Musical Notes of interest in and around the Big Easy

26th May 2015   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

Trombone Shorty
By Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews
Illustrated by Bryan Collier
(Abrams Books for Young Readers)

“This is a story about music,” writes Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews in this warmly told, child-friendly autobiography that focus on his youth. Written in the first person, it’s as if Andrews, 29, now an accomplished and successful musician, is sitting on a stoop in his beloved Treme neighborhood relating in simple terms how and why he became one of this generation’s most renowned and respected artists.

Andrews’ sweet personality shines through as he tells about when as youngsters he and his friends would make their own instruments – a soda box for drums, pencils for drum sticks, a bicycle wheel to resemble a tuba – and march around the streets of their neighborhood. His dedication and passion for the music remains pronounced throughout the book as it obviously has throughout his life.

“I’m living proof that as long as you work hard, you can make your dreams take flight,” says Andrews encouragingly in the Author’s Notes and demonstrates that philosophy in the experiences he relates here.

The beautiful, highly detailed, sometimes abstract illustrations by Bryan Collier are truly works of art that can be enjoyed by young and old alike. New Orleanians and others familiar with the city will recognize certain locales in his insightful images. Congo Square’s circular stonework comes alive surrounded by drummers beating out rhythms in remembrance of the ancestors.

“I practiced day and night and sometimes I fell asleep with the trombone in my hands,” Andrews recollects in his story telling. On an adjacent page, Collier, whose works are created in water color and collage, captures the young Shorty in bed with his horn, his head on a plaid pillow with just a hint of a smile on his face. Yes, we can imagine this scene following a day second lining with his very influential, older brother trumpeter James Andrews, who Shorty remembers would just say, “FOLLOW ME.” (All capital letters are sometimes used for emphasis in the book.) It’s funny that Trombone Shorty used the exact same phrase, “FOLLOW ME,” when as a young kid he joined the legendary Bo Diddley on stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Diddley asked the youngster, “What do you want to play?” Shorty’s reply: “FOLLOW ME.”

Colorful, inspiring, musically and visually artistic, “Trombone Shorty” offers children a journey into the early musical life of Troy Andrews and his hometown of New Orleans. Or as Shorty puts it, “I like to say the city of New Orleans raised me.”

A portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to the non-profit Trombone Shorty Foundation.

Catch ‘Em While You Can

The New Orleans music festival season can get pretty intense not only for ardent attendees but also for this city’s musicians and residents. Favorite clubs and restaurants are often jammed with visitors trying to take in all that New Orleans has to offer.

While many eagerly look forward to the annual events, it’s also refreshing to have things get back to what folks here perceive as “normal.” That, of course, means there’s still a ton of great music to be heard minus the frenzy of the “season.”

Another aspect that makes this post-fest time of year appealing is that many musicians who will soon be out touring are still in town gigging. So it’s a catch ‘em while you can situation.

There’s still time to check out one of the best sets in the city with the Stanton Moore Trio on Tuesday, May 26, at Snug Harbor. Drummer Moore, whose accomplices in this group are pianist David Torkanowsky (the “Instigator) and bassist James Singleton, will be heading out for several weeks with the jammin’ funky group Galactic. The all-star trio will return to Snug for its regular Tuesday night series on June 16.

Though nationally, Moore is more highly recognized for groovin’ hard with Galactic, he’s no stranger to the jazz world. He studied with drum master Johnny Vidacovich when he was still a teenager. “I realized that if I focused on jazz it would make me a better drummer in general,” Moore once explained. “I figured it would make me a better funk drummer, a better rock drummer and then I began to fall in love with jazz as well.”

The level of musicianship in the group is just one aspect that makes these weekly sets special. It greatly contributes to the way the music evolves – a song like Singleton’s wonderful “Lauren Z” may start out familiarly then take off in a seemingly entirely different direction only to come “home” again. Last week, trumpeter Eric Benny Bloom, a member of the group Lettuce and now a New Orleans resident, sat in with the trio and pumped up this and other tunes. He looked on in awe of the brilliant Torkanowsky who often instigates the changes of rhythm, mood and tone.

Dig that the trio often digs into the hometown songbooks of artists like drummer James Black, pianists Ellis Marsalis and Michael Pellera and guitarist Steve Masakowski.

Also in the catch ‘em when you can category is the Dirty Dozen Brass Band that makes a rather rare New Orleans club date at the d.b.a. on Saturday, May 30. This group, which absolutely revolutionized the brass band sound by incorporating modern jazz, funk and rhythm and blues, formed an amazing 38 years ago. Filled with talented veterans including the frontline with the big bari of Roger Lewis alongside tenor man Kevin Harris and trumpeters Efrem Towns and Gregory Davis, the Dozen constantly kicks it across the country. Hey, and what other brass bands can say they recorded with the late great trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. Check out their work together on “Ooh-Pop-A-Dah.”

This article originally published in the May 25, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.