Bland was born on the
South Side of
Chicago to Althea and Edward Bland. His father was a postal worker but also a self-taught literary critic with illustrious friends such as
Ralph Ellison,
Gwendolyn Brooks and
Langston Hughes. Edward senior died in the
Battle of the Bulge in 1944, and son Edward Bland also briefly served in the Army during
World War II, after which he studied at both the
University of Chicago and the
American Conservatory of Music on the
G.I. Bill. Among his compositions is a concerto for electric violin and chamber orchestra. He composed scores for the TV play
A Raisin in the Sun (1989) and the film ''
A Soldier's Story (1984). Another notable work is Sketches Set Seven'' for piano. He also wrote, directed and produced the 1959 film
The Cry of Jazz. In the 1990s, this documentary was rediscovered by scholars and celebrated as an early example of independent black filmmaking. It was soon restored and reissued on DVD in 1996, and in 2010 the
Library of Congress added it to its
National Film Registry collection as “a historic and fascinating film that comments on racism and the appropriation of jazz by those who fail to understand its artistic and cultural origins.” ==Discography==