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Trombone Shorty

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Trombone Shorty
Trombone Shorty at the Satchmo SummerFest in August 2007
Born
Troy Andrews

(1986-01-02) January 2, 1986 (age 38)
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation
  • Musician
FamilyJames Andrews Jr. (brother)
Jessie Hill (grandfather)
Musical career
GenresJazz
Instruments
  • Trombone
  • trumpet
  • vocals
Labels
Websitetromboneshorty.com

Troy Andrews (born January 2, 1986), also known by the stage name Trombone Shorty, is a musician, most notably a trombone player, from New Orleans, Louisiana. His music fuses rock, pop, jazz, funk, and hip hop.[1]

Biography

[edit]
Trombone Shorty at age five, with the Carlsberg Brass Band, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 1991

Andrews was one of seven children of James Andrews Jr. and Lois Andrews. He was born in and grew up in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, where was he was exposed to jazz, R&B and music-related traditions such as second line parades.[2] Andrews is the younger brother of trumpeter and bandleader James Andrews III and the grandson of singer and songwriter Jessie Hill.[3] His great-uncle Walter "Papoose" Nelson played with Fats Domino.[3][4] Andrews' mother Lois Nelson Andrews was a regular grand marshal of jazz funerals and second-line parades in New Orleans, where she routinely encouraged young musicians and was known as the "Mother of Music" and "Queen of the Tremé".[3][5] Andrews' father James Andrews Jr., a member of the Bayou Steppers Social Aid & Pleasure Club, frequently invited musician friends to visit their home.[2] Other musical family members include cousins Glen David Andrews and the late Travis "Trumpet Black" Hill.[6][7]

Andrews' brother Darnell, also a talented trombone player, was shot and killed in 1995.[8] Following that tragedy, Trombone Shorty was left in the care of his manager and friend, Susan Lovejoy Scott, who acted in loco parentis, managing and mentoring Andrews as a young musician.[9][10]

At the age of four, Andrews started playing a trombone given to him by his brother James "because the family already had a trumpet player".[11] In 1990, Bo Diddley heard the four-year-old Andrews playing and invited him on stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.[12] He participated in brass band parades as a child, becoming a band leader by the age of six. In his teens, he was a member of the Stooges Brass Band.[13][14] Andrews' parents opened a nightclub in Tremé called Trombone Shorty's, where he would play on occasion as a child, as well as a jam space for musicians called "The Space".[3][2] Andrews attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) along with fellow musician Jon Batiste.[15] Since his youth, Andrews has been mentored by Cyril Neville, whom he calls "a second father".[16][17] Andrews graduated in 2004 from Warren Easton High School.[18]

In 2005, Andrews was a featured member of Lenny Kravitz's horn section in a world tour that shared billing with acts including Aerosmith. Andrews was part of the New Orleans Social Club, a group formed after Hurricane Katrina to record a benefit album. He was featured guest on "Hey Troy, Your Mama's Calling You," a tribute to "Hey Leroy, Your Mama's Calling You" a Latin jazz song by the Jimmy Castor Bunch in 1966.

Andrews is interviewed on screen and appears in performance footage in the 2005 documentary film Make It Funky!, released in 2005, which presents a history of the music of New Orleans and its influence on rhythm and blues, rock music, funk and jazz.[19] In the film, he performed with Kermit Ruffins and Irvin Mayfield on "Skokiaan", and was a guest performer with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band on "My Feet Can't Fail Me Now" as well as a guest performer with Big Sam's Funky Nation on "Bah Duey Duey".[20]

In London, during the summer of 2006, Andrews began working with producer Bob Ezrin and U2 at Abbey Road Studios. This association led to Andrews performing with U2 and Green Day during the re-opening of the Louisiana Superdome for the Monday Night Football pre-game show.[21]

At the end of 2006, Andrews appeared on the NBC television series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, where, leading a group of New Orleans musicians, he performed the holiday classic "O Holy Night".[22]

In 2007, he contributed to Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino on the track "Whole Lotta Lovin" along with Rebirth Brass Band, Pee Wee Ellis, Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker and Lenny Kravitz.[23]

Between 2010 and 2013, Andrews appeared in seven episodes of the HBO series Treme.[24]

In 2010, Andrews released the Ben Ellman produced Backatown (Verve Forecast), which reached number one on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart for nine consecutive weeks. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue toured Australia, North America, Europe, Japan and Brazil, as well as supported shows for Jeff Beck in the U.K. and Dave Matthews Band in the U.S. They performed on television shows including Conan, Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Bonnaroo, and Austin City Limits. He also recorded on CDs from Galactic, Eric Clapton, and Lenny Kravitz and on the Academy Award nominated song "Down In New Orleans" with Dr. John.

