'SupaFunkRock' and all that jazz: 'Trombone Shorty' brings it to Spoleto

Jazz is younger. It feels younger, it looks younger, and it's certainly more eclectic than it has ever been.

With his coining of the term "SupaFunkRock," New Orleans golden boy Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews has pioneered a new wave of contemporary jazz music by mixing it with funk, hip-hop and rock music.

This weekend, Andrews is bringing that new collaborative sound to Spoleto Festival USA.

For an audience following the charts today, the faces of jazz music have changed from greats such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane to younger artists, including Esperanza Spalding, Michael Buble, Christian Scott and Trombone Shorty. This generation's jazz sound is one that's more experimental, daring, and ignoring of traditional genres.

"This sound is the direct influence of the city of New Orleans," said Andrews. "It's like a musical gumbo. Everything that's happened in my life growing up just comes out naturally in my sound. I never planned on mixing it like that, it just happened."

Improvisation and syncopation have defined jazz music since its inception. The 1960s introduced the world of funk, known for its hi-hats and quick bass slaps, head-bopping half notes and sexier rhythms. Jazz and funk have often gone hand-in-hand, but adding rock to that mix is definitely a "Generation X" initiative. Rock music takes its cues from the earlier mix of blues and country music, focusing on the intensity of the electric guitar and the catchy 4/4 drumbeats. Combining all of these elements could have resulted in a titanic clash of sound, but Andrews and his band, Orleans Avenue, pull it off.

The "SuperFunkRock" sound is something that jazz audiences have caught onto and supported. Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue's album "Backatown" debuted at the top of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Charts in April 2010 and remained in the Top 10 for more than nine months. But despite the categorical label, Andrews doesn't really consider himself a jazz artist.

"I'm trained in jazz, I'm influenced by it, and I play it," he said, "but it's not necessarily my sound. I'm genre-less."

These genre-less musicians have become more appealing to the general public, who are so used to accessing musicians through genre-based playlists. In addition to being young and attractive, much of the band's appeal is their marketability to a vast range of demographics. This denouncement of one specific genre is a smart move for young musicians, says Jozen Cummings, the Black Voices Arts & Culture reporter for the "Huffington Post."

"If you want to compare a strictly jazz musician's success to that of Trombone Shorty," he said, "you'd be hard-pressed to find someone that's on that level. It's hard to be transcendent. Few can get away with it without doing a little more than just jazz."

Cummings is a jazz aficionado but has also been an editor at urban music magazines, including "Vibe" and "King." He pointed out that several notable jazz artists have toured as part of the bands of popular rock and rap musicians.

When putting together a studio album, mainstream artists look for the best musicians to contribute to their instrumentals. Often these young, contemporary jazz musicians are at the top of their lists.

For example, in jazz bassist Casey Benjamin's introduction to rapper Common's 2006 album "Be," a few bars of nothing but bass set the pace and tone for the rest of his tracks.

Another acclaimed jazz artist, Christian Scott, whose life is loosely chronicled in the HBO show "Treme," has collaborated successfully with soul artists Prince, Jill Scott and rapper Mos Def.

In this same way, Andrews has collaborated with U2, Green Day, Lenny Kravitz and David Banner.

Andrews also has increased his exposure by appearing on television. He has guest starred on a few episodes of "Treme."

Sure, "SupaFunkRock" is a jazz that's for dancing, but for another artist, it could be another world entirely. The great thing about the new era of jazz is that it's accepting of variety.

"Jazz brings out the museum crowd," said Cummings. "When you go to a museum on any given weekend, you're going to see all kinds of people. From the art enthusiasts to people on field trips, that's exactly what jazz looks like today."

Chiderah Monde is a Goldring Arts Journalist and writer. She can be reached at Chiderah.aalisa@gmail.com.