Congo Square 2009

Variations on a Treme: A Portrait of Trombone Shorty
by Gilbert Fletcher

Troy Andrews (a.k.a. Trombone Shorty) has been playing music and leading bands since he was six years old - before he could push the trombone's slide fully out. Yet if you've caught any sets with his band, Orleans Avenue, you know his muscular energy is wrapped in a musical surety lacking in people twice his age. New Orleans is a unique environment that nourishes talent beyond anything elsewhere and Andrews has grown huge in its unique atmosphere. Yet even as this horn player (he also plays a wicked trumpet) and singer blows the soul of New Orleans through the doors of hip-hip, rock & roll, pop and funk, he was shocked when tapped to be on this poster. "I thought you only did posters of older folk." Well, yeah, until someone comes along who warps time and leaps to the head of New Orleans' indelible second line.

To fully divine the story that informs Andrews, we called on a seasoned master, New Orleans-born Gilbert Fletcher. This Carver High School graduate earned his B.A. from Dillard University 16 years before Andrews was even born. Best known for his acclaimed portrait series Painted Voices: an Artist's Journey into the World of Black Writers, in which he depicted 28 pivotal African-American writers, Fletcher searches out his subjects' defining attributes. Here, he poses Andrews in front of a New Orleans corner store, which defines the old city of New Orleans in much the same way Troy Andrews defines the new. This deeply felt unified portrait in situ tells us more about the city and its progeny than the most detailed picture of either alone could ever do.

Editions:

Poster originally sold for $69 (Unsigned), $239 (Signed), $329 (Double Signed)
Poster and specifications may vary slightly.
Image ©2009 art4now, Inc. & NOJ&HF, Inc. / Text ©2009 ProCreations Publishing Company