Michael Monroe Merritt (born July 28, 1955) is an American

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

best known for playing with the Conan O'Brien house bands:

The Max Weinberg 7 Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band was the house band for Conan O'Brien's late-night talk show '' Conan'' from its debut on November 8, 2010 to the final episode of its 60-minute format October 4, 2018. Guitarist and arranger Jimmy Vivino ...

on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

'' in New York, Max Weinberg and The Tonight Show Band on ''

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, as part of NBC's ''Tonight Show'' franchise. O'Brien had previously hosted NBC's ''Late N ...

'' in Los Angeles, and The Basic Cable Band on '' Conan'' also in Los Angeles. Merritt was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. His father is jazz bassist

Jymie Merritt Jymie Merritt (May 3, 1926 – April 10, 2020) was an American jazz double-bassist, electric-bass pioneer, band leader and composer. Merritt was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers group from 1957 until 1962. The same year he left Blakey's b ...

, who has performed and recorded with many jazz and blues musicians, most notably

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

and the

Jazz Messengers The Jazz Messengers were a jazz combo that existed for over thirty-five years beginning in the early 1950s as a collective, and ending when long-time leader and founding drummer Art Blakey died in 1990. Blakey led or co-led the group from the o ...

. Mike began lessons on upright with Eligio Rossi then studies with percussionist/composer Warren McLendon. Although his father was primarily an upright bass player, he also owned a 1964 Fender Jazz Bass which Mike felt was the instrument he was meant to play. During this time Mike absorbed a number of influences ranging from jazz to rhythm and blues to blues to rock. After playing in a jazz group called Forerunner/Nuclei, Mike moved to New York in 1980 at the suggestion of the members of the Jazz Messengers. It was here that he began playing with blues legend

Johnny Copeland John Clyde Copeland (March 27, 1937 – July 3, 1997) was an American Texas blues guitarist and singer. In 1983, he was named Blues Entertainer of the Year by the Blues Foundation. He is the father of blues singer Shemekia Copeland. In 2017, Co ...

and continued through 1989. While on the road with Copeland, he backed up

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

pianist Johnnie Johnson which led to Mike working with him off and on for the next several years. It was also around this time that Mike started gigging around the New York scene where he regularly played with future members of

. In 1993, guitarist

Jimmy Vivino Jimmy Vivino (born January 10, 1955) is an American guitarist, keyboard player, singer, producer, and music director. He is best known as having been the leader of Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band, the house band for the TBS late night ...

called Mike about a group being put together by

Max Weinberg Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' a ...

to audition for the house band on what would become ''

''. The band was there for the entire run of the show and its successors. Mike plays a variety of basses including

Rickenbacker Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a range ...

Lakland Lakland Guitars is an American manufacturer of electric bass guitars based in Chicago, Illinois. The company's first bass combined elements of the Fender Jazz Bass and the Music Man StingRay. The company's current line-up includes basses inspire ...

, Fender, Hofner, the Zeta Crossover bass and a 1935 Kurt Moenning 3/4’ Acoustic Bass.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Merritt, Mike 1955 births Living people American bass guitarists The Max Weinberg 7 members Guitarists from Philadelphia 20th-century American guitarists Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band members The Tonight Show Band members