I’ll be perfectly honest: I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a more exemplary personification of New Orleans jazz culture than Double Decker Arts Festival headliner Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews.
Andrews’ prolific career and deep pride for his hometown’s unreplicable culture has made his status as a New Orleans legend irrefutable.
Andrews grew up in the Tremé neighborhood, one of the oldest black neighborhoods in America and an epicenter of New Orleans jazz. He began playing trombone at the age of four and became so proficient that he led his first brass band at the age of eight. Andrews set to work further honing his virtuoso-level musicianship, attending the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.
While in high school, he developed his longtime band, Orleans Avenue, and developed a friendship with fellow musician Jon Batiste. If the name Batiste rings any bells, then you’re likely thinking of his band, Stay Human’s, seven year stint as the studio band on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” or perhaps you know him as the most recent recipient of the album of the year award at the Grammys for his album “We Are,” which Andrews also contributed to.
Batiste is only one in a long line of notable musicians Andrews has collaborated with in his career. These musicians span a wide array of genres, from rock musicians such as Lenny Kravitz and Aerosmith, former Beatle Ringo Starr and R&B artists such as Bruno Mars.
These collaborations early in his career helped Andrews develop his own unique musical style, which he coined supafunkrock, an intense hybrid of the rock, R&B and swinging NOLA jazz. Andrews first began exploring this style on his 2010 sophomore studio album “Backatown,” which received widespread critical acclaim, receiving multiple Grammy nominations and praise from notable critics.
The collaborations Andrews prides himself the most on are those with fellow New Orleans musicians and legends.
On “Backatown,” named after a nickname for the Tremé neighborhood in which Andrews grew up, Andrews taps Louisiana native Marc Broussard and legendary New Orleans songwriter and pianist Allen Toussaint. Outside of Louisiana, neither of these names may appear to carry much weight, but if you’ve ever had a parent walk around the house humming “Southern Nights” to themselves, you can thank Mr. Toussaint for penning that song.
Andrews doubles down on these collaborations in his subsequent albums. His 2011 album “For True” features the electrifying Rebirth Brass Band, 5th Ward Weebie and the Neville Brothers. These collaborations allow Andrews to forge something that is both entirely unique yet welcomingly familiar, optimistic yet not blindly so, all while paying homage to the hometown he takes such pride in.
Andrews has made a point to perform with other hometown legends. In addition to the aforementioned Rebirth Brass Band, Andrews has also performed with the beloved and historic Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Soul Rebels, a group which fuses NOLA big band sound with hip-hop.
Andrews’ pride for New Orleans extends beyond music. Outside of his career, Andrews has been a prominent figure in promoting the culture of New Orleans. Andrews had a recurring role on the HBO drama “Tremé,” a show which explored the lives of those living in the neighborhood following Hurricane Katrina.
In a similar vein, Andrews contributed to the New Orleans Social Club, a supergroup of famous New Orleans musicians seeking to create a benefit album for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Andrews also founded the Trombone Shorty Foundation. Andrews hopes to pass the musical traditions which raised him onto future generations by providing them with world class instruction, quality instruments and the proper resources to succeed in their career.
Trombone Shorty will be performing on April 23 as one of the headliners of the Oxford Double Decker Arts Festival, and with a stage presence as electrifying as his, I’d easily consider him one of the weekends can’t miss events.
