Trombone Shorty

“Where y'at!”—a customary way to say “hello” in his beloved New Orleans neighborhood of Tremé—is how Grammy-nominated musician and (here) storyteller Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews addresses viewers in this iconographic-animated adaptation of his 2015 picture book collaboration with Bill Taylor and illustrator Bryan Collier. A love letter to his hometown, the short chronicles Andrews's early love of music, as he created makeshift instruments with friends, and cheered along brass band parades through the town. Seeing the boy's dedication—and his refurbishing of a broken trombone twice his size that led his brother to produce the eponymous nickname—his mother took him to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, where young Shorty's playing along caught the ear of Bo Diddley, who stopped the music and had him join the band onstage. Touching on career accomplishments (covered more in-depth in an “Author's Note” bonus segment that includes archival photos and mentions of artists he's worked with, including U2 and Prince), Trombone Shortly is mainly a story of how a dream can pay off with hard work, presented with a heady mixture of realistic collage and paint, backed by a toe-tapping soundtrack that includes the tune “Orleans & Claiborne” by Andrews and his group Orleans Avenue. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: K, E, P. (J. Williams-Wood)