Glen David Andrews is a native son from New Orleans and has made a strong case for his own redemption with a new powerful project that links his reclaimed life to the city. Redemption was recorded at the Living Room in Algiers in November 2013. It is Andrews’s balm following a personal storm. The music is about ghosts, their residual energy, forgiveness, rebirth, and renewal. The singer, songwriter, and trombonist proudly states that “every song on this album tells a story I hope people can relate to.” Redemption is Andrews’s record about his spiritual journey. It features Andrews’s core group and a few selected friends who have played a role in his recovery. Ivan Neville plays a humming Hammond Organ and a badass clavinet. The history of modern funk is percolating in his fingers on “Bad By Myself,” and “Movin’ Up.” Andrews is fighting for New Orleans’ cultural preservation at a time of threatening indigenous traditions. Larry Blumenfeld, a journalist with the Open Society Institute, wrote that Andews’s music had “promised redemption long before he started trying to save himself in earnest…His remarkable singing voice, commanding trombone sound, and disarmingly honest demeanour have provided whatever situation requires: beauty, truths, compassion, anger or joy or all of these.” Andrews is part of a long line of musicians. Andrews was born in Treme, a historic neighborhood that many consider the United States’ oldest black community. There, the struggle for survival is more ancient than the majestic oak trees of the Crescent City. Family legend has it that Anthony “Tuba Fats”, a patriarch of New Orleans music, pointed the bell of his horn towards Andrews’s stomach to induce labor. Andrews was born that day. Andrews was captivated by the mystery and magic of the city’s second-line parades. He and Derrick Tabb, Andrews’ older brother from the Rebirth Brass Band, and their younger cousin Troy “Trombone Shorty” soaked up the musical lessons of life by learning firsthand the history of brass band tradition from legendary figures such as Tuba Fats. They were also exposed to the Mardi Gras Indian culture. Andrews claims that the musicians he heard were literally what brought him out of his womb. “Jesus was born into a manger. Andrews was born in the second line. He started on the bass drum when he was a child and soon took up the trombone. By the age of 12, he was making joyful sounds. Andrews learned musicianship and showmanship from the city’s best brass bands, including New Birth and L’il Rascals as well as Treme and ReBirth. Paul Sanchez, a New Orleans singer-songwriter who has worked with Andrews, says that Andrews “always had a huge presence and a huge sweetness.” Andrews’ presence and sweetness are what have made him a favorite of New Orleans clubgoers, such as dba or Three Muses. He has been a major headliner at New Orleans Jazz, the largest block party in the world, for the past few years.
