Ain't no party like a Trombone Shorty party. Especially in the rain.
One of New Orleans' hottest new music stars, Troy Andrews (Mr. Shorty, age 25) didn't even acknowledge the rain that pestered concertgoers all night for his second annual Minnesota Zoo appearance on Wednesday night. His impassivity to the weather seemed to rub off on the near-capacity crowd, too. The zoo amphitheater always makes for a great place to see Louisiana acts, with its swampy backdrop and naturally festive vibe. Minnesotans who've been to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival -- which has more or less been Andrews' launching pad -- might have even felt a little extra spark from wearing the ponchos and wet shoes to the show, since that usually seems to be the attire to wear to at least one day of Jazz Fest.
Rain, shine or hurricane, Andrews is an unstoppable showman. He and his young but masterful six-piece party band, Orleans Avenue, started off the nearly two-hour set by tearing through some of the more playful, punchy numbers off last year's Grammy-nominated album "Backatown," including "Suburbia," "Hurricane Season" and their especially lively rendition of Allen Touissant's "On Your Way Down." The band stretched out midway through the show during "In the 6th" and a couple other jams. Andrews & Co. are great at rapidly tag-teaming on the soloing front and keeping it fun -- i.e., not letting one man overdo it on the conga or bass saxophone solo. A jam band for non-jam-band fans.
The show's centerpiece was their update of Louis Armstrong's "Sunny Side of the Street," during which Andrews showed off his circle-blowing skills and played the same note non-stop for several minutes. That was just the start of his most showy antics, as he also channeled James Brown through a funk/R&B medley toward the end of the set, right down to JB's microphone-stand-dropping bits. Not once did Andrews let the crowd drop back down to the seats. Granted, those seats were soaked, but that clearly wasn't why.
