This award-winning mini-doc tells it in 5 minutes:
http://bit.ly/ShortyDocShorty is the future of New Orleans music, and at 24, he's already a veteran.
His nickname comes from the fact that he was a master of the trombone before he stood as tall as one.
Check out the mini-doc to see Shorty - barely beyond toddlerhood - onstage w/ Bo Diddley and marching in a second line. Hear how he made drums out of cardboard boxes and hoisted a big wheel over his shoulder pretending it was a tuba, before graduating to playing real instruments for tips in NOLA's Jackson Sq.
Fast fwd a few years and Shorty, now 19, is touring with Lenny Kravitz in 2005. He's playing with U2 and Green Day at the Superdome reopening in 2006. As for 2010....just last month he performed on GMA and Sportscenter in the run-up to the Super Bowl. He has even taped appearances - as himself! - for the upcoming HBO series 'Treme' from the creator of The Wire, premiering in Apr.
And last but certainly not least, he has a killer new album 'Backatown' coming out on Verve Apr 20 (the week before Jazzfest, natch).
More info here:
http://www.shorefire.com/clients/tromboneshorty 
