Trombonists Mark Mullins and Craig Klein, both longtime members of Harry Connick's band since 1990, created the rock-oriented New Orleans brass band Bonerama. Mullins landed a standing weekly engagement at the Tipitina's nightclub in summer 1998 and converted the slot into an all-trombone showcase. Joining Klein were Rick Trolsen, Steve Suter, and Brian O'Neill (who suffered a fatal heart attack in December 2005), plus sousaphone player Matt Perrine and guitarist Bert Cotton. The drum position rotated among Eric Bolivar, Terence Higgins, Russell Batiste, and Stanton Moore. Horn-dominated though the lineup was, Bonerama operated as a rock unit, delivering covers of the Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein" alongside material by Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and the Allman Brothers Band. Their debut recording, Live at the Old Point, appeared on October 9, 2001. Live from New York followed on August 26, 2005. The third successive live set, Bringing It Home, taped at Tipitina's, surfaced on July 24, 2007.
