The best new R&B/Jazz artist and band I have heard in many a year is Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue! Just heard them at the Hardly Strictly Blue Grass Festival in SF and their funky-jazzy-rock combo of trombones, trumpet, guitars, and drum section blew me away live...not to mention the terrific voice and songs of Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews! Outstanding! Just bought his latest album Backatown with all the songs he played at the festival, including contributions from Marc Broussard, Lenny Kravitz, and Allen Touissant. A terrific album IMO although it cannot equal the sound and excitement of seeing and hearing Andrews & Orleans Avenue live in concert. Don't miss them live and get Trombone Shorty's album! Two thumbs up! May be not new to some of you but new to me!

Here is a short bio on Trombone Shorty:

Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews (born January 2, 1986) is a trombone and trumpet player from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.

Troy Andrews is the younger brother of trumpeter and bandleader James Andrews and the grandson of singer and songwriter Jessie Hill. Growing up in New Orleans' Treme neighborhood, "Trombone Shorty" was participating in brass band parades as a child, carrying his trombone even before his arms were long enough to reach all the positions of the slide. Andrews was a bandleader by the age of 6. Originally attracting attention for his youth, by his teens he was attracting attention for his musical virtuosity as well.

New Orleans Jazz & Heritiage Festival, 1991: "Carlsberg Brass Band" from Denmark with young "Trombone Shorty" Troy Andrews on trombone.

He attended the prestigious New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA). And as a graduate he joined the ranks of others like Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., Irvin Mayfield and Nicholas Payton.

In 2005, he was a featured member of Lenny Kravitz's horn section for a world tour that shared billing with acts such as Aerosmith.

Six weeks after the levees failed in New Orleans on August 29, 2005, some of the city's greatest musicians came to Austin, Texas, to record a benefit CD called Sing Me Back Home at Wire Studios with producers Leo Sacks and Ray Bardani. With their lives in storm-tossed transition, the all-star collective was christened The New Orleans Social Club. Andrews was the featured guest on "Hey Troy, Your Mama's Calling You," a tribute to "Hey Leroy, Your Mama's Calling You" which was a Latin-jazz-soul hit for the Jimmy Castor Bunch on Smash Records in 1966. Andrews also performed on "Where Y'At" as part of The Sixth Ward All-Star Brass Band Revue featuring Charles Neville of the Neville Brothers.

In London, during the summer of 2006, Andrews began working with producer Bob Ezrin and U2 at Abbey Road Studios. This association led to Andrews performing with U2 and Green Day during the re-opening of the New Orleans Superdome for the NFL’s Monday Night Football pre-game show.

To wrap up 2006, Andrews appeared on the NBC television series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Leading a group of New Orleans musicians, he performed the holiday classic "O Holy Night" which drew such an enthusiastic response from viewers that NBC released the single for free download on their web site.

Kicking off 2007, New Orleans’ premier music magazine, Offbeat, named Andrews their Performer of the Year. He also garnered honors as Best Contemporary Jazz Performer.

As of 2009^[update], his current project is Orleans Avenue, a funk/pop/hip-hop mix including musicians Mike Ballard on bass, Dan Oestreicher on baritone sax, Clarence "Trixzéy" Slaughter on tenor sax, Pete Murano on guitar, Joey Peebles on drums, and Dwayne "Big D" Williams on percussion.

Appeared in four episodes of the 2010 HBO series Treme.

(source: Wikipedia)

[Edited 10/2/10 22:06pm]

They've been killin' it at a lot of festivals over the last year, which is definitely going to help get their name out to a lot wider audience. Shorty has participated in the sessions for Lenny's new album, too. Not sure if that stuff will make the album yet or not. I'm guessing it will, though.

Cerebus said:

They've been killin' it at a lot of festivals over the last year, which is definitely going to help get their name out to a lot wider audience. Shorty has participated in the sessions for Lenny's new album, too. Not sure if that stuff will make the album yet or not. I'm guessing it will, though.

