Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue et Mavis Staples

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.

Mavis Staples began her career with her family group The Staple Sisters in 1950. Initially singing locally at churches and appearing on a weekly radio show, the Staples scored a hit in 1956 with 'Uncloudy Day' for the Vee-Jay label. In 1957 The Staple Singers took their music on the road led by family patriarch Roebuck "Pops" Staples on guitar and including vocals by Mavis and her siblings Cleotha, Yvonne, and Purvis.

They soon evolved from popular Gospel singers to become the most influential spirituality-based group in America. By the mid-1960s The Staple Singers, inspired by Roebuck's close friendship with Martin Luther King, Jr., became the spiritual and musical voices of the civil rights movement. The Staple Singers hit the Top 40 eight times between 1971 and 1975, including two No. 1 singles, 'I'll Take You There' and 'Let's Do It Again' and a No. 2 single 'Who Took the Merry Out of Christmas?'.

Mavis branched out from the group during their successful career to release solo recordings. Her first solo single while at Epic Records with The Staple Singers was 'Crying in the Chapel' which received moderate attention in the late 1960s. The single was later included in a collated album released in 1994 by Sony Music called 'Lost Soul'. Her first solo album came almost ten years later in 1969, she followed this self titled album in quick succession with 'Only for the Lonely' in 1970. A 1984 album (also self-titled) preceded two albums under the direction of rock star Prince; 1989's 'Time Waits for No One' and 1993's 'The Voice', which People magazine named one of the Top Ten Albums of 1993.