Dr. Bone & the Hepcats

Bio:

Dr. Bone & the Hepcats is a New Orleans based band that plays a variety of Jazz & World-Roots Dance Music: New Orleans Jazz, R&B, Caribbean Calypso, Brazilian Samba & Bossa Nova, Latin Jazz, Funky Soul Jazz, Old-School Swing, Cover Tunes & Original music. The band is fronted by trombonist, vocalist & songwriter Andy "Dr. Bone" Galbiati, (pronounced "Galb-yah-tee") who put the band together in the fall of 2000, to provide a musical outlet beyond the vibrant New Orleans tourist trade of which he'd made his living off of for several years. "Dr. Bone" cut his teeth in the clubs on Bourbon Street, and the streets of New Orleans French Quarter, playing with some 20 different brass bands, most notably the Algiers Brass Band, which has served as a mentoring ground for several prominent young New Orleans musicians, among them Mardi Gras Indian Chief Smiley Ricks, Irvin Mayfied (founder of the Billboard award-winning Latin Jazz band Los Hombres Caliente), the members of the Hip-Hop/Bounce group Coolbone, and Andy "Dr. Bone" Galbiati. Dr. Bone's resume reads like a virtual who's-who of New Orleans music, having played (both formally & informally) with such luminaries as Charles Neville, Deacon John, & Harry Connick Jr., the Dirty Dozen, and dozens of other New Orleans & Lousiana Artists too numerous to list in full, here. Although he has, for many years, been one of the most in-demand horn players on the Gulf Coast, "Dr. Bone's" true passion lies in song writing & composing, having written more than 80 songs, tunes, compositions & jingles to his credit. Having worked as a music teacher & band director in the New Orleans public school system, Galbiati (or "Mr. G" as the kids call him) also sings & plays several instruments including piano, drums & percussion, tuba, harmonica, some guitar, and most brass & wind instruments. At the time Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, in 2005, Galbiati had been putting the finishing touches on a seven year self-produced studio project entitled "The Big Music Machine from New Orleans", which featured several large scale ensemble productions (and a score of special guests) of many of Dr.Bone's originals, alongside new interpretations of several New Orleans classics. In hopes of obtaining an Artist, Recording, or Production Deal that might help him to complete the release of the recording project, Dr. Bone evacuated to Nashville, and was featured alongside Country Music's Entertainer of the Year Keith Urban, on the 2006 CMT Awards, filming a live video shoot of Urban's smash hit "Better Life". The two were also featured on the cover of the music industry trade magazine "Radio & Records" April edition, that same year. For nearly a year & a half after Hurricane Katrina,Dr. Bone divided his time between recording & songwriting sessions in Nashville & whatever gigs he could scrape together in New Orleans, while the city slowly pulled itself back together. After having spent the better part of a year pursuing outlets for his songs, in Nashville, Galbiati moved back to New Orleans prior to the start of the 2007 Mardi Gras Carnival Season. Dr. Bone, like much of New Orleans, remains in a state of rebuilding, trying to put the pieces back together in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. While progress remains slow (New Orleans has long been known as "the Big Easy" for it's sometimes all-too-relaxed pace) & is further hindered by the struggling national economy, things are getting better all the time. Dr. Bone & the Hepcats continue to perform shows, as a band, & Galbiati also spends much of his time teaching & performing musical & arts-related (acting/theatre, dance & story telling) workshops in the New Orleans public schools. Although a few thousand copies of Galbiati & Dr. Bone & the Hepcats debut studio release "The Big Music Machine from New Orleans" have been sold off of the band stand &/or distributed to tourists from all corners of the globe, the project has yet to see it's official release & could benefit from the assistance of an Executive/Co-Producer, a licensing agreement, or an investment opportunity. For more information about Andy Galbiati, Dr. Bone & the Hepcats, or the Big Music Machine from New Orleans, email us at drbonethehepcats@myspace.com

Member Since:

November 11, 2009

Influences:

Neville Brothers, Chuck Mangione, Taj Mahal, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, Quincey Jones & his Orchestra, Tony Bennett, Sonny Rollins, Jerry Garcia, Willie Colon, Bob Marley, Ray Charles, Mac Rebbeneck/ Dr. John, Ry Cooder, Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Buena Vista Social Club, Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, Steven Stills, Neil Young, Hugh Masakela, the Beatles, Toots & the Maytells, the Mighty Sparrow, Arrow, Randy Newman, Grateful Dead, the Who, Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Jack Teagarden, Professor Longhair, Urbie Green, Gil Evans, Cream, Jelly Roll Morton, Jimi Hendrix, Algiers Brass Band, Curtis Fuller, Abdullah "Dollar Brand" Ibrahim, Mahlatini & the Mahotella Queens, Don Drummond, the Skatellites, Egg Yolk Jubilee, the Toasters, Bim Skala Bim, Cake, Prez Prado, Rebirth Brass Band, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Lou Sino, Burning Spear, Pete Seeger, Joe Cocker, the Clash, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Sydney Bechet, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Billy Joel, Jethro Tull, Flaco Jimenez, Eric Clapton, Cab Calloway, the Wild Tchoupitoulas, the Reverand Goat Carson, Tokulah, Victor Nech, Speedy, Joe College, Hellacious, "Machete Eddie" Bricker, AC-DC, Boston, KISS, the Reverand Nutt Spielman, Let's Go Bowling, the Late-Great Steve Mello, Lenny McDaniels, Curtis Johnson, Jerry Jumonville, Irvin Mayfield, Roswell Rudd, Leonard Bernstein, Sam Cooke, Donny Rasta & Roots Vibration, Dii Lewis, Steven Soundheim, Paul Robeson, Martin Luther King Jr., Steel Pulse, Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, John Sinclair, Sha Na Na, Abbie Hoffman, Jack Kerouac, Pink Floyd, Johnny Carson, Doc Severinson, , Animal (the Muppett), the Animals, the Police, Sting, Galt McDermott, Gerome Ragni, James Rado, Woody Allen, Idris Muhammed, John Belushi, Steve Cropper, Marvin Gaye, Holand-Dozier-Holland, Sydney Wyche III, Stevie Wonder, Ludwig Von Beethoven, Earth Wind & Fire, Otis Redding, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean "Dino" Martin, Bobby Darin, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Chic Corea, Steeley Dan, Los Gringos Caliente, Spyro Gyra, Michael Jackson, Pablo Cruise, Alice Cooper, ABBA, Danny Elfman, Coolbone, Chief Smiley Ricks, Fred Wesley, Kanye West, John Mayer, Ben Harper, Galactic Prophalactic, Ammon Shea, Evan Christopher, Barry Manilow, Bonerama, Harry Connick Jr., Hart McNee, Louis Jordan, Joe Willoughby, Van Halen, Louie Prima, Captain Garcia, Captain Midnight Band, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 3 Dawg Night, David Lee Roth, Chuck D & Public Enemy, Chuck Perkins, Queen Latifah, Jeff & Vida, the Lost & Wandering Bues & Jazz Band