(Note: I hoped to get this review into Friday’s GO! Magazine, but we’ve run out of space, so I’m posting it here. It’s been a full week since the show, but better late than never. All photos by Ben.)
Words can’t convey the feeling that filled the Sisters High School auditorium March 16 when Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue came to town.
But I will try to put it into words for you, anyway. Or rather, a word: Joy.
Pure, unadulterated joy coursed through the auditorium for two solid hours on that Tuesday night, as Trombone Shorty, aka Troy Andrews, and his six-piece funksplosion of a band wrapped up the Sisters Folk Festival’s Winter Concert Series.
It was quite a sight watching the good people of Sisters and Central Oregon, ranging in age from 7 to 70, get down – deep, deep down – to the soulful urban sounds of Orleans Avenue. This was truly a melding of cultures, where a 24-year-old black man from a tough neighborhood in New Orleans can coax hundreds of white people from a rural New West town to wave their hands in the air like they just don’t care, and not one person in the room feels even a hint of self-consciousness.
This is what happens when a hyper-skilled and high-energy band throws down in front of an adoring audience – folks simply lose control of their body and mind. There was a sense of euphoria in Trombone Shorty’s crowd, and nowhere was it more obvious than on the faces of the young people who packed the open space between the stage and the first row of seats.
It was like watching inspiration – profound, core-reaching inspiration – happen in front of your eyes.
You see, Sisters High School has a fine music program, which includes an excellent jazz program, led by Jody Henderson. And earlier in the day, Andrews and his band had visited those students; the format of that meeting is a mystery to me, but you can bet it involved some talking, some playing and a lot of wowing.
And so, when Orleans Avenue launched into what sounded like the theme from “Shaft” but may have just been a standard funk riff, scores of those still-buzzing students stormed the stage to watch and listen and dance and learn.
The concert itself was great. Like, out-of-this-world great. With Andrews using a variety of non-verbal tactics to steer the ship, the band showcased its iron-fisted command of just about any style from the past several decades, bouncing from funk to rock to soul to jazz and beyond and back again. It was an impressive display from a group of guys that literally appeared to be teenagers.
Visually, this looked like 10th-grade jazz band’s spring concert in Anytown, U.S.A. But sonically, it was one seriously funky live jukebox.
As Orleans Avenue traveled through its set (which no doubt included originals I didn’t recognize) bits and pieces of the world’s best-known pop music floated in and out of the stream. There was The Guess Who’s “American Woman” for the rockers and Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” to keep it soulful, as well as The Isley Brothers’ “Shout” for the nostalgists and the Black Eyed Peas’ “Lets Get It Started” for fans of futuristic pop.
Andrews insisted the band “make it funky like James Brown,” and then they did. He led a tribute to his hometown wiith “When The Saints Go Marching In,” complete with a dead-on Louis Armstrong impression. He took a hat from a fan and perfecty executed Michael Jackson’s dance moves. That famous riff from the Violent Femmes’ “Blister In The Sun” even made an appearance.
All the while, Andrews switched between trombone and trumpet, showing off his prodigious skill on both horns. His band was tight, with individual players taking solos one by one, and otherwise acting as cogs in a finely tuned funk machine. Most importantly, Orleans Avenue appeared to be having fun, particularly a percussionist Andrews called “Big D” and a bassist he called “McLovin.” Both guys smiled so big and so much, I’d bet their faces were sore the next morning.
They weren’t the only ones. Toothy grins flashed across the auditorium, and up front was the scene most striking: Sisters students, some of them musical, and some of them interested in jazz, watching this band – this band of guys maybe three, five, seven years older than them – not only making their living making jazz and funk music, but making jazz and funk music sound totally awesome, modern and fun.
So yeah, the show was great. But the best part for me was watching the kids soak it all in. Who knows how many seeds were planted that night? How many dreams were visualized? How many careers in music were enkindled?
I don’t know how many, but if it’s one, that’s enough. And I suspect it’s a lot more than one.
Of couse, it’s never too early to plant a love of music. Near the end of the set, Andrews called for a second line, a tradition in Big Easy parades in which people follow the band. And then he stepped off stage, marched through the crowd up front, up one aisle, across the room, and then back down the other aisle and back up on stage.
I watched this from the steps Andrews eventually used to climb back on stage, so by the time he approached my location, there were dozens of people behind him, including two little girls, maybe 5 years old each, and their moms.
As Andrews climbed the stairs and turned back onto the stage, those little girls followed his footsteps, and stopped at stage right, giggling and dancing and watching the performance with an intensely gleeful look in their eyes.
It was a wonderful thing to see.
And maybe it’s just my own impending fatherhood talking, but the only thing I saw that night cooler than that look of glee in those girls’ eyes was the look of glee in their moms’ eyes as they watched their daughters absorb this overwhelming sensory experience.
EVERYBODY SCREAM!!!!
Great photos and review, Ben. Afterwards, in the lobby, the bass player said the Sisters crowd was one of the best on their current tour. Kudos to Brad Tisdel for bringing Shorty back to Central Oregon.
Nice review of the concert. Nice photos as well. You get credit for the words. The photographer deserves the same for his/her work.
You’re right, Jay. I meant to mention that I took the photos, too, but I forgot. I will add that to the post. Thanks!
Great review. I have much love for Troy and the bad. You made me tear up :)
Never seen you in concert. Heard you play, love it. Was wondering where you were discovered and what song did you play. Also wondering were can I get tickets.