By the time he was twelve, California native Matt Perrine was already an accomplished trombonist, bassist, and arranger, and before he finished high school he had played with the Artie Shaw Orchestra. He moved to New Orleans in 1992 and quickly became a staple of the city’s music community — a triple threat on sousaphone, upright bass, and electric bass whose versatility runs from jazz, rock, and funk to Dixieland, Latin, and swing.
Perrine is a co-founder of the New Orleans Nightcrawlers, serving as the brass band’s tubist, chief composer, and arranger. He is also a founding member of the Tin Men alongside songwriter Alex McMurray and washboard player Washboard Chaz — the trio’s debut, Super Great Music for Modern Lovers, was nominated for Album of the Year by the Big Easy Awards. And since 1998 he has held down the low end for Bonerama, the brass-funk-rock outfit formed by trombonists Mark Mullins and Craig Klein, returning to the lineup in 2013.
As a bandleader, Perrine released Sunflower City in 2007 — one of the first albums on the fan-funded Threadhead Records label, named “Best CD of 2007” by WWOZ — followed by Bayou Road Suite in 2010. His session credits stretch from Dr. John, Kermit Ruffins, John Boutté, and Pete Fountain to Ani DiFranco, Bruce Hornsby, and Eric Clapton, and he served as a performer and consultant on HBO’s Treme.
