Foot Stomping, Hip Shaking

by Ruby LaBrusciano-Carris

     If you weren’t at Higher Ground with me, Trombone Shorty, and a couple hundred other dancing people last Tuesday night, my sympathies honestly go out to you. On a drizzly, thirty-nine degree Tuesday in mid-January it would usually be pretty hard to get my spirits up, but the amazing trombonist and his fabulous band Orleans Avenue could have done it with just one song. Although not everyone might jump at the sound of a funky New Orleans jazz band coming to town, I guarantee that it is impossible to keep your feet still or your head down when these guys hit the stage.

tromboneshort

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue broke onto the big-stage music scene in 2011 with their hit album “For True”, during the release of which he toured through Vermont at Burlington’s Discover Jazz Festival. In early 2013 they came out with “Say That to Say This”, which rocketed their fame to even broader crowds, and since then have been getting people groovy on stages all over the world. The band’s sound is entrenched in classic New Orleans roots, but as they’ve worked together for longer and expanded their repertoire, their style has also grown to encompass nuances of rock, funk, soul, and hip-hop. The recorded albums are great at capturing their essential sound, but in the freedom of a live performance it is much easier to hear the broad range of their eclectic style.

This particular performance was a perfect example of that, even covering Green Day at one point, and it was easy to tell that the whole band was feeling pretty comfortable in the cozy Higher Ground Ballroom. Each band member got the chance to do some kind of solo, all of which were intense and high-spirited, even verging into a far out experimental realm, but always coming back to the bouncing and brassy New Orleans thread. Trombone Shorty carried the band as the lead of course, not only in a musical sense but also as a performer. His enthusiasm and charisma was contagious, and those of us who’d managed to push through the sold-out house to the front lines were bouncing and bopping with tangibly excited energy.

Although the most active audience in front tended to be younger people, the overwhelming demographic was surprisingly middle-aged, which, instead of making for a stiff atmosphere, actually felt very positive and fun, and the multi-generational nature of the crowd also made it obvious that the band’s music was interesting and versatile enough to be enjoyed by many different kinds of people. There were no negative vibes to be felt in the crowd, despite all kinds of horrible driving and miserable weather, we had all made it there for a good night no matter what the conditions, and Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue definitely didn’t let us down.

For those of you who didn’t get a chance to see Trombone Shorty, his tour schedule says that he will still be in Killington, VT the night of the 15th, and then in Boston, MA on the 18th before heading the tour out west for a while. He usually comes through the area at least once, if not more, during the year, and has frequented the Discover Jazz Festival as well as made an appearance at Grace Potter’s Grand Point North Festival in 2013, so it is not unlikely that he will be around again soon. You can find the rest of his tour information at tromboneshorty.com/tour, but if you can’t make it to a concert, be sure to download a few songs to get rid of those winter blues. Happy listening!

Trombone Shorty: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert