What better time to return to “Long Weekend,” the still-thumping advance track from Trombone Shorty’s Say This to Say That? Released in 2013, the album again found Shorty offering up these boss blends of rock, funk, R&B and jazz with his native ‘Nawlins vibe never far behind.
But “Long Weekend” really stuck, as it transports me back to a more carefree time with its guitar-driven rhythm, a handmade throwback arrangement (courtesy of the retro-minded producer Raphael Saadiq) and innocent lyrics about making out in the car. But maybe I keep coming back to it because it sounds so much like Kool & The Gang’s “Get Down On It.”
There’s still a lot of Trombone Shorty in it, though, enough to shoo away any notions that this is merely some sub-genre exercise. Especially at the moment Shorty kicks off the instrumental break by announcing, “Gonna blow my horn.” Those licks he reels off are guitar licks, not the kind you’d hear from a trombone.
It’s another of those instances that show just how adept he is in creating a truly unique hybrid sound. Troy Andrews, the jazz musician, would never play it like that on his straight-ahead records, but his alter-ego Trombone Shorty knows his audience – and he hits their sweet spot square on.
On this Memorial Day, I’m reminded that “Long Weekend” still hits mine.
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