Tom Malone (musician)

Tom "Bones" Malone, born June 16, 1947, is an American jazz musician. He plays trumpet, tuba, tenor sax, baritone sax, flutes, piccolo, and other instruments, but as his nickname implies, he specializes in the trombone.

He is famous for being a member of The Blues Brothers band and a member of the CBS Orchestra, the house band for the "Late Show with David Letterman".

Biography

Malone was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He graduated from North Texas State University along with fellow Blues Brothers bandmate Lou Marini. He began his professional career on a job playing lead trumpet with Brenda Lee at a club in Jackson, MS, while enrolled at The University of Southern Mississippi. In response to a call from Warren Covington, leader of The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, he expanded into contracting musicians. After transferring to North Texas State University, Malone continued working as both a player and a contractor for a variety of groups. Upon graduation, Malone worked in bands of Woody Herman (1969), Duke Pearson (1970), Louie Bellson (1971), Doc Severinsen , Blood, Sweat & Tears (1973) and Frank Zappa (1976). In 1973, Malone began a close, 15-year association with Gil Evans, who exerted considerable musical influence on him. With Evans, Malone recorded seven albums and toured Europe, Japan and the Far East.

A call in the early 1970s from "Saturday Night Live" (SNL), a new, revolutionary, late-night comedy show on NBC, proved highly fruitful for Malone, who arranged for the show from 1975 to 1985. A single SNL comedy skit featuring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd mushroomed into The Blues Brothers; Malone wrote the chart for that first skit, then continued as an integral member of the Blues Brothers musical organization. His writing and performance may be found on all Blues Brothers recordings and in The Blues Brothers film score. In the movie he appears as a fictionalized version of himself. In 1993, Malone reunited with SNL veterans Paul Shaffer (keyboards), and Will Lee, (bass), in the CBS Orchestra. In 1997, Blues Brothers 2000 and the film score includes considerable contribution by Malone.

In 1992, Malone toured with Willy DeVille; he can be heard on DeVille's "Willy DeVille Live" album.

Malone joined the CBS Orchestra on November 1, 1993, and has contributed more than 350 arrangements to the "Late Show".

As a studio musician, he has been heard on more than 350 records and in more than 3000 radio and television commercials. Malone has also played themes for "CBS This Morning", "Murder, She Wrote", and the 1992 Olympic Winter Games, all on the CBS Television Network. His solo album, "Soul Bones," features guest appearances by Paul Shaffer and Blues Traveler's John Popper.

Malone's feature-film credits include "The Blues Brothers", "The Last Waltz", and "Blues Brothers 2000".

Malone frequently performs with Beatles tribute band The Fab Faux (as part of The Hogshead Horns) along with fellow CBS Orchestra member Will Lee (bassist).

External links

* [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=2700 Tom Malone profile] at AllAboutJazz.com