Celebrating the Trombone

Thank you for participating in our Jazz Appreciation Month Listener Poll…today we celebrate the trombone. Be sure to tune in to hear all of your favorites, including one of today’s most popular performers, Trombone Shorty.

***

He may have the catchiest nickname in music, evoking jazz ghosts of the past, but this trombone player is still a relative baby, being named to Forbes magazine’s distinguished list of “30 Under 30,” class of 2016. Trombone Shorty is an old soul in a young man’s body. In addition to his music, he is already respected as a producer, actor and philanthropist, with an active foundation that supports his hometown of New Orleans and its young, aspiring musicians.

Born Troy Andrews in 1986 to a well-known musical family in New Orleans, he began playing the trombone at age 4, and also learned to play the trumpet, drums, organ and tuba. He was leading brass bands through New Orleans by the age of 6 and formally studied music at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. By 2005, he had already played with Lenny Kravitz and Aerosmith – and then came Hurricane Katrina, its bulls eye focused on his beloved hometown. Within 6 weeks, Andrews was making a benefit album with other musicians and, although he traveled the world playing jazz, his heart never left New Orleans. The Trombone Shorty Foundation, whose mission is to “preserve and perpetuate the unique musical culture of New Orleans,” helps provide quality musical instruments to school children in need, and also partners with Tulane University to mentor high school musicians. In 2012, Tulane recognized Andrews for his community activism with its President’s Medal.

When he was only 20, Trombone Shorty was invited to London to record at Abbey Road with U2. The long list of subsequent artists he’s worked with resembles a Who’s Who in Music: Eric Clapton, Green Day, Dave Matthews, Madonna, Queen Latifa,  Usher, Rod Stewart, Pharrell and Bruno Mars – just to name a few. He’s toured with the Foo Fighters and performed at the White House, the Super Bowl and the 56^th Grammy Awards. He has released albums that have held the number one spot on Billboard’s contemporary jazz chart for weeks, and has also ventured into television and movies, performing on all the late night shows from Leno to Kimmel.  He’s taken dramatic parts as well, and even ventured into animated films, recently playing Miss Othmar in The Peanuts Movie. It is no exaggeration to say that Andrews is a man of many voices.

In 2009, Andrews formed his own band, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, which has also traveled the world. Its sound is described as hard-edged funk, and Andrew is the maestro of its distinctive style. Rock, pop, jazz and hip-hop are all likely to make an appearance at a Trombone Shorty concert.

While Trombone Shorty may be young chronologically, his music and conscience are fully integrated. This is a young man who is making a difference in the lives of children, in his hometown, and on the world’s jazz stage. Perhaps, decades from now, his biography will be aptly titled, “ Trombone Shorty: Using His Trombone to Make the World a Better Place.”