Wednesdays at the Square #1: Trombone Shorty

The first of the free Wednesday evening concerts at Lafayette Square kicked off yesterday. with Trombone Shorty and his band Orleans Avenue. It was a cloudy, somewhat chilly and windy late afternoon, but no rain was forecast -- it wouldn't have mattered if it had rained, since the concerts go on rain or shine. I didn't get home from the church until 5:30 pm, so we had already missed the beginning of the opening act, and with the usual delays in getting started (plus a conversation about whether or not to take our dog Keely), we didn't get there until close to 6 pm.

We parked in the office building adjacent to the Square, a nice bargain at $5, and rode down the elevator to the street. The elevator was filled with people, and as we got in, a black man in the back of the car called out, "Hey, Trumpet Man!" and he and Big Man greeted each other. Turned out it was James Andrews, Troy's (Shorty's) older brother, coming to sit in on his lil bro's gig on his trumpet. Big Man and James have run into each other quite a bit on Frenchman Street, where Big Man will often run after his regular gig is over. We exchanged a few words with him as the elevator went down.

We had decided to give Keely her inaugural Wednesday at the Square and brought her leash and some treats, but perhaps if we had known exactly how crowded it was going to be, we might have rethought it. Wow! What a crowd! The announcer on stage thanked everyone for the "biggest first Wednesday we've ever had," and I could believe it. Keely was by no means the only dog there -- in fact, there were dogs of every possible description: teeny-tiny, middle-sized, lanky, stocky, shaggy, sleek, and giant. Keely was happy to sniff all the dogs who would let her (a few were too barky and snappy to be friendly) and in a few cases, rolled around on the ground with.

Before we had finished getting food and drinks (we both got the absolutely yummy duck po-boys with Creole cole slaw, but only Big Man got something to drink, since the alcohol lines were way too long), the charismatic young Mr. Andrews took the stage. And I do mean "took the stage" -- Trombone Shorty strides on like he owns the stage, confident, cocky even (although is it cocky if you really have the goods?), a far, far cry from the diffident, shy young man Big Man and I met at the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival in Wilmington, Delaware, in the months after Katrina. Touring with Lenny Kravitz has really given him stage presence, stage craft, and show-biz know-how. (And I say this with approval. Too many New Orleans musicians sniff at working a crowd, having a rapport with the audience, using stage craft of any kind. You can take the whole relating to the folks thing too far -- witness the antics of Jeremy Davenport, which drains the songs of all emotional impact -- but you can also be too stand-offish (Irvin Mayfield and Terence Blanchard, are you listening?). It seems to me that Shorty has the balance just right.

All of the musicians on stage with Troy were great. Big Man commented that the rhythm section were "locked into" each other, not only playing perfectly together, but even moving physically together. The two saxophonists were terrific too, and Shorty was doing a good job making sure each man had room to shine. Shorty started off the first part of the set on the 'bone, and he was breathtaking -- I mean, literally. Big Man and I found ourselves gasping at his skill, his artistry, his immense talent and musicality. At one point, someone in the crowd around us said, "I didn't know you could DO that on a trombone," and someone else replied, "Nobody else can." The way he did "American Woman" (a standard on the Lenny Kravitz set list) was just amazing. Troy called his brother on stage and James came out and did a great solo with the band.

While Keely had been a tremendous hit with the crowd -- especially among pretty young women and little kids -- between the loud music and the large number of people, she became anxious. She lay down, her ears back, and you could see she was trembling. Well, we couldn't stay where we were if Keely was in distress, so we took a walk around the Square. Big Man thought he'd get a sausage on a stick, but it was by now about 7 pm (the concerts are supposed to end at 7:30 pm) and the sausage man was sadly sold out. He told us he intended to have a larger stock next week. We headed over to another line of food booths, and Big Man dithered between the barbeque, the shrimp and grits, and the Cajun pasta. The pasta won, since it had the shortest line, but in the end, we were very happy with our choice, for the pasta was chock-full of sausage, chicken AND shrimp, and was spicy delicious besides.

Just around now, Shorty switched to his Monette trumpet and was blowing his head off. He went into an extremely cool version of "Let's Get It On" that really riled up the crowd (and me!). What a talent! Trombone, trumpet, vocals, stage presence -- Troy Andrews, AKA Trombone Shorty, has it all. We left completely satisfied (and perhaps resolving NOT to bring Miss Keely next week.)