Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Mavis Staples, and The War and Treaty

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue are a fantastic jazz and funk band from New Orleans, they incorporate elaborately-long rock-inspired riffs, the odd hip-hop beat and funky guitar strumming into the mix, but the star attraction is the trombone and the trumpet and rightly so. Trombone Short or Troy Andrews has been playing the trombone since he was six The bassist exuded an uncontainable amount of confidence, like it was child’s play to be hitting all those notes in that particular order. But it wasn’t child’s play, it looked difficult and sounded brilliant. And it was the same with the drummer and guitarist, they were all brilliant, playing complex rhythms and absolutely loving it, the drummer in particular didn’t lose his smile for the entire set, he was sourcing his energy from Trombone Shorty in the middle, as was I.
There was a really intense moment when Troy held a single note for an insane amount of time. Minutes. Literally minutes. Three minutes, four minutes he was holding this note for, something called circular breathing, he must have been breathing in through his nose because he kept puffing his cheeks out like in a cartoon and no one has that much breath, the audience went from being impressed to outright flabbergasted, it was remarkable. It was a lively, enjoyable and danceable occasion, and I’ll take every opportunity to catch them again.

It’s not every day that you get the chance to see a living legend in concert, and when it happens, you know that you’re in the presence of something truly special. This is certainly the case for Mavis Staples, the legendary gospel soul singer and civil rights activist of the 1950s and ‘60s. For starters, it is an achievement in itself that Staples, at the age of 75, continues to tour, and what’s even more impressive is that her warmth, soul and incredible honey-poured-over-gravel voice are just as powerful as ever. Mavis began her musical career in her family band, The Staple Singers, who released their first hit, ‘Uncloudy Day’, way back in 1956. Since then, The Staples released politically-charged message songs like "Long Walk to D.C." and "When Will We Be Paid?," which brought their moving and articulate music to a huge number of young people. Mavis Staples’ solo work is equally as meaningful, upbeat and catchy, and in 2011 she won a ‘long-awaited’ Grammy Award for her soaring album ‘You Are Not Alone’. When I saw Staples performing as part of the awesome ZooTunes concert series at Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, earlier this year, she set the place alight with her buoyant energy, soulful grooves, and more-powerful-than-ever lyrics. Accompanied by a full band and, of course, a gospel choir, Staples brought the house down for a feel-good, heartfelt show which emanated good vibes from beginning to end. Catch her while you still can!

The War and Treaty are a wonderful, soulful, full of love duo that can belt out beautiful and moving songs. They have so much life between then on stage and are gracious and grateful to their audience. I highly recommend checking them out!