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Saturday Night Live Band
The Saturday Night Live Band (referred to in the closing credits as The Live Band) is the house band of the NBC television program ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Role on ''Saturday Night Live'' The band consists of mostly jazz, R&B, and some rock musicians and features a strong horn section. They normally play the opening theme music (after the cold opening), musical pieces in between commercial breaks, and the closing theme music "Closing Theme (Waltz in A)," written by founding member Howard Shore. Often, the band will provide the music to a sketch when necessary. Band leaders and musical directors Musician and future Academy Award winning film composer Howard Shore was the original musical director and bandleader from 1975 until 1980. Singer and songwriter Kenny Vance (who appeared previously as a musical guest on the May 21, 1977 episode) became the musical director for the show's sixth season (1980–81). Original band member and trombonist Tom Malone took over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leon Pendarvis
Leroy Leon Pendarvis (born 1945) is an American session musician. He plays keyboards and is a background vocalist. He is also an occasional guitarist. The artists he has worked with over the years include Bonnie Raitt on her ''Streetlights'' album which was released in 1974, Van McCoy on his '' Disco Baby'' album which was released in 1975, Barbra Streisand on her ''Songbird'' album which was released in 1978, Eric Clapton on his ''August'' album which was released in 1986, Don Johnson on his '' Let It Roll'' album which was released in 1989, Avril Lavigne on her '' Keep Holding On'' album which was released on 2007, and many more. He was at one time a member of the group Passion. He is also the musical director and conductor for NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) Band. Since 1986 he has been a member of The Blues Brothers band. He was the husband of singer and chorist Janice Pendarvis (born Janice Gadsden), who sang for Roberta Flack, Sting, Philip Glass, David Bowie, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick Ebersol
Duncan "Dick" Ebersol (; born July 28, 1947) is an American television executive and a senior adviser for NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. He had previously been the chairman of NBC Sports, producing large-scale television events such as the Olympic Games and National Football League broadcasts. Early life Ebersol was born in Torrington, Connecticut, the son of Mary (née Duncan) and Charles Roberts Ebersol, a former chairman of the American Cancer Society. He and Josiah Bunting III are half-brothers. In 1967, aged 20, Ebersol began his long history with the Olympics when he temporarily dropped out of Yale University to join Roone Arledge and ABC Sports as television's first-ever Olympic researcher. Career Move to NBC In 1974, he joined NBC as Director of Weekend Late Night Programming. In 1975, at the suggestion of Paramount Pictures executive Barry Diller, Ebersol and NBC president Herbert Schlosser approached Lorne Michaels for help in creating a show to fill the Saturd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Johnson (jazz Musician)
Howard Lewis Johnson (August 7, 1941 – January 11, 2021) was an American jazz musician, known mainly for his work on tuba and baritone saxophone, although he also played the bass clarinet, trumpet, and other reed instruments. He is known to have expanded the tuba’s known capacities in jazz. Johnson was known for his extensive work as a sideman, notably with George Gruntz, Hank Crawford, and Gil Evans. As a leader, he fronted the tuba ensemble Gravity and released three albums during the 1990s for Verve Records; the first ''Arrival'', was a tribute to Pharoah Sanders. Biography Johnson was born in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, but from the age of two was raised in Massillon, Ohio. A self-taught musician, he began playing baritone saxophone and tuba while still in high school. After graduating in 1958, he served in the U.S. Navy before moving to Boston, where he lived with the family of the drummer Tony Williams. He then spent time in Chicago, where he met Eric Dolphy, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Cranshaw
Melbourne Robert Cranshaw (December 3, 1932 – November 2, 2016) was an American jazz bassist. His career spanned the heyday of Blue Note Records to his recent involvement with the Musicians Union. He is perhaps best known for his long association with Sonny Rollins. Cranshaw performed in Rollins's working band on and off for over five decades, starting with a live appearance at the 1959 Playboy jazz festival in Chicago and on record with the 1962 album '' The Bridge''. Cranshaw died at the age of 83 on November 2, 2016, in Manhattan, New York, from Stage IV cancer. Discography As sideman With Pepper Adams *''Pepper Adams Plays the Compositions of Charlie Mingus'' (Workshop Jazz, 1964) With Nat Adderley *'' Little Big Horn!'' ( Riverside, 1963) *''Sayin' Somethin''' (Atlantic, 1966) With Eric Alexander *'' Second Impression'' (HighNote, 2016) With Mose Allison *'' Hello There, Universe'' (Atlantic, 1970) With Gene Ammons *'' Gene Ammons and Friends at Montreux'' (Prestige, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and multi-instrumentalist who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both '' Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1993) and '' Late Show with David Letterman'' (1993–2015). Early years Shaffer was born in 1949 in Toronto, and raised in Fort William (now part of Thunder Bay), Ontario, Canada, the son of Shirley and Bernard Shaffer. His father, a lawyer, was a jazz aficionado while his mother loved show tunes. When Shaffer was 12, his parents took him on a trip to Las Vegas where they took in Nat King Cole and other shows; this was an experience Shaffer described later as "life changing" and led to his decision to become a performer. As a child, Shaffer took piano lessons, and in his teenage years played the organ in a band