Bone2pick is BACK with our 100th, yes 100th!!!, interview. At our viewers’ request, Michael will assume the role of interviewee as opposed to his normal gig as interviewer. Michael sits down with lifelong friend and bass trombonist extraordinaire Jim Martin to discuss growing up in the bay area, the Eastman years, joining Buddy Rich’s band, his lengthy tenure with Frank Sinatra, a career changing 15 years with the Rolling Stones, loads of recording work in New York, the process of developing his signature trombones with the great S.E. Shires Co., the recently released Michael Davis model Laskey mouthpieces and of course his baby, Hip-Bone Music. Happy 100 everyone and big thanks for your continued support!

Bone2pick kicks off 2025 by welcoming bass trombone virtuoso George Curran to the series. George has been the bass trombonist of the New York Philharmonic since 2013. Prior to that, he held the same position with the Atlanta Symphony for eight years. He has performed with the orchestras of Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Detroit, Cincinnati, and Hong Kong. He is active as a soloist and chamber musician. His signature bass trombone is produced by the S.E. Shires Company. Enjoy!

Bone2pick welcomes back JazzTimes International Critics #1 trombonist Ryan Keberle. We sit down for our 98th interview to discuss Ryan’s extraordinary career, including his extensive work as a bandleader, his 14 albums as a leader, his years as a featured soloist with the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, his work as an esteemed educator at both Hunter College and the Manhattan School of Music and finally his ability to listen. Candid and insightful, don’t miss this sit down with one of the great trombonists of all-time.

Bone2pick is back up and running with a fantastic sit down featuring one of the most respected and in demand bass players on the international jazz scene, the great Jay Anderson. Jay generously shares his thoughts and memories of growing up in Southern California, his early professional years with Woody Herman and Carmen McRae, his many years anchoring the bass chairs of the Grammy Award winning Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra and Bob Mintzer Big Band, his longtime association with Joe Sample and his vast amounts of touring and recording with the likes of Michael Brecker, John Scofield, Kenny Wheeler, Michael Franks, Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Allen Ginsberg, among many others. Enjoy!

Hip-Bone Music and bone2pick are proud to present an important and enlightening interview with two of Broadway’s most respected musicians, musical director extraordinaire Julie McBride and top call NYC French hornist Judy Yin-Chi Lee. Julie and Judy sit down with Michael at Maestra Music headquarters in Manhattan to discuss their exceptional careers, working together at Moulin Rouge!, mentoring, and the significant and dynamic work being done at Maestra Music. Enjoy!

Hip-Bone Music is back and kicks off our 2023 season with an energizing sit down featuring one of today’s true virtuoso trombonists, Mr. Peter Steiner. Peter touches on growing up in Bolzano, Italy, studying in Austria and eventually at the Juilliard School, performing with the Vienna Philharmonic, NY Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, and becoming the premier trombone soloist in world today. Enjoy!

Hip-Bone Music hits the road for a bone2pick sit down at the 2022 Shirespalooza event in Holliston, MA. Shot in front of a live audience at the newly expanded S.E. Shires factory, the interview features two stars of the Shires family – director of Sales and Marketing Samantha Lane and product specialist Alexis Smith. Sam and Alexis discuss their individual roles in the company, the tremendous growth they helped usher in, the new products being developed and basically all things Shires. An insightful sit down with two dynamic leaders in the brass manufacturing business. Enjoy!

Hip-Bone Music proudly kicks off our summer season with a dynamic sit down featuring one of the world’s preeminent trombone teachers, Professor Mark Lusk. Filmed at Penn State University during the 31st annual Fruhling Posaunen festival, Mark touches on a myriad of interesting and important topics including how he built the PSU low brass department into one of the nation’s premier programs, what it was like to sit in the legendary Chicago Symphony Orchestra brass section, his time on the great Woody Herman Band, the impact his travels and teaching in Cuba, Chile and Argentina have had on him as a teacher and performer, and how much it meant to him to study at the Eastman School of Music. Enjoy!

Bone2pick proudly presents an inspiring and enlightening sit down with one of the first couples of brass and jazz, Ms. Kiku Collins and Mr. David Gibson. Two of the most in-demand brass players on the international music scene, Kiku and David graciously share the ups and downs of their incredible journey as musicians and as a couple. A rare look inside two extraordinary careers. Enjoy!

Hip-Bone Music is proud to release this month’s bone2pick interview with trombone virtuoso Lisa Albrecht. Lisa graciously discusses a variety of topics and highlights from her illustrious career including the early years in the San Antonio Symphony, becoming the first woman appointed to the brass section of the New York Philharmonic, returning home and joining the Rochester Philharmonic, crafting a successful career as a soloist and chamber musician and how one goes about becoming an Adirondack 46er. Enjoy!

Hip-Bone Music kicks off our 2022 bone2pick season with an insightful sit down featuring the two trombone professors at the prestigious Eastman School of Music, Mark Kellogg and Larry Zalkind. Mark and Larry discuss their illustrious careers as teachers and performers, how to build and nurture a successful program, developing solid relationships with students and administrators alike, and the very rich history of the trombone studio at the Eastman School. Filmed at the Eastman School in Rochester, NY. Enjoy!

