Blanchard said, is that he and Lee constantly struggle not to repeat themselves. "We're always trying to come up with new ideas and form new approaches to score his films," Blanchard said. "You still have to stay within the confines of what it is that Spike loves, which is melody. But we're always trying to push the envelope."

Besides his work with Lee, Blanchard has branched into numerous other collaborations and styles of film, with a growing filmography including the Ice Cube comedies "Barbershop" and "Next Friday," and Kasi Lemmons' Petey Greene biopic, "Talk to Me."

But he is most closely associated with the director who gave him his start.

"I love films that make me question how I should approach them, it makes me think differently and pose some fundamental questions about writing music," said Blanchard.

Though Lee perhaps made a leap of faith when he first turned to Blanchard despite his lack of experience in film scoring, the composer's jazz background convinced the filmmaker he could answer those fundamental questions.

"He's a jazz musician," Lee said. "I think jazz musicians are the greatest musicians in the world. You know how to read and write, and you also improvise, so I think it gives you the full pedigree that you need for this job.

"We're a team," Lee said. "We're collaborators. I prefer working with great artists." *

Send e-mail to bradys@phillynews.com.

"The Movie Music of Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard," Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad St., 8 p.m. tomorrow, $55-$85, 215-893-1999, www.kimmelcenter.org.