SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

“Red Hot + New Orleans”: Trombone Shorty (musical director), Soloists, Yuki Nakajima (video), Alex Delaunay (stage design), Alban Sardzinski (lighting design), Sarah Ford (production stage manager), Howard Gilman Opera House, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City, 4.12.2010 (BH)

Troy Andrews, a.k.a “Trombone Shorty,” might as well be nicknamed “Trumpet Shorty,” “Crooner Shorty,” or even “Whistling Shorty,” since he displayed all of these gifts at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) during Red Hot + New Orleans, part of BAM’s Next Wave Festival. Produced by Paul Heck and the Red Hot Organization in recognition of World AIDS Day, Red Hot + New Orleans packed the Howard Gilman Opera House for two nights of high-spirited jazz, anchored by some of New Orleans’s most beloved musicians, all benefiting the New Orleans AIDS Task Force.

Larger-than-life silver Mardi Gras beads draped the balcony boxes next to the stage, with huge spheres spilling onto the floor itself, making the already ornate Opera House even more festive than usual. And throughout the evening, video designer Yuki Nakajima added hypnotic animations in Peter Max-style electric colors on the stage’s back wall, much taken from the documentary film, YA HEARD ME?, directed by Matt Miller and Stephen Thomas.

But without music, all the preparation means zilch, and some of the Crescent City’s best were on hand, each entrance causing the packed house to erupt in cheers. Veteran Dr. John pumped up the audience just by walking out to the piano, and vaulted the crowd even higher with an irresistible “Right Place, Wrong Time.” Irma Thomas, resplendent in a black and white caftan, unleashed “It’s Raining” as if the sheer power of her voice could keep a hurricane at bay, raging right outside the opera house door, then showed a different kind of rage in “You Can Have My Husband, But Please Don’t Mess With My Man.”

The soul caravan continued with the honeyed sounds of Ledisi, Marc Broussard, and later, the infectious rhythms of Roger Lewis, and Phil and Keith Frazier, of the Dirty Dozen and Rebirth Brass Bands. Trumpet marvel Kermit Ruffins, who is probably known to millions of new fans through his appearances on the HBO series, “Treme,” was his usual affable self, riffing with Ledisi on “What a Wonderful World,” and Ivan Neville’s sweet organ strains gave a whiff of a gospel revival—for an audience packed with believers. Trombone Shorty’s own band, Orleans Avenue, not only provided the stellar array of guests with radiant, rock-solid backup musicianship, but had ebullient solo turns scattered through the night.

Substantial contributions—not all 100% successful—came from Mannie Fresh and Partners-N-Crime, but you had to admire Trombone Shorty’s inclusiveness. Like all music genres, jazz grows and checks itself against other musical avenues, including hip-hop and rap, and as editor, his vision to show a broader spectrum of the New Orleans scene is as notable as his instrumental gifts.

But ultimately it was a Trombone Shorty night, and an ecstatic platform for a multi-talented rising star, overflowing with love for one of the world’s great musical hubs. (His most recent CD, Backatown, has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Contemporary Jazz category.) Near the end of the show, during a stormy jam session culminating in “When the Saints Go Marching In,” he cut loose with a sustained high trombone note somewhere in the stratosphere—and when I say “sustained,” I mean close to 30 seconds—while the crowd went bananas.

Bruce Hodges