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From a very young age, Troy Andrews has experienced very good fate when it comes to his musicianship. He was a member of the Stooges Brass Band during his teenage years before being chosen as a member of Lenny Kravitz's horn section. This opportunity took the musician around the world, sharing bills with incredible artists such as Aerosmith. Whilst in the summer of 2006, Andrews went to London and began working with producer Bob Ezrin and U2 at Abbey Road Studios. Due to these connections, Andrews was invited to perform with U2 and Green Day during the re-opening of the New Orleans Superdome.
In 2007 he appeared on the album 'Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino' and that year Offbeat named Andrews their Performer of the Year. After accumulating a number of successes whilst releasing his own solo material, Troy then released 'Backatown' in 2010 and it debuted atop the US Contemporary Jazz Chart and held the position for nine consecutive weeks. He toured extensively worldwide with Orleans Avenue after the release and appeared on prolific US shows including Conan, Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
The next album 'For True' featured appearances from tour mates and associated musicians from over the years including Rebirth Brass Band, Jeff Beck, Warren Haynes and a return from Lenny Kravitz. His latest album 'Say That to Say This' was released in 2013 on the Verve Forecast Records label.
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.