In September 2011, Andrews released the album For True as a follow-up to his earlier album Backatown. Along with all the members of his band, Orleans Avenue, this record includes appearances by the Rebirth Brass Band, Jeff Beck, Warren Haynes, Stanton Moore, Kid Rock, Ben Ellman and Lenny Kravitz as a returning guest artist. On January 8, 2012, Andrews performed the National Anthem before the start of the NFL playoff game between the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons.[25] Soul Rebels Brass Band invited Andrews to special guest on their Rounder Records debut record, Unlock Your Mind, released on January 31, 2012. On March 31, 2012, Andrews' single "Do To Me" was featured before both semi-final games of the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament on CBS.

On February 21, 2012, Andrews performed at The White House as part of the Black History Month celebration, In Performance at the White House: Red, White & Blues, which premiered on PBS on February 27, 2012. The event featured performances from B.B. King, Jeff Beck, Keb' Mo', Mick Jagger, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks and more. Earlier that day, Andrews also participated in a special education program at The White House with Michelle Obama, Keb' Mo' and Shemekia Copeland.

On January 24, 2014, Andrews performed at MusiCares alongside Steven Tyler and LeAnn Rimes. On January 26, 2014, Andrews performed at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. He performed with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Madonna and Queen Latifah in a version of Macklemore's "Same Love". On February 16, 2014, Andrews and Orleans Avenue led the performance at halftime of the NBA Allstar Game, which was held at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, with Andrews also acting as music director for the entire segment joined by Dr. John, Janelle Monáe, Gary Clark Jr. and Earth, Wind & Fire.

In May 2014, Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters traveled to New Orleans to tape their HBO series, Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways. After interviewing Andrews for the show, Grohl invited Shorty to sit in with the Foo Fighters during their unannounced performance that night at Preservation Hall. That led to a friendship that has seen Shorty sit in with the Foo Fighters at their performances at Voodoo Festival in New Orleans, Dave Grohl's Birthday Bash at the Forum in Los Angeles and at the William Morris retreat at the Belly Up in Solana Beach, California.

Performing at the White House, 2024

Also in May 2014, Andrews appeared on Mark Ronson's album Uptown Special, notably on the collaboration with Mystikal on the single "Feel Right." At the end of 2014, Andrews recorded the theme song for the remake of the Odd Couple, which premiered on CBS in February 2015. In 2015, Andrews made his feature film debut, recording the voice of the teacher Miss Othmar and the other adults in The Peanuts Movie.

Andrews performed twice for Barack Obama at the White House in 2015. The first time was October 14 where he performed "Fiya on the Bayou" and also performed with Usher and Queen Latifah.[26] The second time was December 3 for the National Christmas Tree lighting where he performed "Jingle Bells" alongside Crosby, Stills and Nash, Aloe Blacc and Reese Witherspoon.[27] In November 2015, Andrews and Orleans Avenue toured Europe with Foo Fighters, although the tour ended early due to the November 2015 Paris attacks.[28]

In April 2016, he performed "Stay All Night" with Little Big Town at the 2016 Academy of Country Music Awards.[29]

In the summer of 2016, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue were a supporting act for Hall & Oates.[30]

In 2017, Trombone Shorty was the opening act for Red Hot Chili Peppers on the North American leg of their 2017 The Getaway World Tour.[31]

In February 2017, Trombone Shorty signed to Blue Note Records.[32] His Blue Note debut, Parking Lot Symphony, was released on April 28, 2017, the first day of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Influences

[edit]

Trombone Shorty cites his mentors as his brother James, Cyril Neville, Wynton Marsalis, Kermit Ruffins, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Allen Toussaint, and Lenny Kravitz.

Personal life

[edit]

Andrews has a teenage son, Hasaan "Too" Goffner, with Shalanda Goffner Adams.[33]

Philanthropy

[edit]

Trombone Shorty established the Horns For Schools Project in collaboration with New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, which helped schools across New Orleans receive quality instruments donated by Andrews personally.[34]

In December 2010, Andrews curated a two-night Red Hot+New Orleans benefit concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music to raise money for the New Orleans NO/AIDS Task Force.[35]

He has also established the Trombone Shorty Foundation. In December 2012, it partnered with Tulane University to create an after school academy to mentor high school musicians in the New Orleans area.[36][37]

Discography

[edit]

