Each wEEk, high school studEnts in thE trombonE shorty
acadEmy gathEr on thE tulanE campus to lEarn about thE
art and businEss of music, as wEll as lEssons on lifE.
by Mary Sparacello
it is a tuesday night in a band room on the tulane campus, and the air
is filled with the sounds of new orleans—that distinctive and enthusiastic rhythm that evokes second-line parades and encourages dancing.
the music is coming from a group of new orleans public high
school students playing a modern brass band song they composed.
titled “duck soup,” the song begins with two teenage boys on drums.
they are joined by two more teenagers on sousaphones, then at
bandleader donald harrison Jr.’s prompt, by young musicians playing
the piano and more horns.
the students are participating in the trombone shorty academy,
the brainchild of new orleans native and musical
prodigy troy “trombone shorty” andrews. one
evening a week after school, 20 students gain training in musical performance; another group attends
a weekly music business class.
launched in January 2013, the academy is a partnership of the trombone shorty foundation and the
new orleans center for the gulf south at tulane.
the trombone shorty academy’s mission is twofold:
mentoring underserved high school musicians who
are talented and motivated and perpetuating the
unique musical heritage of new orleans.
“a big part of what makes new orleans so special
is that we pass down our traditions,” andrews says.
“we take an active role in keeping it alive. that can only happen if we
make sure that the youth in our city understand it, where it comes from,
and why it matters. by passing the torch, the flame remains bright.”
one of the young performers who wants to carry that torch is
trumpeter revert powell. “i want to do this with my life,” says the
17-year-old, who has already played some gigs in french Quarter venues and performed on french Quarter streets with his brother and
fellow class member revon andrews. “but i don’t want to just stay
in new orleans. i want to be on a worldwide stage and play different
types of music. i want to take it a step farther, just like troy did.”
TANGIBLE EVIDENCE
the trombone shorty foundation grew from andrews’ horns for
schools project, in which he donated from his own line of quality musical instruments to schools across new orleans. the idea originated with
a pair of air Jordan shoes andrews remembers wearing in his youth.
when he donned the sneakers he felt transformed, he says. Just wearing something that
featured the name of basketball star michael
Musical Legacy
Jordan inspired him to play better ball. when
a trombone shorty
andrews grew up and was in a position to pay
academy student
blows his horn, taking it forward, he hoped the musical instruments
would have the same effect on young musicians.
lessons from some
“troy represents to a lot of people what the
of new orleans’ great
air Jordans represented to him,” says martha
musicians.
murphy, who is on the board of the trombone shorty foundation and
a longtime tulane supporter. “he’s tangible evidence that they can
succeed if they try.”
andrews hails from faubourg treme, considered the oldest black
neighborhood in america and the birthplace of jazz. he was brought
up in one of the city’s celebrated musical families and is the grandson of r&b legend Jessie hill, known for his hit “ooh poo pah doo.”
when andrews was 4 years old, he began playing in brass bands in
the streets and onstage with brother James andrews. his nickname
comes from those early days when his trombone towered over him.
by the time he was 18 years old, he was on tour
backing rock musician lenny kravitz.
andrews has collaborated with a wide variety
of musicians, such as kid rock, hip-hop artist mos
def and the country music singers the Zac brown
band. a highlight of his career was performing at
the white house in 2012. and last may, he and his
band, trombone shorty & orleans avenue, played
the prestigious closing set at the new orleans Jazz
and heritage festival, a slot previously held by the
neville brothers.
andrews’ vast musical connections benefit the
students in his academy. Zigaboo modeliste, drummer for the legendary new orleans funk band the
meters, put in a guest appearance at a class last year and led the young
musicians in a rousing rendition of the band’s hit, “cissy strut.”
“that was the most amazing experience,” says 17-year-old saxophonist Jasmine batiste. “he taught us to play it the original way.”
these days, 28-year-old andrews and his band thrill audiences
around the world. his touring schedule is packed, but he still considers new orleans home and spends his off-time in the city.
“as a young musician growing up in new orleans, a lot of people
looked after me, especially the older musicians,” says andrews. “they
taught me how to play, about the business side of making music, and
how to carry myself as an individual. without that support and guidance, i wouldn’t be where i am today. now that i’ve learned some things
and had some success with my own music, i wanted to do the same to
give back what was given to me. it’s what we do in new orleans.”
