New Orleans native Trombone Shorty is the bandleader and frontman of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, a hard-edged funk band that employs hip-hop beats, rock dynamics and improvisation in a jazz tradition. Together, Trombone Shorty and his band have toured the U.S. and Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, Russia and Brazil. Trombone Shorty began his career as a bandleader at the tender age of six, and toured internationally for the first time at age 12 before joining Lenny Kravitz’ horn section at the age of 19 for a 105-date world tour in 2005-2006.
His third outing for Verve Records, “Say That To Say This,” co-produced by Shorty and R&B titan Raphael Saadiq, was released in September 2013. In 2010, Trombone Shorty released the Grammy-nominated “Backatown,” followed in 2011 by “For True,” which topped Billboard Magazine’s Contemporary Jazz Chart for 12 weeks.
In January 2014 Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue performed on the 56th Annual Grammy Awards with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Mary Lambert, Madonna and Queen Latifah, and the band has made guest appearances on Conan, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Arsenio, and Austin City Limits. Shorty also played himself in a recurring role on the hit HBO series “Treme.”
In 2012, he performed at the White House in honor of Black History Month with music royalty such as B.B. King, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck, Booker T. Jones, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, and Gary Clark Jr. Later that same year he received the President’s Medal from Tulane University in recognition of his charitable work with his own Trombone Shorty Foundation.
Good things continue to happen for Trombone Shorty, thanks to his virtuosity, his dedication, and his ability to move people. That he pursues his passion with such humility and unpretentiousness makes his still-unfolding story as compelling as the music he’s making along the way.
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue & Galactic will play at the South Side Ballroom in Dallas on Sat. Dec. 19th.
For more information, go to www.tromboneshorty.com
