Steve Carell / Usher
House Band
From SNLWiki
Contents |
Montage Controversy
For some reason they are not credited in the opening montage and haven't been given as much on-air time as in the past.
House Band
A live band is a late-night show staple, so it was natural for Lorne Michaels to want a band when he was putting SNL together back in 1974. But unlike other late-night shows where the band members wore tuxedoes and played music that could fit nicely into a society function, this band was to be different. This is why Lorne recruited his friend and fellow Canadian Howard Shore to assemble a group of top-notch musicians who would play music with a decidedly harder edge.
Shore started with Paul Shaffer on piano, another Canadian transplant that would later go on to fame as Dave Letterman’s sidekick, and hired Cheryl Hardwick on organ – Cheryl would remain with the SNL band for 20 years. The talented Shaffer had a lot to do with the sound of the early SNL band, an influence that has spilled over to today. He wrote music for the group and even appeared in a number of sketches. For that matter, Shore could be seen from time-to-time getting his own share of the limelight. Who could forget “Howard Shore and His All Nurse Band”?
With the backbone of Shaffer and Hardwick in place, Shore added a gutsy horn and rhythm section, ending up with a driving blues band that could get as down and dirty as the best of them. Shore even helped Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi recruit the top-notch musicians who became the backing band for The Blues Brothers.
In 1980, Tom Malone took over the band for five years. Shore returned in 1985 and assembled a brand new crew, though he left two years later to focus on his film-scoring career. Today, Howard Shore is one of the most active composers in the film business. In 2004, he won an Academy Award for his work as the composer for “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” He is also well known for his work on dozens of other films, including those by director David Cronenberg.
In 1987, G. E. Smith took over as musical director, keeping that position for 8 years until the band turned over again in 1995 when Lenny Pickett replaced G. E. Smith as the band’s leader and Cheryl Hardwick moved on to other things.
Even though the SNL band has gone though many changes over the years, one thing has always remained the same: the SNL band has always been one of the top ensembles working in television, producing gutsy, bluesy, original music that perfectly matches the gutsy, bluesy, original comedy taking place on stage.
Erin MacDonald, Guitar/Cowbell/Amazing
Erin MacDonald is a pimp, end of story.
Ron Blake, Baritone Sax/Flute
If it’s true that you can judge a man by the company he keeps, then Ron Blake would certainly earn the esteem of music fans everywhere… not only from the jazz audiences that have come to know his work with such artists as Roy Hargrove, Art Farmer and, more recently the Christian McBride Band, but from fans of Latin rock, who know him as a featured soloist with 2005 Grammy nominees Yerba Buena, and for his performances with Me’Shell Ndegeocello’s band, Spirit Music Jamia, whose “Dance of the Infidel” was a 2006 Grammy nominee.
Blake brings the same eclectic approach that has caught the attention of such a wide array of musical talents to his solo work, most recently on display on his 2005 Mack Avenue release, “Sonic Tonic”. Produced by Ndegeocello, “Sonic Tonic” traverses the multi-textured terrain of the jazz landscape, fusing funk, Latin and Caribbean rhythms with the more traditional jazz sound that marked Blake’s 2003 critically acclaimed release, “Lest We Forget.” In the 2006 Village Voice "Pazz & Jop" critics poll, “Sonic Tonic,” along with Yerba Buena’s “Island Life” and Spirit Music Jamia’s “Dance of the Infidel,” made the Top Ten lists of music critics from all over U.S.
In October of 2005, Blake joined the prestigious “Saturday Night Live” Band, whose legacy as a part of the longest running show on network television and whose members, past and present, continue to be an important part of many facets of the music industry.
2006 also marked Blake’s debut as a producer. He co-produced the debut release for bassist Reuben Rogers, who has played with Joshua Redman, Dianne Reeves, and Charles Lloyd as well as on “Sonic Tonic” and Blake’s debut release, “Up Front and Personal.”
Born on September 7, in the Virgin Islands, Blake began playing guitar at age 8, switching to alto sax by the time he was 10. After graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, Blake entered Northwestern University in Illinois, where he received the Presidential Award for outstanding artistic and academic achievement.
His dreams of a career in jazz began to take shape in the summer of 1987, when he was in St. Thomas teaching in summer music programs. At the first Virgin Islands Jazz Festival, he met and played with Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby Hutcherson, Gary Bartz, Jimmy Hamilton and many of the local musicians.
Upon graduating from Northwestern, Blake immersed himself in Chicago’s jazz scene; during this time he also began taking interest in the tenor sax, working with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra and performing with such artists as Nancy Wilson, Louis Bellson, and Clark Terry. His main influence and mentor during this period was the legendary saxophonist Von Freeman.
In 1990, Blake left Chicago and moved to Tampa, Florida, where he was appointed Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of South Florida and performed with the Florida Symphony Orchestra, while making frequent trips to New York City, where he sat in with Branford Marsalis at the Village Vanguard, as well as pianists Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Kirkland. After permanently relocating to New York City in 1992, Blake joined the Roy Hargrove Quintet (through 1997) and quickly became one of the most sought after jazz saxophonists on the scene. He has performed at major jazz festivals and clubs internationally, and has been fortunate to share the stage with such jazz greats as Johnny Griffin (special guest on Ron's debut solo release), Stanley Turrentine, Bobby Hutcherson, Roy Haynes (Blake spent four years in his band,) and Ray Brown. Blake has made over 40 jazz recordings with his contemporaries as well as legendary artists such as Benny Golson, Jimmy Smith, Dianne Reeves, Shirley Horn, Abbey Lincoln, Betty Carter, Arthur Taylor, and Art Farmer, playing as a member of the Art Farmer Quintet for seven years.
Blake’s new release on Mack Avenue is scheduled for a June 2007 release. Produced by pianist Michael Cain, it will feature trio settings of Blake and Cain with special guests Regina Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Gilmar Gomes, and Christian McBride.
