''Backatown'' is an album released by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musician Troy 'Trombone Shorty' Andrews. The album was released in 2010 by

Verve Forecast Records Verve Forecast is a record label formed as a division of Verve Records to concentrate on pop, rock, and folk music. Founding Jerry Schoenbaum of Verve and Moe Asch of Folkways created Verve Folkways in 1964 to take advantage of the popularity ...

and was produced by

Galactic Galactic is an American jam band from New Orleans, Louisiana. Origins and background Formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic) and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a ...

's Ben Ellman. It reached number 3 on the ''Billboard'' Jazz Albums Chart and was nominated for the 2011

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality ...

Overview

''Backatown'' represents Andrews's national and major

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

debut. The tracks "In the 6th", "Hurricane Season" and "Backatown" pay homage to the culture and neighborhoods of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Andrews hometown. He refers to his diverse musical style as 'supafunkrock'. The album was nominated for the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album but lost to the

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jaz ...

album '' The Stanley Clarke Band''.

The band

Andrews is supported by his band Orleans Avenue: bassist Mike Ballard, guitarist Pete Murano, saxophonist Dan Oestreicher, drummer Joey Peebles, and percussionist Dwayne Williams. Andrews plays trombone and trumpet and provides lead vocals on five tracks.

Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk. Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Roc ...

, who Andrews apprenticed under as a member of his backing band, plays guitar and sings backup on "Something Beautiful". Marc Broussard contributes backing vocals on "Right to Complain".

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descri ...

plays piano on the only cover song, a reworking of his own "On Your Way Down".

Reception

Nate Chinen said in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' that the album is "more polished and less thrilling than Trombone Shorty's live shows" but goes on to call it "firm in its purpose with swagger to spare". He closed his review with "It's a sound born of New Orleans, unmistakably, and if it heralds an ambitious ascent, it also attests to an unbroken spirit." Noting the wide appeal of ''Backatown'', Carla Meyer of ''

The Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...

'' wrote that it "provides comfort for fans of jazz, rock, pop, funk and however you want to classify James Bond theme music".

Geoffrey Himes Geoffrey Himes is an American music critic who has written weekly for ''the Washington Post'' since 1977. He also wrote for '' No Depression'' as a contributing editor in its first print era in the late 1990s to the early 2000s and has written for ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' compared Andrews's vocals to

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

and noted that the album has " second-line rhythm that could only come from New Orleans". Thom Jurek of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called the music "aural gumbo" and the album a "fingerpopping, butt-shakin' mix set" that "crackles and burns with an unburdened, unfettered, passionate live feel". He went on to call it "everything popular American music should be". Will Hermes of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' said the album is "both deeply rooted and culturally omnivorous" and referred to Andrews as "a Katrina survivor trying to hold on to the old while building the new".

Track listing

#"Hurricane Season" ( Troy Andrews) 3:20 #"On Your Way Down" (

) 3:36 #"Quiet as Kept" (Andrews) 3:05 #"Something Beautiful" (Andrews,

Ryan Montbleau Ryan Michael Montbleau (born June 18, 1977, in Peabody, Massachusetts, United States) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He annually tours across the U.S. with the Ryan Montbleau Band. Background Although he received his first gui ...

) 3:42 #"Backatown" (Andrews) 2:47 #"Right to Complain" (Andrews,

PJ Morton P.J. Morton (born Paul Morton Jr.; March 29, 1981) is an American Grammy winning musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2012, he has been one of the keyboardists, alongside Jesse Carmichael, for the pop rock band Maroon 5. Mort ...

) 2:56 #"Neph" (Andrews) 3:02 #"Suburbia" (Andrews, Mike Ballard, Pete Murano, Joey Peebles) 3:19 #"In the 6th" (Andrews, Dan Oestreicher) 3:17 #"One Night Only (The March)" (Andrews, Montbleau) 2:49 #"Where Y' At" (Andrews, Clarence Slaughter) 2:59 #"Fallin'" (Andrews, Morton) 3:46 #"The Cure" (Andrews, Ballard, Murano) 3:39 #"928 Horn Jam" (Andrews, Oestreicher, Slaughter, Dwayne Williams) 0:55

Personnel

Trombone Shorty Troy Andrews (born January 2, 1986), also known by the stage name Trombone Shorty, is an American musician, producer, actor and philanthropist from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is best known as a trombone and trumpet player but also plays drums, ...

– trombone, trumpet, drums, percussion, keyboards, vocals *Dan Oestreicher – baritone saxophone *Clarence Slaughter – flute, saxophone *Pete Murano – guitar *Mike Ballard – bass guitar *Joey Peebles – drums *Dwayne Williams – percussion

Guest musicians

– guitar solo, backing vocals on "Something Beautiful" *

– piano on "On Your Way Down" *

Marc Broussard Marc Broussard (born January 14, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter. His style is best described as "Bayou Soul", a mix of funk, blues, R&B, rock and pop, matched with distinct Southern roots. He has released eight studio albums, one live ...

– additional vocals on "Right to Complain" *Charles Smith – bass synthesizer on "Backatown" and "Quiet as Kept"

Production

*Ben Ellman – producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

*Dave Barlett –

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

, management *Matt Cornell – executive producer, management *

Mike Kappus Mike Kappus (born May 24, 1950) is an American music manager and record producer. Kappus was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2014. The Blues Foundation described Kappus as "the kind of manager and booking agent any musician would want" an ...

– executive producer, management *Alexander Alvarez – engineer *Kyle Lamy – engineer *Mike Ballard – vocal engineer on "Fallin'" and "Hurricane Season" *Charles Smith – vocal engineer on "One Night Only (The March)" *Korey Richey – vocal engineer on "Right to Complain" *Kirk Edwards – photography *Kevin Reagan – design *Vartan – art direction

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2010 albums Trombone Shorty albums Jazz fusion albums by American artists