Golden Globe winner Angela Bassett brings New Orleans Jazz to life in Trombone Shorty read aloud

One of the books we like to read with our mom is Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews. We learned a lot about Troy Andrews, a musician who plays the trumpet and the trombone. The story was about him growing up in New Orleans and his love for jazz music. Mom let us listen to his music which we think is pretty cool. Angela Bassett, one of mom’s favorite actresses, worked with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Storyline Online^® cast of readers this month, to bring Troy’s story to life as a part of its children’s literacy program.

Trombone Shorty teaches us about the music of New Orleans, the food and the parades that used to go down the street when he was a young boy. Troy had a dream to be a musician like his big brother, James. Troy practiced all the time and one day his mom took him to the New Orleans’ Jazz and Heritage Festival. That changed his life.

“I love this book,” Bassett says, “because even coming from a simple neighborhood that may not have a lot, you can have such a big impact on the world. You can travel and you can always come home and be an inspiration to your own neighborhood. And New Orleans—there’s no place like it. The people, no matter if they’re black or white, rich or poor, they always have a ‘where y’at’ for one another.”

“I’m very proud of the book, it’s a personal story about coming up as a young musician playing in New Orleans, and I wanted to reach kids. One of the best rewards is when a kid comes up to me after a show and says they play trombone because they read my book. It’s great when it all comes full circle like that because it shows that music and following your heart can lead you to so many of the places you dream of,” says Troy Andrews.

As with all Storyline Online^® videos, Trombone Shorty has a cool complementary supplemental activity guide. 

You can watch Trombone Shorty and all of the videos, at storylineonline.net. Watch all of their new 2020 videos by subscribing to Storyline Online^® on YouTube.  Follow Storyline Online on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Quotes and images for this story were provided by Storyline Online^®.