As leader

[edit]
  • Trombone Shorty's Swingin' Gate (Louisiana Red Hot, 2002)
  • The End of the Beginning (Tremé, 2005)
  • Orleans & Claiborne (Tremé, 2005)
  • Live at New Orleans Jazz Fest (MunckMix, 2004)
  • Jazzfest Live 2006 (MunckMix, 2006)
  • Live at Jazz Fest 2007 (MunckMix, 2008)
  • Live at Jazz Fest 2008 (MunckMix, 2008)
  • Backatown (Verve Forecast, 2010)
  • For True (Verve Forecast, 2011)
  • Say That to Say This (Verve, 2013)[38]
  • Parking Lot Symphony (Blue Note, 2017)
  • Lifted (Blue Note, 2022)[1]

With others

  • It's About Time, 2003 (as part of the Stooges Brass Band)
  • 12 & Shorty, Keep Swingin', 2004 (by James & Troy Andrews)
  • Trombone Shorty Meets Lionel Ferbos (by Trombone Shorty & Lionel Ferbos)

As sideman

[edit]

Filmography and TV appearances

[edit]

Awards and honors

[edit]

In early 2007, New Orleans music magazine Offbeat named Andrews Performer of the Year.[43] He also garnered honors as Best Contemporary Jazz Performer.[43]

In 2010, Trombone Shorty's album Backatown was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.[44][45]

On May 19, 2012, Andrews received the President's Medal from Tulane University President Scott Cowen at the university's Unified Commencement Ceremony at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, in recognition of his community service work with the Horns for Schools Project.[46]

In 2016, Andrews received the 21st Annual Heinz Awards in the Arts and Humanities category, valued at $250,000,[47] "for his achievements as a musician and for his community work to preserve and pass on to younger generations the rich musical heritage of his native New Orleans".[48]

Andrews' autobiography for young readers (titled Trombone Shorty), illustrated by Bryan Collier, was named as a 2016 Caldecott Honor Book. The award is given to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The book also garnered for Collier the Coretta Scott King Award[49] from the ALA's Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table.

In May 2018, Trombone Shorty won a Blues Music Award in the Blues Instrumentalist: Horn category.[50]

In 2022, Andrews won his first Grammy Award for his work on Jon Batiste's We Are as a featured artist.[51]

