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Show review: Trombone Shorty at ACL Live Thursday
Troy Andrews brazenly disregards well-established genre boundaries. As Trombone Shorty, he and his band Orleans Avenue did one set of mostly Latin-influenced tunes at ACL Live Thursday night. After a set break and instrument switch-out, they got into funk, jumping New Orleans jazz, rock, a few bars of ska and a tease of Jimi Hendrix. No respect for borders, I tell you, and the best time you could possibly have had Thursday night. This is what the term “joyful noise is meant to describe.”
Shorty calls the band’s signature blend “supafunkrock,” and rock they most certainly did. Their songs have tricky changes and some offer plenty of solo space, but the band never strayed. Shorty has a more than just-OK bandleader’s voice and a load of natural charisma, but the real fun comes when he’s stretching out on trombone or trumpet, both of which he plays with a cocky but winning vigor.
They slowed down now and then but never lost steam. Shorty himself managed to hold a couple of notes for what must have been two full minutes through circular breathing and somehow didn’t pass out. “Get Your Groove On” was the nod to ska and rock steady. They also ripped through Ray Charles’ “I Got a Woman” in a way that surely would have made the old man grin. Before the show Shorty (or someone with his Twitter account) tweeted: “Time for soundcheck! Ready to burn this place down feeling good!!!!” And so they did.
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By norm
February 17, 2012 3:02 PM | Link to this
Shorty and the guys killed last night! Now that JB is no longer with us, Shorty has gotta be the hippest man on the planet!
By Matt
February 17, 2012 6:01 PM | Link to this
Two sets? We’re we at the same show? Did you confuse the opener, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, for Orleans Ave.?
Some of this is spot on, but I think you need to check your notes.
By Norman Pear
February 20, 2012 2:32 PM | Link to this
The theme of this review seems to be that Trombone Shorty encompasses many different genres. The writer goes on to list some of the songs from other genres he played during the course of the evening… but somehow fails to mention the Red Hot Chili Peppers song. That and the fact the he thought they took a set break when they didn’t (or did he mix up Dirty Dozen with Orleans Ave.?) makes me think this guy might want to consider a different career and the Statesman should fact-check every article in produces.