called Fabulous Fugitives with his schoolmates in Thunder Bay. Later, he performed with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With global sales of over 75 million records, Franklin is one of the world's best-selling music artists. As a child, Franklin was noticed for her gospel singing at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was a minister. At the age of 18, she was signed as a recording artist for Columbia Records. While her career did not immediately flourish, Franklin found acclaim and commercial success once she signed with Atlantic Records in 1966. Hit songs such as "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", " Respect", " (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "Chain of Fools", "Think", and "I Say a Little Prayer", propelled Franklin past her musical peers. Franklin continued to record acclaimed albums such as ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'', Aykroyd appeared in a recurring series of sketches about the Coneheads, and the Blues Brothers. For his work on the show he received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations winning for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series in 1977. After his departure, he has since returned in guest roles. Aykroyd gained prominence for writing, and starring as Dr. Raymond "Ray" Stantz in ''Ghostbusters'' (1984), which spawned an entire media franchise, reprising the role in '' Ghostbusters II'' (1989), ''Casper'' (1995), '' Ghostbusters: Afterlife'' (2021), and an upcoming sequel (2023), cameoing as a different character in '' Ghostbusters: Answer the Call'' (2016). He also is known for his comedic roles in ''Trading Places'' (1983), ''Spies Like U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his career, Belushi had a personal and artistic partnership with his fellow ''SNL'' star Dan Aykroyd, whom he met while they were both working at Chicago's Second City comedy club. Born in Chicago to Albanian-American parents, Belushi started his own comedy troupe with Tino Insana and Steve Beshekas, called "The West Compass Trio". After being discovered by Bernard Sahlins, he performed with The Second City and met Aykroyd, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Harold Ramis. In 1975, Chevy Chase and Michael O'Donoghue recommended Belushi to ''SNL'' creator and showrunner Lorne Michaels, who accepted him as a new cast member of the show after an audition. Belushi developed a series of characters on the show that reached great success, including his performa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respectively, as lead vocalist ' Joliet' Jake Blues and harmonica player/vocalist Elwood Blues, donning black suits with matching fedoras and sunglasses. The band was composed of well-known musicians, and debuted as the musical guest in a 1978 episode of ''Saturday Night Live'', opening the show performing "Hey Bartender", and later " Soul Man". In 1978, the band released their debut album, ''Briefcase Full of Blues'', and opened for the Grateful Dead at the closing of Winterland Arena in San Francisco. They gained further fame after spawning a Hollywood comedy film in 1980, ''The Blues Brothers''. After Belushi's death in 1982, the Blues Brothers continued to perform with a rotation of guest singers and other band members. The band reformed in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MTV Unplugged
''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Unplugged No. 2.0''. Since 2009, ''MTV Unplugged'' specials have aired occasionally, sometimes online only. Episodes and specials have tended to showcase one artist or group, playing a combination of their hit songs and covers. Many of the artists who appeared on the show in the 1990s released their ''Unplugged'' session as an album, and some of these albums were commercial and critical hits. Eric Clapton's ''Unplugged (Eric Clapton album), Unplugged'' (1992) sold 26 million copies worldwide and became the best-selling live album of all time. Other ''Unplugged'' albums that went platinum include Mariah Carey's ''MTV Unplugged (Mariah Carey EP), MTV Unplugged'' (1992), Rod Stewart's ''Unplugged...and Seated'' (1993), 10,000 Maniacs' ''MTV Unp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Young (saxophonist)
George Ernest Young (Philadelphia, PA, 10 July 1937)Feather, Leonard; Ira Gitler''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' Oxford University Press, 2007. . At Google Books. Retrieved 14 November 2019. is an American jazz saxophonist. After leading his own band in the late 1950s, Young became a New York City session and studio musician in the 1960s and joined several line-ups including Mike Mainieri's jazz-rock big band White Elephant Orchestra, as well as later joining the Saturday Night Live Band. In 1982, along with fellow saxophonists Dave Sanborn, Ronnie Cuber, Young was voted one of the Most Valued Players by the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences' annual awards edition. Young has led his own quartets featuring Harold Danko, Rick Laird and Butch Miles (early 1980s) and another quartet, featuring Warren Bernhardt, Tony Marino and Tom Whaley (early 1990s). Discography As leader * 1962: ''Presenting the Unbelieveable George Young'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whistle register. Carey rose to fame in 1990 with her debut album '' Mariah Carey''. She was the first artist to have their first five singles reach number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, from "Vision of Love" to "Emotions". For the enduring popularity of her holiday music, particularly the 1994 Christmas song " All I Want for Christmas Is You", she has also been dubbed the "Queen of Christmas". Carey's self-titled debut album was released under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, who married her three years later. She gained further worldwide success with the albums ''Music Box'' (1993) and ''Daydream'' (1995), with singles including "Hero", " Without You", "Fantasy", "Always Be My Baby", and "One Sweet Day", which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
