Trombone Shorty

It’s time for everyone’s favorite – a reverse Musical Tree! Rather than focusing on an artist who has had a major influence on artists and music in general, I am featuring a current artist influenced by classic artists. I call this a reverse musical tree.

Troy Andrews, known as Trombone Shorty, is regarded today as the leader in modern jazz. Born in New Orleans on January 2, 1986, Troy was born into a musical family. Troy started playing at such a young age that he was playing professionally by the age of five, having mastered trombone, trumpet, and drums! He eventually chose the trombone and began performing under the name Trombone Shorty, supposedly bestowed upon him by one of the Neville Brothers. 

His playing was so advanced that by the age of eight a club in New Orleans’ Treme’ district – where he was born and raised – named a club after him, called Trombone Shorts! By the age of six he was a bandleader! He would get paid after gigs and then turn around and pay the members of his band, most of them 2-3 times older than he was. He had a hard time getting booked for shows because he was so young that bar owners didn’t want to get in trouble for having underage talent on stage. When they would go on the road only one or two band members were old enough to rent a car. 

By the time he was a teenager he was a member of the prestigious New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, a musical program that lists as its graduates Harry Connick Jr., Nicholas Payton, and Wynton and Branford Marsalis. In 2002 he released his first album titled ‘Trombone Shorty’s Swingin Gate’ and in 2003 was one of five young musicians featured on a PBS program highlighting young musicians. He also performed on the PBS network’s nationally broadcast tribute to Louis Armstrong, who Troy Andrews lists as one of his major influences. In fact, Troy’s inspiration for picking up the trombone came from his family’s love of Louis Armstrong. Troy’s older brother played the trumpet and Troy noticed that Armstrong always had a trombone player at his side. His family had a shortage of trombone players, and the rest, as they like to say, was history! Here is a video of that tribute performance to Louis Armstrong with a then 14 (!) year old Trombone Shorty playing the trumpet rather than the trombone!

From there Trombone Shorty’s career had only had one direction, and that was up, up, and away! In 2006 he performed with U2 and Green Day at the reopening of the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina, and by 2010, with his band Orleans Avenue fully in place, he released the album ‘Backatown’, which went straight to number one on Billboard magazine’s Contemporary Jazz Chart and stayed there for an incredible nine weeks! Andrews not only played trombone on the album, but also played trumpet, keyboards, drums, and sang as well. A number of songs pay homage to his New Orleans roots, including the song ‘In The 6^th’.

While I could go on and on about Trombone Shorty, his influences are very interesting. We’ve already mentioned the great Louis Armstrong, who was a very early influence on Troy and his family. Two bands that Trombone Shorty lists as influences are the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Rebirth Brass Band. He saw both of those bands play as a child and has said that he tried to copy how they played. 

Trombone Shorty has also studied the way various artists performed on stage and has worked that into his live performances. One of the first big gigs he landed after high school was playing in Lenny Kravitz’s band. He lists Kravitz as being a huge influence on how he approached playing live. Two other artists that he claims have had a big influence on his stage performance are a little more surprising. To help him hone his on-stage moves, he studied both James Brown and Michael Jackson because, as he put it, to make sure his live show isn’t just about him “playing horns”.

Trombone Shorty has played at the White House for President Obama, and played with Eric Clapton and B.B. King to name just a few. He has started the Trombone Shorty Foundation whose mission is to preserve and perpetuate the musical culture of New Orleans by passing down musical traditions to future generations. For an artist still relatively young, it is amazing that he is already thinking about preserving the musical heritage that inspired him. He is a fixture at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. A few years ago, in what can be referred to as the passing of the torch, the Neville Brothers, who for years had occupied the final time slot on the main stage on the festival’s last day, stepped aside and handed that honor to Trombone Shorty, one that I expect he will occupy for years to come.

Speaking of Jazz Fest, I’d like to leave you with this story of Trombone Shorty’s first Jazz Fest and one of his influences, Bo Diddley. When Troy was very young his mom surprised him with tickets to Jazz Fest. She took him to see Bo Diddley, who his mom said was one of the most important musicians of all time. Of course, he had his trombone with him and started playing along with Bo Diddley from in front of the stage. Bo Diddley stopped his band and asked “Who’s that playing that out there?” People in the crowd started pointing but no one could see him because he was so small. His mom held him up in the air and said “That’s my son, Trombone Shorty!”. “Well, Trombone Shorty, come on up here!” Bo Diddley replied, and little Trombone Shorty performed a song on stage with Bo Diddley at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. 

I have been fortunate to see Trombone Shorty in concert. His live performances are electric – full of energy and incredibly entertaining. That’s amazing considering that the lead instrument in the band is a trombone! While this reverse Musical Tree on Trombone Shorty has been fun, I have no doubt that in a few years I will be writing a regular Musical Tree about all of the musicians that Trombone Shorty has in turn influenced. 

I hope you enjoyed this week’s Reverse Musical Tree. Feel free to leave suggestions for future articles in the comments. Don’t forget to subscribe to be notified via email when there is a new post. 

And you can now follow Tekesmusings.com on your social media of choice by clicking on the links at the bottom of the page! Until then, follow your passion, stay happy, and be thankful for whatever inspires you.