New Orleans has given us some pretty wild bands over the years, but even among those, Bonerama stands out as a unique and exciting band.

Made up of guitar, drums, bass, and FOUR trombones, Bonerama makes for some pretty crazy and supremely interesting arrangements.

The band was born in the late '90s, a direct result of the New Orleans’ fertile club scene. Trombonists Mark Mullins and Craig Klein had both been part of Harry Connick, Jr.’s band since 1990, and in 1998, while Connick was making a movie, they took residence at Tipitina’s on Wednesday nights and hosted a parade of superstars like Allen Toussaint, Cyril Neville, and others sitting in with their improvisational band.

The buzz grew rapidly, especially after the band began working out offbeat arrangements to classic rock tunes like “Frankenstein,” which led eventually to several album releases that contained original jazz-inflected rock songs peppered with these extraordinary versions of classics from bands like the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath and others.

The latest album, a five-song EP, is another example of their great arranging prowess and superb songwriting skills. “Hard Times” opens with the title cut, a song about “the antithesis of hard times and flipping our fears over to optimism,” says Mullins. “Folly” is a fabulous instrumental, followed by “Lost My House,” a true story co-written by Klein and Dave Malone of the Radiators, inspired by the levee failures in 2005.

Bonerama doesn’t disappoint, next comes one of their trademark covers, a raging arrangement of Led Zeppelin’s “When The Levee Breaks” that is so hot it’ll make your CD player smoke. The EP closes with a live recording of “Turn On Your Lovelight” that is sure to make you shine, shine, shine.

Bonerama is a band that is great on record, but is even better live. They will be playing the Workplay Theater in Birmingham in January, and I guarantee this will be a show you won’t want to miss!

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