I just discovered Shorty today and I am now a big fan! His album is terrific--listening to it for the second time. The guy has it all--good looks, a terrific voice, can blow the hell out of a trumpet and trombone and collect a great crew of musicians to accompany him. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue totally killed it in the Golden Gate Park this morning and had the crowd up, dancing, and jamming. Can't say enough about them--mark me down as a big fan now! I hope Shorty's stuff gets on the new Lenny album. Great new young talent IMO!

[Edited 10/2/10 23:52pm]

Shorty's Schedule on his website, for those interested, at www.tromboneshorty.com:

10/2/2010 San Francisco CA
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival

10/3/2010 Gretna LA
Gretna Heritage Festival

10/8/2010 New Orleans LA
Tulane University - The Quad

10/9/2010 Austin TX
Stubb's

10/10/2010 Austin TX
Austin City Limits Festival

10/12/2010 Nancy FRANCE
Nancy Jazz Pulsations
(John Butler trio)

10/13/2010 Paris FRANCE
New Morning

10/15/2010 Bournemouth ENGLAND
Bournemouth International Centre (BIC)
(Jeff Beck)

10/16/2010 Brighton ENGLAND
Brighton Centre
(Jeff Beck)

10/17/2010 Birmingham ENGLAND
Birmingham Symphony Hall
(Jeff Beck)

10/18/2010 Zurich SWITZERLAND
Moods

10/19/2010 Preston ENGLAND
Preston Guildhall
(Jeff Beck)

10/20/2010 Glasgow SCOTLAND
Glasgow Clyde Auditorium
(Jeff Beck)

10/21/2010 London ENGLAND
Jazz Cafe
( DJ)

10/22/2010 Vienna AUSTRIA
Porgy & Bess
(DJ)

10/23/2010 Bratislava SLOVAKIA
Bratislava Jazz Days

10/24/2010 Cologne GERMANY
Stadtgarten

10/25/2010 Hamburg GERMANY
Knust

10/26/2010 Berlin GERMANY
Festsaal

10/27/2010 Heidelberg GERMANY
Enjoy Jazz at Karlstorbahnhof

10/28/2010 Munich GERMANY
Ampere

10/30/2010 New Orleans LA
Tipitina's
(Bonerama)

10/31/2010 New Orleans LA
Voodoo Fest

11/4/2010 Orlando FL
The Plaza Theater
(Bird Word)

11/5/2010 Ft. Lauderdale FL
Culture Room
(Fusik, Ketchy Shuby)

11/6/2010 Sarasota FL
Sarasota Blues Festival

11/12/2010 Cleveland OH
House of Blues
(Rebirth Brass Band)

11/13/2010 Middletown OH
Miami University / Middletown Campus

11/16/2010 Atlanta GA
Philips Arena
(Dave Matthews Band)

11/17/2010 Charleston SC
North Charleston Coliseum
(Dave Matthews Band)

11/19/2010 Charlottesville VA
John Paul Jones Arena
(Dave Matthews Band)

11/20/2010 Charlottesville VA
John Paul Jones Arena
(Dave Matthews Band)

12/13/2010 Tokyo JAPAN JUST ADDED !!
Club Quattro

12/14/2010 Osaka JAPAN JUST ADDED !!
Club Quattro

12/27/2010 New Orleans LA
(Private Event)

12/30/2010 Baltimore MD JUST ADDED !!
Rams Head Live

12/31/2010 Philadelphia PA
World Cafe Live

1/1/2011 Baltimore MD JUST ADDED !!
9:30 Club

1/3/2011 New Orleans LA
(Private Event)

2/3/2011 Stevens Point WI
University of Wisconsin - Sentry Theater

2/4/2010 Platteville WI
University of Wisconsin -...ncert Hall

2/5/2011 Columbia MO
University of Missouri - ...Auditorium

4/1/2011 Institute WV
Davis Fine Arts Theatre

4/10/2011 St. Petersburg FL JUST ADDED !!
Tampa Bay Blues Festival

5/4/2011 New Orleans LA JUST ADDED !!
(Private Event)