Bonerama Albums (3)
What The Critics Say
Bonerama, the New Orleans horn band boasting four trombones, seems to have tired of beginning its album titles with the word "Live" (Live at the Old Point, Live from New York), so the group's third album is not called "Live from Tipitina's" even though it is; it's called Bringing It Home, which is also accurate, since Bonerama was formed at Tipitina's nightclub in New Orleans in 1998. If the Dirty Dozen Brass Band revised notions about a horn outfit's sound and repertoire, Bonerama takes those revisions a step further. Its ensemble sound sometimes suggests the rock group Chicago and sometimes a small, well-rehearsed college marching band. Although many of the tunes are originals by the bandmembers, the selections that stand out are the surprising covers, such as Led Zeppelin's "The Ocean" and two songs from the Beatles The White Album, "Yer Blues" and "Helter Skelter." The arrangements replace some of the guitar parts with horn parts, naturally, but the influence of classic rock, particularly of Jimi Hendrix, remains in guitarist Bert Cotton's acid-tinged lead work. To demonstrate its jazz chops, Bonerama also turns in a strong cover of Thelonious Monk's "Epistrophy." Yet for all this eclecticism, the group remains at its core a New Orleans horn band, and by the end of the set it has evoked Louis Armstrong and the Meters before ending with a hidden track that is a musical commercial for another city nightspot, all of which confirms that the group's decision to keep recording live albums, especially at its home base, is a good one. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Combos featuring four or five or more trombones were quite popular back in the 1950s and 1960s with groups led by Kai Winding, J.J. Johnson, and Urbie Green making several LPs. Now comes Bonerama applying that concept played by modern brass bands from New Orleans. Modern, not that this is avant-garde or free jazz (although an electric trombone is introduced into the mix of slide instruments), but rather funk rock music played in the way of a brass band with plenty of funk added. This talented group of players make this music sound much better than it probably deserves, which is a reason for their success. Sneak up on the audience by putting some life, rhythm, and imagination into the otherwise dull, sound-alike songs that numb the brain, and what comes out is something well worth listening to. In this live session at New Orleans' Old Point Bar, these players get more distinctive sounds out of the slide instruments than one could have imagined possible. There's also the wild swinging sousaphone of Matt Perrine on "Bap Bap." Leader Mark Mullins is responsible for some of the tunes on the play list. There is one legitimate jazz standard, "Lil' Darlin'" which surprisingly is played pretty straightforward with virtually no embellishment. There is some fine solo work on this cut, however, by Craig Klein and Brian O'Neill. All proceedings are propelled along by Russell Batiste's drums laying down the repetitive backbeat. There is some very imaginative playing by the group on this album as they take what otherwise may be dull and uninspired material and pump a lot of life into it. The noise of the crowd is heard throughout as background to this CD. ~ Dave Nathan, All Music Guide