IMMEDIATE SYNERGY
andrews first became associated with tulane on may 19, 2012, when
president scott cowen awarded him with the president’s medal, in
recognition of his community service work with horns for schools.
the idea for partnering his fledging foundation with tulane came
from murphy, who also is on the tulane president’s council and chairs
the board of directors of the murphy institute at tulane, which was
established in 1980 by her father, the late charles h. murphy Jr.
murphy and andrews first met about a decade ago at one of his
shows at the new orleans nightclub, the blue nile, when he noticed
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that she appeared uncharacteristically glum.
“He came up to me on a break and said, ‘I’ve
Top: Music director
seen you for years in the audience and you’re
Donald Harrison Jr.
always smiling, but you’re not smiling today.
prompts students.
What’s wrong?’” When he got back on stage,
Middle: Talented horn
he invited her up to join him for a song. They
players improvise.
have been friends ever since, with Murphy
Bottom: A pianist
serving at different times as a mentor/unofjams in the Dixon
ficial adoptive mother. She describes Andrews
Hall band room.
as charismatic and one of the most gracious and
unassuming people she knows. “My life is so much richer because of
my association with Troy.”
The Trombone Shorty Foundation partnership with Tulane was a
natural fit, says foundation director Bill Taylor. “There was an immediate
synergy between where we wanted to go and what Tulane was already
doing,” he says.
“Tulane is committed to being a part of and supporting the community at large,” continues Taylor, adding that the collaboration benefits
Tulane students. “As a student coming to Tulane and being in New
Orleans, you do have this amazing opportunity to connect with and
be a part of one of the most unique cultures in the world. A big part of
that culture is the music.”
The draw of New Orleans music—and the opportunities at the
Trombone Shorty Academy to learn from master musicians—has
inspired George Wilde, a 2013 Tulane graduate and Chicago native, to
stay in New Orleans after graduation. He is now the academy’s assistant music director, but while he was still a college student, he interned
at the academy to fulfill the public service graduation requirement.
He plays guitar and manages psychedelic funk band Sexual Thunder!,
works part-time at Preservation Hall in the French Quarter and runs
NolaWilde, the music event-planning business he started while he
was a Tulane student.
ryan rivet
Tuesday Class
ryan rivet
ryan rivet
SPELLBOUND
Despite his heavy touring schedule, Andrews is involved in Trombone
Shorty Academy auditions and has taught a few classes, jamming with
the students and offering words of motivation.
“The more you learn, the more opportunities you’ll have down the
road to be successful,” he says, when asked what advice he has for aspiring musicians. “By building a musical foundation and increasing your
knowledge, doors will start opening up that you never even imagined.
Then one day you will be in a position to teach the next generation.”
Andrews has chosen successful artists to lead the music performance
and business academies in his stead.
Two-time Grammy Award-winning music engineer Chris Finney
helms the business institute, which gives up-and-coming musicians
instruction in everything from recording and marketing to event organization and production. Andrews admits that as he was growing up as
a musician, he sometimes learned business lessons the hard way. He
hopes the course will “make it easier on the next generation.”
Directing the music performance academy is Donald Harrison Jr., a
world-renowned musician and New Orleans cultural icon. Harrison, a
saxophonist and bandleader, mastered his art by performing with jazz
greats including Art Blakey, Lena Horne and Miles Davis. He is wellknown in New Orleans as chief of the Congo Square Nation, a New Orleans
cultural group, and son of the late Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief Donald
Harrison Sr. A character based on his life has appeared on the HBO series
“Treme.” And he is notable for his commitment to mentoring younger
musicians. As such, he directs the intern program at Tipitina’s, where he
taught Andrews when the latter was a high school senior.
As music director of the Trombone Shorty Academy, Harrison
instructs his teenage charges to play music, but he also imparts life
lessons. On one occasion, he started class by going around the room and
asking what everybody wanted to be when they grew up. Most said they
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M A R C H 2014 TULANE MAGA ZINE
Star Power
ryan rivet
Trombone Shorty
(whose friends call him
by his given name, Troy)
Andrews (center) drops
by for a session with
awed young musicians.
wanted to pursue careers in music, but there was also a surgeon-intraining, a future mechanical engineer and a Xavier University student
studying pharmacy. Harrison emphasized to students the importance
of discipline, whether their future leads to music, science or medicine.
