Backatown is the major label debut of New Orleans horn player Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and his backing band Orleans Avenue. Released in the wake of Andrews' appearances on Treme, Backatown features a tightened take on the band's typically improvisational live show, a Jazz Fusion with elements of Funk Metal.
A relative critical success, Backatown reached #3 on the Billboard jazz sales charts in 2010, finishing just outside the top 200 albums altogether.
Tracklist:
- "Hurricane Season" (3:19)
- "On Your Way Down" (3:36)
- "Quiet As Kept" (3:04)
- "Something Beautiful" (3:41)
- "Backatown" (2:46)
- "Right To Complain" (2:55)
- "Neph" (3:01)
- "Suburbia" (3:18)
- "In The 6th" (3:16)
- "One Night Only (The March)" (2:48)
- "Where Y'At" (2:58)
- "Fallin'" (3:45)
- "The Cure" (3:38)
- "928 Horn Jam" (0:55)
Principal Members:
- Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews – trombone, trumpet, drums, percussion, keyboards, vocals
- Mike Ballard – bass
- Pete Murano – guitar
- Dan Oestreicher – baritone sax
- Joey Peebles – drums
- Dwayne Williams – percussion
The same tropes you listed on the way up, you might read on the way down...
- Alliterative Title: "Quietnote as Kept"
- Cool Shades: Andrews wears them on the album cover.
- Cover Version: Andrews covers Allen Toussaint's "On Your Way Down" with Toussaint sitting on on piano.
- Face on the Cover: Andrews walking down the street.
- Genre-Busting: Andrews insists the album's genre is "Supafunkrock".
- Instrumentals: Only "On Your Way Down", "Something Beautiful", "Right To Complain", "One Night Only (The March)", and "Fallin" have lyrics.
- Miniscule Rocking: "928 Horn Jam"
- One-Word Title: "Backatown". The tracks "Neph", "Suburbia" and "Fallin'".
- Protest Song: "Right To Complain" is a protest against those who complain without taking any responsibility themselves. A protest against protests, if you will.
- Questioning Title?: "Where Y'At?"
- Shout-Out: "Backatown", "Suburbia", and "In The 6th" are all named for New Orleans neighborhoods.
- Silly Love Songs: "Fallin'" has Andrews rhapsodizing about the girl who "changed his world".
- Special Guest: Allen Toussaint guests on "On Your Way Down", Lenny Kravitz on "Something Beautiful", and Marc Broussard on "Right To Complain".
- Let's Duet: The latter two are also vocal duets.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Not an example, but still demonstrative. Years as a sideman for Lenny Kravitz influenced Andrews' singing strongly, as can be heard when they duet on "Something Beautiful".
- Title Track: "Backatown".
