Glen David Andrews
Troy “ Trombone Shorty ” Andrews is something different . A youngster in this musical dynasty , he plays a furious rock and funk brand of New Orleans brass twisted into something wholly new . In the years since Hurricane Katrina , he ’ s become the voice of a city determined to prove itself more than a tourist destination for party animals .
Shorty grew up in Tremé , the New Orleans neighborhood that produced icons like Tuba Fats and Kermit Ruffins as well as countless brass bands . “ As a kid , I would wake up and there ’ d be a jazz funeral while I ’ m walking to school ,” Andrews says . “ And when I come home you can find Rebirth
band playing for a birthday party the same day .”
When he returns home now , he ’ s the hometown boy that everyone knew would hit the big time . The second-youngest of six kids , his toys were the musical instruments in his home . His brother , Buster , remembers that Wynton Marsalis showed him a few lines when he was in a stroller blowing on a plastic saxophone . Many of his cousins played in brass bands , a practice common as playing baseball in his neighborhood .
Sixteen years older than Troy , James served as a father figure , musically and otherwise . “ Before he could walk , I had him on my back in the French
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