Books

[edit]
  • Andrews, Troy (2015). Trombone Shorty. illustrated by Bryan Collier. New York, NY: Abrams Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-1-4197-1465-8. OCLC 880349715.
  • Andrews, Troy; Taylor, Bill (2018). The 5 O'Clock Band. illustrated by Bryan Collier. New York, NY: Abrams Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9781419728365. OCLC 1000582995.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "New Orleans legend Trombone Shorty fuses funk, soul and 'dirty' blues rock on new album". WBUR-FM. May 6, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Sandmel, Ben. "Troy 'Trombone Shorty' Andrews". Tulane University.
  3. ^ a b c d Reckdahl, Katy (November 11, 2021). "Lois Nelson Andrews, cultural icon who helped revive baby dolls tradition, dies at 69". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.
  4. ^ "Lois Andrews, a mainstay of New Orleans music scene, dies". Associated Press. November 20, 2021.
  5. ^ "Jazz funeral planned for "Mother of Music" Lois Andrews". OffBeat. November 17, 2021.
  6. ^ "Glen David Andrews, renowned trombonist, pleads guilty to domestic violence incidents". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. November 15, 2012.
  7. ^ Fensterstock, Alison (May 5, 2015). "Travis 'Trumpet Black' Hill, rising New Orleans trumpeter, has died at 28". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.
  8. ^ SPERA, KEITH (June 29, 2017). "Now that his Trombone Shorty Academy has moved to Treme, Troy Andrews has come full circle". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.
  9. ^ "Susan Lovejoy Scott Obituary (2007) The Times-Picayune". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.
  10. ^ THIER, DAVID (September 2011). "Trombone Shorty: NOLA's Soul Man". Garden & Gun.
  11. ^ Morrow, Emily (September 1, 2020). "Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews". WICN.
  12. ^ Jackson, Dave (August 18, 2022). "A Little Slice of New Orleans". Jefferson Public Radio.
  13. ^ Sculley, Alan (July 13, 2023). "Catching up with Trombone Shorty before Vail performance". Vail Daily.
  14. ^ Niesel, Jeff (January 7, 2015). "Street Beats: The Stooges Brass Band Adroitly Mixes Hip-Hop and Jazz". Cleveland Scene.
  15. ^ Paumgarten, Nick (January 27, 2014). "Reunion". The New Yorker.
  16. ^ Greenberg, Rudi (August 15, 2018). "New Orleans' Trombone Shorty hits the road with the musicians who showed him the way". The Washington Post.
  17. ^ Nerl, Daryl (August 1, 2018). "Why Trombone Shorty, returning to Musikfest, 'will never forget' Bethlehem". The Morning Call.
  18. ^ Scott, Mike (October 6, 2015). "Trombone Shorty gives Warren Easton students something to dance about". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.
  19. ^ "IAJE What's Going On". Jazz Education Journal. 37 (5). Manhattan, Kansas: International Association of Jazz Educators: 87. April 2005. ISSN 1540-2886. ProQuest 1370090.
  20. ^ Make It Funky! (DVD). Culver City, California: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2005. ISBN 9781404991583. OCLC 61207781. 11952.
  21. ^ Gundersen, Edna (September 14, 2006). "U2 to play Superdome". USA Today.
  22. ^ "A musical Christmas miracle - All of America is buzzing". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. December 14, 2006.
  23. ^ "'GOIN' HOME: A TRIBUTE TO FATS DOMINO". Boston Herald. September 24, 2007.
  24. ^ "Trombone Shorty's Treme Sound". WBUR-FM. April 27, 2010.
  25. ^ RAWLS, ALEX (January 9, 2012). "Trombone Shorty's National Anthem". OffBeat.
  26. ^ "President Obama celebrates American music with "eclectic bunch"". CBS News. October 14, 2015.
  27. ^ "Trombone Shorty performs at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree in Washington". United Press International. December 3, 2015.
  28. ^ Keil, Jason (November 23, 2015). "Trombone Shorty Explains How Music Can Heal After a Tragedy". Phoenix New Times.
  29. ^ Thompson, Gayle (April 3, 2016). "Little Big Town Perform 'Stay All Night' With Trombone Shorty at 2016 ACM Awards". KLAW.
  30. ^ Carter, Geoff (September 28, 2016). "HALL & OATES, TROMBONE SHORTY AND SHARON JONES DELIVER A LOPSIDED EVENING OF ROCK AND SOUL". Las Vegas Weekly.
  31. ^ SPERA, KEITH (January 11, 2017). "Red Hot Chili Peppers and Trombone Shorty teamed up for big night in, and of, New Orleans". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.
  32. ^ "Trombone Shorty signs with Blue Note; new album out in April". Blue Note Records. February 1, 2017.
  33. ^ Cotton, Red (August 10, 2012). "Scenes from Satchmo SummerFest Second Line". The Advocate.
  34. ^ Rider, Loree (April 13, 2012). "Trombone Shorty fills tall order for jazz". The Gazette.
  35. ^ Parales, Jon (December 5, 2010). "Trombone Shorty brings New Orleans sounds to BAM". The New York Times.
  36. ^ Sparacello, Mary (December 10, 2012). "Trombone Shorty and Tulane to teach young musicians". Tulane University.
  37. ^ "Trombone Shorty To Partner With Tulane On New After School Music Program". OffBeat. December 12, 2012.
  38. ^ "Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews | Album Discography | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  39. ^ Performing on "Whole Lotta Lovin'" with Lenny Kravitz, the Rebirth Brass Band, Pee Wee Ellis, Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker.
  40. ^ "Cineramascope". Spotify.
  41. ^ Allman, Kevin (August 8, 2017). "Watch: Trombone Shorty performs "Here Come the Girls" on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert". The Advocate.
  42. ^ Oliver, M. (July 11, 2019). "FRENCH RAPPER NEKFEU CREATES ONE OF THE YEAR'S BEST HIP-HOP ALBUMS WITH LES ÉTOILES VAGABONDES". PopMatters.
  43. ^ a b Fensterstock, Alison (January 20, 2014). "Trombone Shorty was the big winner at Offbeat magazine's Best of the Beat awards". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.
  44. ^ "Trombone Shorty reacts to his first Grammy nomination". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. December 2, 2010.
  45. ^ "Grammy-Nominated Trombone Shorty Adds A Fifth Continent To "Backatown" World Tour". All About Jazz. December 10, 2010.
  46. ^ "Photos: Commencement moments". Tulane University. May 21, 2012.
  47. ^ Mandak, Joe (September 14, 2016). "'Trombone Shorty,' 4 others receive $250,000 Heinz Awards". Associated Press.
  48. ^ "The Heinz Awards: Troy Andrews". Heinz Awards.
  49. ^ Dreilinger, Danielle (January 11, 2016). "Trombone Shorty book wins two national awards". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.
  50. ^ "BREAKING: Blues Music Awards winners announced; Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo's 'TajMo' wins seven awards". Blues Foundation. May 11, 2018.
  51. ^ "Trombone Shorty". Grammy Award.
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