Trombone Shorty

Backatown (Verve Forecast)

No New Orleans party album this. Housewarming, maybe – holiday, probably – but either way, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, 24, on jazz giant Verve, throws down a serious career blueprint. Allen Toussaint (“On Your Way Down”), guest Lenny Kravitz (“Something Beautiful”), Prince (“One Night Only (the March)”), and Linkin Park (“Suburbia”) all mash up on Backatown, where power chords bully brass-attired rockers “Right To Complain,” “Where Y’At,” and distorted metallic behemoth “The Cure.” Produced by Galactic’s Ben Ellman, the disc perhaps doubles as the aural audition that landed Shorty four episodes on HBO’s follow-up to The Wire, NOLA-quartered Treme. And yet it’s Backatown‘s instrumentals that gust the biggest breezes, opener “Hurricane Season” bylining the headliner’s nickname with a buffeting force that pays tribute to the Rebirth Brass Band, while the under-three-minute title cut slices a tart brass blare of the same trombone. Shorty’s trumpet hook to “Neph” engages a giggling riff that breaks into peals of easy brass laughter. His soul croon on syncopated ballad “Fallin'” crosses Marvin Gaye and Pharrell Williams. Party album, nah. Blowout showcase, definitely. (4pm, Clear 4G stage)

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This article appears in October 8 • 2010.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.