Trombone Shorty will bring the party to Famously Hot New Year

By all accounts Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue bring the party wherever they go.

And this year, Trombone Shorty is the headliner for Columbia’s Famously Hot New Year celebration. The free outdoor concert and fireworks show is Saturday, Dec. 31 at Gervais and Sumter streets.

Troy Andrews, aka Trombone Shorty, has been a fixture on the New Orleans scene since he first picked up a trombone at age 4. He’s a big draw on the jazz festival circuit, where he and his band weave funk, hip-hop and improvisation into their high-energy sets.

He’s also young, making Forbes 30 Under 30 list for music in January. Yet he’s toured with Lenny Kravitz’s horn section, played at the White House for President Obama and been nominated for a Grammy.

Famously Hot New Year event co-chairs Mario Melendez and Laura Basile say they selected Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue to headline because of their party band reputation and talent.

They acknowledged that picking a jazz band is a deviation from past legacy act headliners including Ms. Lauryn Hill, The O’Jays and Kool and the Gang.

“We feel like it’s a progressive move – a reflection on Columbia as a progressive city. This band pulls the event in a new, fresher direction for upcoming years,” Basile said.

The ’90s alt.-rockers Sister Hazel, rockabilly band Capital City Playboys and R&B group Mike Stone and the Kritikal Band will open the concert.

Luther Battiste, a jazz radio show host for WOCS 93.7, said Trombone Shorty was the perfect choice.

“It is the ideal band to bring in for New Year’s Eve. It’s so upbeat and high-energy. People will be moving, jumping and they’ll love it,” he said.

Battiste has seen Trombone Shorty in concert twice and has played them on his radio show.

“He’s a virtuoso musician, but he knows how to get the crowd energized and into the music,” he said of Andrews.

When Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue played NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, music writer Bob Boilen summed them up simply.

“The band wants you to dance,” he wrote.

Before a halftime performance at the NBA All-Star game in 2014, Andrews told Billboard, “People will definitely be out of their seats dancing. That’s what our focus is – to have a big party, the way we do here in the Big Easy.”

At Famously Hot New Year, the downtown concert stage will move one block east, to Gervais and Sumter streets, due to concerns about crowd control and safety. Organizers estimated the crowd exceeded 35,000 people last year. Because Gervais Street is wider, organizers said there will be better visibility and acoustics at the new spot.

And more room for dancing.

Related stories:

Sister Hazel: Playing Famously Hot New Year a ‘no-brainer’

How I Go Columbia: Capital City Playboys

Where to party on New Year’s Eve in Columbia depending on what kind of night you want

This story was originally published December 28, 2016 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Trombone Shorty will bring the party to Famously Hot New Year."