“We do our own style of New Orleans Treme funk, that consists of funk, New Orleans brass band music, a little bit of hip­hop–inspired music, a little bit of soul and R&B.”

Trombonist Corey Henry continually celebrates all that it means to grow up in a musical family and in the rhythmic and melodic incubator that is New Orleans’ Treme neighborhood. It was a spot where a musically curious and lively young man could catch brass bands rolling down the streets and share the experience with his equally eager young friends.

“I was living right next door to my cousin Kabuki [trumpeter Derrick Shezbie] on Treme Street and with the whole Rebirth family—Miss Frazier—lived on the next block,” Henry explains. “You can imagine what that two or three block radius was like. It was crazy. The whole of St. Philip Street was like a party every day.”

The world of brass band music and traditional jazz remains inherent in Henry’s style even as he has moved on to incorporate other grooves as leader of his own Treme Funktet, which just released its hard­-hitting debut CD, Lapeitah. (More about the title’s special origin later.) The trombonist also brings his own sound when blowing with the jam/funk/rock band Galactic.

As a teenager, Henry had the opportunity to play with and listen to some of this city’s greatest musicians. So early on the trombonist understood the importance of musicianship and the tonal quality that today defines his mastery of the instrument.

Read more at offbeat.com.