Date: 13. Juli 2012
Stage Time: 11.00 pm
Since the release of their Grammy®-nominated 2010 debut album, Backatown, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue have grown creatively while winning hordes of new fans performing non-stop on five continents. Their new album, For True (Sept. 13 on Verve Forecast), offers substantive proof of their explosive growth, further refining the signature sound Troy „Trombone Shorty“ Andrews has dubbed „Supafunkrock.“
„There was excitement from everywhere,“ says Andrews (who’s now 25) of the experience on the road and how it fed into the creation of For True. „We did over 200 shows in the last year and a half, and every night we allowed the music to take us over. Musically and creatively, we wanted to shoot for some different things.“
The band – Mike Ballard on bass, Pete Murano on guitar, Joey Peebles on drums, Dwayne Williams on percussion, Dan Oestreicher on baritone sax and Tim McFatter on tenor sax – stirs together old-school New Orleans jazz, funk and soul, laced with hard-rock power chords and hip-hop beats, and they’ve added some tangy new ingredients on For True as they keep pushing the envelope, exploring new musical territory
[aside title=“Shorty about Shorty:“]“We never sat down and really thought about concepts and what we wanted our music to sound like,“ Andrews explains. „It’s just that, over the years, we allowed each one of the band members to bring their influences and taste in music into our music. Anything we hear or are influenced by, it naturally comes out in what we’re trying to do. It’s just our sound, and it happened naturally.“[/aside]
Andrews wrote or co-wrote all 14 tracks on the new album, including collaborating with the legendary Lamont Dozier on „Encore,“ while this time playing as much trumpet as trombone, as well as organ, drums, piano, keys, synth bass and percussion. Indeed, he played every part on the swaying, Latin-tinged „Unc.“ He’s also come into his own as a singer, honoring the hallowed legacy of the great soul men of the 1960s and ’70s. Like its predecessor, the new album turns on a rare combination of virtuosity and high-energy, party-down intensity.
Among the special guests are long-time NOLA cohorts like Ivan and Cyril Neville (who bring their trademark sound to „Nervis“); Galactic’s Ben Ellman, reprising his producer’s role on Backatown (percussion on opener „Buckjump,“ harmonica on „Big 12“) and Stanton Moore (drumming on „Lagniappe Part 1“ and „Part 2“); bounce rapper 5th Ward Weebie and the Rebirth Brass Band (who team up on „Buckjump“) and Troy’s long-time friend Charles Smith (who adds percussion to the same track).
„On the last record, we just basically did it with my band,“ Andrews points out, „but we’ve got a lot of New Orleans people on this new record – the music just called for it. The Rebirth Brass Band, these are all people that helped me grow in my career and teach me different things. And 5th Ward Weebie, who’s one of the lead voices in the bounce community, we’re like brothers. I’m excited to have those people on there, because they bring a taste of where I come from and where I’m going.“
The album also bears the fruit of more recent relationships Lenny Kravitz (who plays bass on „Roses“), has the longest-standing bond with Andrews, discovering the then-teenage prodigy in 2005 and taking him on tour with his band. Calling Andrews „a genius player,“ Kravitz says, „He’s got nothing but personality, he plays his ass off and he’s a beautiful human being.“ Kid Rock (whose vocal is featured on „Mrs. Orleans“) came out to see Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue at an outdoor show early this year in NOLA, and a month later Troy joined the star onstage at Jazz Fest. Andrews played with Warren Haynes (whose eruptive solo further heats up „Encore“) at his annual benefit and again at the guitarist’s Mahalia Jackson Theatre all-star event during this year’s Jazz Fest. Ledisi (who sings on „Then There Was You“), met Troy at the 2010 Grammys, later came out to see him in New Orleans and was later featured in a segment for the landmark „Red Hot + New Orleans“ at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, for which Andrews served as musical director.
His relationship with Jeff Beck (check out his blistering solo on „Do to Me“) has blossomed since the guitar legend came to Troy’s late-night post-Jazz Fest show at Tipitina’s in 2010. „I was completely blown away,“ Beck said of his Tip’s epiphany in Mojo magazine’s „The Best Thing I’ve Heard All Year“ special feature in January. „The crowd went wild. Troy and his band have just supported me on some U.K. dates. A sensational group of musicians. Trombone Shorty is one to watch.“ That led Beck to ask Andrews to play on Jeff Beck’s „Rock ‚N‘ Roll Party Honoring Les Paul,“ and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue joined Beck for his U.K. tour last fall.
For a short Preview of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue just click the Picture!
For more information on Trombone Shorty visit: www.tromboneshorty.com
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