Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and Dumpstaphunk

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue are a fantastic jazz and funk band from New Orleans, they incorporate elaborately-long rock-inspired riffs, the odd hip-hop beat and funky guitar strumming into the mix, but the star attraction is the trombone and the trumpet and rightly so. Trombone Short or Troy Andrews has been playing the trombone since he was six The bassist exuded an uncontainable amount of confidence, like it was child’s play to be hitting all those notes in that particular order. But it wasn’t child’s play, it looked difficult and sounded brilliant. And it was the same with the drummer and guitarist, they were all brilliant, playing complex rhythms and absolutely loving it, the drummer in particular didn’t lose his smile for the entire set, he was sourcing his energy from Trombone Shorty in the middle, as was I.
There was a really intense moment when Troy held a single note for an insane amount of time. Minutes. Literally minutes. Three minutes, four minutes he was holding this note for, something called circular breathing, he must have been breathing in through his nose because he kept puffing his cheeks out like in a cartoon and no one has that much breath, the audience went from being impressed to outright flabbergasted, it was remarkable. It was a lively, enjoyable and danceable occasion, and I’ll take every opportunity to catch them again.

It’s cool. Too cool. It’s funk. Dumpstaphunk hails from none other than New Orleans aka NOLA, the birthplace of jazz music. The group is comprised of cousins Ivan and Ian Neville who play keyboard and guitar respectively, along with Tony Hall and Nick Daniel III whose bass guitars put the funk in Dumpstaphunk. They even had a chick drummer (heck yeah!) Nikki Glaspie who played with the group for a period of time. Watching her live, drumming and ad-libbing to “Vivrant Thing” makes me want to fist pump the air multiple times. Listening to any of Dumpstaphunk’s three studio albums will bring you to a balmy night in Louisiana, snacking on a beignet or reaching for a cold beer to enjoy while bobbing your head to the groovy beats.
These people have so much soul and so much talent, it is impossible to just sit there and enjoy their music..you have to stand up and dance! I particularly love “Dancin’ To The Truth.” Enough said. With or without lyrics, Dumpstaphunk’s music is enticing, playful, and just plain good for the soul.