"Lil' Liza Jane" - Trombone Shorty

“Lil’ Liza Jane” (PDF) from the James & Troy Andrews album, 12 & Shorty

For the song history of “Lil’ Liza Jane,” see my New Birth Brass Band transcription.

There is a video of a 13-year old Troy Andrews performing with Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra which features “Shorty” taking the trombone solo on “Joe Avery’s Second Line.” With the dexterous Wycliffe Gordon supporting him on the sousaphone, Andrews plays the blues with more ambition than many who are twice his young age, and in the background Marsalis nods in affirmation of the kindled New Orleans fiya.

The video captures Trombone Shorty as a beginning student of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), but his playing demonstrates the experience of having grown up in the Tremé neighborhood, following his older brother James Andrews throughout the French Quarter rolling with New Birth Brass Band and Stooges Brass Band. And only a few years later, the brothers’ album 12 & Shorty documented Shorty’s rapid accomplishments as a recent graduate, having already recorded a solo album, and about to embark on the road with Lenny Kravitz.

In addition to the album’s supporting cast of veterans and guardians of the flame, including Dr. John, Stanton Moore, and Cyril Neville, both James Andrews and Wynton Marsalis understood that the greatness of Trombone Shorty was the product of an investment in Black lives and communities through professional mentorship and creative opportunity. Nod your head if you agree.

Here is the YouTube video of Troy Andrews with Wyton Marsalis & The Jazz At Lincoln Hall Orchestra:

Recommended reading: The 5 O’Clock Band by Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews. Published by Abrams Books.