Another thing that surprised me was that longtime trombonist Matt Finders was not on the show tonight - especially since last year, on Jay's "first goodbye" show, Jay made a point of singling out Matt and introducing his (now teenaged) daughter. I could have sworn I'd seen Matt as part of the band after Jay's return to "Tonight," but maybe I'm mistaken.
Without Matt, this means that only Kevin Eubanks and Vicki Randle remained from the Branford Marsalis-led band on Jay's 1992 debut. The clips last night were pretty well-chosen - I especially liked the first clip, the self-mocking "oath" routine (apparently taken from the first time Kevin sat in for Branford as bandleader). But I was disappointed that there was little acknowledgment of Smitty's role as a skit player. I only sat in Jay's studio audience once, back in 1998. I must say that I had been disappointed by the band on TV; after Kevin took over for Branford, they really cut back on the number of songs they played, and their repertoire became very repetitive. They also showed very little imagination with their "play on" music for when a guest walked on; for instance, I came to dread every appearance by one of the stars of "Friends" because the band played the same bland, peppy arrangement of the "Friends" theme each time. (I still recall with fondness when Ross Perot appeared with Jay in 1993, and Branford played him on with Miles Davis' "So What?" That's a level of wit that Kevin never even attempted.) Yet I was very impressed by the band live, especially by Kevin's playing. He can play stinging, melodic leads as well as anyone, but there was never any of the theatrics I associate with modern music - none of those ridiculous facial expressions that say "boy, this is hard." Even Sid McGinnis of the CBS Orchestra does that, but Kevin doesn't. He may have tried for laughs during the show, but when it came to his music, Kevin was no nonsense - he worked really hard on the music, and he made it look effortless. I'm kind of dreading the musical changes too, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. -Tim On May 29, 1:31 am, "Kevin M." <[email protected]> wrote: > Holy Sh*t! > > I did not know that. > > That means Monday's "Tonight Show Band" is starting from square one. > Vicki, Smitty, and Gerry were all immensely talented, and they were > kind to us pee-ons at NBC. To me, this marks the end of a musical era. > A great jazz band is being removed from the broadcast airwaves and > being replaced by a bandleader with pop sensibilities and whatever > "American Idol" hackery he brings with him. > > http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100529/ap_en_tv/us_tv_tonight_eubanks > > I will watch tonight's show when it is put up on Hulu. And I wish the > now-former band members success and happiness. > -- > Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