“Your work ethic will produce results in all aspects of life,” he said.
To a 14-year-old who proclaimed that he wanted to be a drummer for
a hip-hop band, Harrison advised practicing enough so that the music
becomes as second nature as reciting the ABCs.
And, later in the class, as the students practiced brass band music, he preached the importance of showmanship. “The music is the
star,” he said. “None of us is the star. Our job is to make people happy.
If you’re the only person who’s happy you might as well stay at home
and play for yourself.”
Joe Dyson Jr., a drummer who has studied with Harrison and
performed in his band, came into the band room near the end of one
class as a personification of Harrison’s message. He played the drums,
stunning his audience into silence by expertly switching gears as
Harrison directed him to play a variety of different beats—modern
second-line, old-time second-line, bossa nova, hip-hop, and on and on.
The students were spellbound.
Sixteen-year-old Eldridge Andrews couldn’t get the smile off his
face—even 20 minutes later. “Did you see that?” the young snare
drummer asked incredulously. “He was doing what I want to do.”
Trombone Shorty Academy students will get the chance to show off
their skills when they perform in May at the second annual Shorty Fest,
a benefit concert for the Trombone Shorty Foundation. The music business institute students will fully participate in putting on the show.
A “FULL-BODIED” PROGRAM
Since its inception in January 2013, the Trombone Shorty Academy
has doubled in size. While the music performance classes were available at the outset, the Fredman Music Business Institute began this
January. Andrew Fredman, a 1988 alum, and his wife, Kerin, have been
longtime Tulane supporters, and after watching a broadcast of a Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue performance, they were so impressed
they chose to support the academy’s expansion.
“We feel strongly about giving Tulane students the opportunity
to engage with the community and mentor young musicians,” says
Andrew Fredman. “At the same time, New Orleans students will pick
up skills that will take them far in life. The institute will show them
opportunities, avenues for careers they may not have been aware of.”
Rob and Susan Goldstein, who graduated from Tulane and Newcomb College in 1977 and 1978, respectively, were already backing several music education programs in New Orleans when they discovered and
decided to support the Trombone Shorty Academy. “What better way
to ensure that when my grandkids go to Tulane they’ll be able to enjoy
the same music that I’ve enjoyed,” Rob Goldstein says.
In addition to Murphy, the Goldsteins and the Fredmans, other
notable supporters are past parent Cliff Greenberg and Nancy Rebold,
a 1988 Newcomb graduate and her husband, Matt.
Such donors ensure that the program remains free for students,
which organizers say is vital.
With more donations, Taylor says, the academy will continue to expand. “When these students learn about their musical heritage, what
ends up happening is that they connect with an incredible history
dating back to people like Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney
Bechet,” he says. “This is the continuation of that legacy.”
Murphy envisions a “full-bodied” program in the future that prepares the students musically, fostering in them the ambition and
expectation to succeed but also offering the tools, such as academic
tutoring, that make success possible. “I think what we have here is a
program that is only beginning to see its potential,” she says.
Current students appreciate how fortunate they are to study each
week with the musical icons helming the Trombone Shorty Academy.
High school senior Jourdan Johnson plays the trumpet and he speaks
softly but urgently. “These are leaders I can look up to,” he says. “They
used to be like us. When they were growing up they had help, and now
they’re teaching us.”
New Orleanians feel fierce pride in the city’s unique culture and
love to see their traditions appreciated on an international stage. Andrews is one of a small cadre of musicians taking New Orleans music,
making it his own and achieving worldwide fame. That’s why Murphy
and so many others in the city have enjoyed seeing Andrews’ success
grow through the years. “Now it’s hard to walk down a street with him
in New Orleans,” Murphy says. “It’s like walking around with Elvis.”
And the students in the Trombone Shorty Academy are destined to
be the culture-bearers of a new generation, taking New Orleans music,
adding their own individual touch, and laying it before the world.
“All of us involved with the Trombone Shorty Academy are going
to say the same things about these kids in the coming years that we’re
saying about Troy now: Isn’t it fun to watch their successes?” Murphy
says. “All of us in New Orleans are watching.”
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