So You've Probably Heard of Him...

One of the first enthusiastic mentions of Trombone Shorty came from a friend who once told me that jazz was music for intellectuals. While Trombone Shorty isn’t strictly jazz—he’s more closely aligned with funk, and the production of his album Backatown is, in my opinion, very much pop-influenced—he is rooted in the traditions of New Orleans*, and jazz.

I’m thinking about this, sitting in my seat at the Power Center after the Macpodz have left the stage—a high-energy performance that just didn’t draw me in; I took more note of trumpet player Ross Huff’s badly fitted pants than I did the music—and then the lights are coming down and Trombone Shorty’s band, Orleans Avenue, is trouping onstage. Two sax players: Tim McFatter on tenor, and Dan Oestreicher on bari. Two percussionists: Joey Peebles and Dwayne “Big D” Williams. Bass player Michael Ballard. Guitarist Murano. And then finally, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews himself, with a trumpet in one and hand and a trombone in the other, both stretched high over his head in a triumphant greeting.

The crowd adores him, and when he starts to play I am surprised at his tone, his technique. He’s moving so much air through his horn, but the tone is still clear. I could go on—about how his tonguing is so crisp, it’s like having a door shut in your face, about the force of his sound—but despite his chops, he’s almost more of a showman than a brass player. He’s captured the audience with sheer stage presence. They’re standing up in their seats, crowding towards the front, dancing, clapping, shouting.

The band does “Let’s Get It On,” and “On The Sunny Side of the Street,” plus tunes from the album, including “Suburbia.” They take turns soloing, throw in a moment or two of free jazz stylings and Dixieland, and wind things up with that well-recognized tune “Shout.” Trombone Shorty gives each member time to shine, but a bari sax doesn’t always cut through the drumkit, and no matter how great the solo, we’ve all heard more guitar in our lives than probably any other instrument. It’s Trombone Shorty everyone is watching.

Ask a low-brass fanatic to name a famous trombone player, and they’ll probably say Christian Lindberg or Joseph Alessi. Ask a jazz junkie, and the answer is likely to be Tommy Dorsey, J.J. Johnson, or Jack Teagarden. The trombone player is generally not a huge phenomenon, but Trombone Shorty is nothing less than a superstar. And that, as a trombone player myself, is something I just cannot get my head wrapped around. Trombone Shorty, superstar.


*Jazz isn’t the only kind of music to be found in New Orleans. There’s blues, zydeco, Cajun, and more. But think Jazz Fest, second lines, and its reputation as the ‘birthplace of jazz’ (which takes, to say the least, a simplistic view of jazz history).