"Dreamboat" - Trombone Shorty

"Dreamboat'" (PDF) from the Trombone Shorty & Lionel Ferbos album, Trombone Shorty Meets Lionel Ferbos: Two Trumpets - Two Eras, and compilation, Putumayo Presents New Orleans Brass.

Once New Orleans' oldest active musician, trumpeter Lionel Ferbos was 90 years-old when he recorded this duet album with a 17 year-old Trombone Shorty.  Not only is this album a document of when the two musical titans got together to jam, but it also frames their contrasting attitudes towards musicality based on their own age; the vigorous trailblazer and the graceful conservative.  And like the youthful waving of the "Don't Trust Anyone Over Thirty" banner, or adoption of the "If It's Too Loud, You're Too Old" slogan, Shorty's adventurous style of playing will gradually give way to Ferbos' effortless melodic technique, a style that requires the decades of living to master.

Perhaps, as Thomas W. Jacobsen notes in his book Traditional New Orleans Jazz, Lionel Ferbos' original approach can be attributed to the fact that he did not learn learn how to play by studying recordings, a method that seems impossible in the 21st Century.  And one can argue that the music from a hundred years ago is simpler than that of fifty years ago, however, the "traditional" jazz music of the roaring 20's was an inviting sound whereas the sonic complexities of "bop" music, a demanding art form on both ends, tends to be passed over by its general audience, perhaps a result of a post-war America.  The brilliance of Ferbos' playing was the timeless quality of his melodies, a simplicity that resonates with listeners throughout the years.

Lionel Ferbos lived on to celebrate his 103rd birthday, performing somewhat regularly, until he passed away this summer.  The good ones always go too soon, while the great ones live on forever.

Recommended Reading: Traditional New Orleans Jazz: Conversations With The Men Who Make The Music by Thomas W. Jacobsen.  Published by Louisiana State University Press.