David Finck by Hip-BoneMusic

Hip-Bone Music welcomes one of New York’s most in-demand, most versatile and most virtuosic drummers, the great Jared Schonig, to our bone2pick series. Jared has recently released an astounding 2 CD set entitled Two Takes volume 1: Quintet & volume 2: Big Band. Featuring an all-star cast of New York’s finest musicians, Two Takes is already garnering critical acclaim and strong presence at jazz radio. In addition to his work as a soloist, Jared has toured and recorded with Nicolas Payton, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Donny McCaslin, Darcy James Argue, Tom Harrell, Kurt Elling and the New York Voices, to name just a few. A fresh and inspiring perspective on being a jazz artist, balancing the creative side with making a living, and what it takes to play drums on a Broadway show. Enjoy!

Bone2pick heads back to school with an exhilarating sit down featuring one of the best all-around tuba players in the history of the instrument, Mr. Marcus Rojas. Marcus has added his distinctive tuba sound to every conceivable style of music including performances and recordings with the Metropolitan Opera, Yo Yo Ma, Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, Michael Jackson, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Paul Simon, Sting, Dave Douglas, George Russell, Gil Evans, Wayne Shorter, New York City Ballet, to name but a few. He has over 60 motion picture soundtracks to his credit, as well as countless jingles and dozens of Broadway shows. He is an avid proponent of contemporary classical and improved music and is currently on faculty at the Berklee College of Music, Boston Conservatory and the New School. Enjoy!

Bone2pick is back!! We are thrilled to be back and are diving in with a long overdue sit-down featuring one of the world’s greatest French horn players, Mr. Chris Komer. Chris has crafted two distinguished careers over the past three decades as one of New York City’s top freelance horn players and one of the most in-demand orchestral French horn players anywhere in the world. Currently principal horn of the New Jersey Symphony, Chris has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony and the Houston Symphony Orchestra. His recording and touring credits in the jazz and commercial world includes J.J. Johnson, McCoy Tyner, Natalie Cole, Herbie Hancock, Harry Connick Jr., Barbra Streisand, Sting, Audra McDonald and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He has performed on dozens of motion picture soundtracks, Broadway shows and television commercials. He is instructor of horn at Princeton University. Enjoy!

Hip-Bone Music is thrilled to present our first bone2pick interview since the pandemic started in March. We welcome the great Marshall Gilkes to the show for our 85th bone2pick interview. Having just released his 6th CD as a solo artist (Waiting To Continue), Marshall sits down with MD to discuss the new recording, playing with the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, his new appointment as lead trombonist of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, recording his own big band projects with the WDR band in Cologne, Germany, teaching at the Manhattan School of Music and navigating through the new normal of the music business. Inspiring and enlightening. Enjoy!

Hip-Bone Music proudly brings an international flavor to our bone2pick series with a dynamic sit down featuring two of New York’s finest trumpet players, Raul Agraz and Maneco Ruiz. A native of Venezuela, Raul shares his thoughts on crafting a successful playing career in his native country and then repeating that in New York, his exceptional ability to fit into any and all musical environments, holding down the first trumpet chair on a long running hit Broadway show and developing his voice as a solo artist. The pride of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Maneco looks back on growing up in a family of trumpet players, the influence his late teacher Prof Fielder had on him, the keys to approaching latin music and how he became one of New York’s most versatile and in demand trumpet players. Great insights from two class acts. Enjoy!

We are thrilled to round out our 2019 bone2pick season featuring one of the most acclaimed and in-demand trumpet players on the international jazz scene, the great Jim Rotondi. We caught up with Jim a few weeks back when he was in New York playing at Dizzy’s. He was gracious enough to sit down with us and discuss his very musical upbringing in Montana, the formative North Texas years, the early days of being in New York and landing his first major gig with Ray Charles, forging his successful solo career, co-founding the super group One For All and making the move to Graz, Austria to become professor of jazz trumpet at the University of Music & Dramatic Arts. A wonderful way to cap off the holiday season. Enjoy!

Celebrate March Madness Hip-Bone Music style with an inspiring, energizing and extremely entertaining sit down featuring the master of all things hard bop and beyond, jazz trombone legend Steve Davis. Stevie D takes us through his extraordinary three decade long journey at the forefront of the international jazz scene with insights on the many ways Jackie McLean changed his life, being in Art Blakey’s last Jazz Messengers band, forming the cooperative sextet One for All, recording and touring with Chick Corea, sitting next to Freddie Hubbard, becoming friends with Lord (Cedar) Walton and much more. Great stories and memories from one of the true masters of the music. Enjoy! Check out our video lesson series at: http://vimeo.com/hipbonemusic/vod_pages

Happy New Year from Hip-Bone Music! We are thrilled to kick off our 2019 with an inspiring and energizing sit down featuring the great Carol Jantsch. Principal Tuba of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2006, Carol shares her extraordinary journey from winning the position in Philly while still a senior at the University of Michigan (and not getting into Tanglewood that same year), to forging a path as a tuba soloist, forming her tuba/euph cover band Tubular, starting a non profit called Tubas for Good to help students in Philadelphia get quality tubas and of course, winning a tuba throwing competition. Kick off your new year right with this super enjoyable interview! Check out our video lesson series at: http://vimeo.com/hipbonemusic/vod_pages