Fri 9/2 @ 8PM
Trombone Shorty is a true child of New Orleans, deeply immersed in its unique musical culture. The 36-year-old musician, whose real name is Troy Andrews, was, like many young players who’ve broken out of the city, raised in a musical family in a neighborhood steeped in its unique musical traditions. He began playing the trombone, which gave him his nickname at the age of 4, although he now plays a host of other instruments as well. Soon after that Bo Diddley invited him to blow a few bars onstage with him at the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
By the time he was a teenager, music was his life. Since then, the list of artists he’s performed with and honors he’s won is too long to recount. He’s made eight studio albums as a band leader, including his new one, Lifted, on Blue Note, and now has his own Mardi Gras float and New Orleans music festival called Voodoo Threauxdown. Of course he’s a regular at the Jazz & Heritage Festival.
If you’re a fan of the accessible New Orleans style of jazz, you’ll want to catch him and his band Orleans Avenue at Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall. Go here for tickets.