KEVIN EUBANKS

Leaving the Tonight Show behind him, a jazz guitar master looks ahead

By Jeff Tamarkin

When a 30-foot hole opened up in the basement of Kevin Eubanks’ home in the notoriously unstable terrain of Hollywood, he wasn’t sure what to do at first. “It was a massive problem with my house,” he says. “I didn’t know whether I was going to sell it or rebuild the foundation.” A contractor suggested it might be a nice place to build a home studio. “It went in one ear and out the other,” he recalls, “but as I started adding up the numbers it stuck in the back of my head and I said, ‘He’s got a point.’” Now Eubanks is the proud owner of Spirit Studio, a state-of-the-art facility with the most convenient location possible.

But then, Eubanks is a pro at making the most of a difficult situation. When saxophonist Branford Marsalis left his position as leader of the Tonight Show band in 1995, guitarist Eubanks was suddenly thrust into the spotlight. But his easy repartee with host Jay Leno proved a crowd-pleaser, and Eubanks guided one of TV’s best house bands for 15 years. Now he is once again at a turning point in his career, having left the Tonight Show to pursue his own music full time. His first post-Tonight offering is the new Zen Food, an instrumental album that showcases his exceptional chops and compositional skills.

Not that Eubanks hadn’t been making records during his Tonight Show tenure. By the time he became a late-night fixture, the Philadelphia native was already established as an innovative jazz artist with several albums to his name, and he continued to release new music when time permitted. His latest features crackerjack backing from saxophonist Bill Pierce, keyboardist Gerry Etkins (who penned the one track Eubanks didn’t, “G.G.”), bassist Rene Camacho and drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith. The easygoing, good-natured manner that audiences loved on the Tonight Show was fully evident as Eubanks discussed his life and career with us.

When did you get into jazz?

Probably when I was about 17. It was a barrage once it hit. I started digging my dad’s Jimmy Smith and Kenny Burrell records. It wasn’t like it is now, where you just turn on your computer and click on it. We were still going to record stores back then, or I would dig something out of the closet. One thing led to the next. I went to school at Berklee College and everything fell into place after that. I was influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Oscar Peterson, Freddie Hubbard, Art Blakey, Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith. They all represent schools of their own. Once you go deeper into them, you go deeper into music. You come out the other side with more than you went in with.

How is it having your own studio?

The only difference for me is that people come to my house instead of me going somewhere else. I have a Neve board, the same I’ve always recorded on. I don’t like to call it a “home studio,” because it was built, constructed and designed by the same people that do professional studios in L.A. It’s not what people think of as a home studio, where you kick it in the side and it’ll start working.

Has it changed the way you work?

I still don’t like recording in a studio. I thought that would change because it’s mine, and I’ve got pictures of my family in the booth. But as soon as it’s time to record there’s still this edge of nervousness, this feeling of, “It’s got to be perfect this time.” I can’t seem to shake that unless I’m doing a live gig, and then I don’t really care.

What’s your guitar setup like?

I use Abe Rivera guitars and a Martin acoustic. They’re all made for me. I’m holding one of them on the new album cover. The amp I use is actually a preamp called the DMS. I had it custom made. It’s designed by a guy named Bruce Seifried. And as far as effects, I use a volume and a distortion pedal, that’s it.

How did you adapt to backing different artists on the Tonight Show?

One day B.B. King is on, the next it’s Clint Black. And after a while you think, it’s all music. Hopefully with your background or your belief in music and your talent, you can play this and you can play that without the cliché-ness. Over the years I’ve gotten much closer to different kinds of music, like country, bluegrass and definitely the blues.

How did you learn adaptability?

I’ve always been that way. A lot of people think I grew up playing jazz. I did not. I grew up playing Grand Funk Railroad, Chicago, Sly and the Family Stone, Kool and the Gang, James Brown and Marvin Gaye. My mom was all gospel and classical, my uncle [jazz pianist Ray Bryant] played, so it was just a matter of time before I started getting into other kinds of music.

Did a guest ever throw you off?

Yeah, but you learn how to let things roll off your back. There’s only so much you’ll take from a guest. Sometimes when a guest segment is going bad, you have to protect yourself. You realize that you do have a character and you stay within it, but you still say what you have to say and get your point across without compromising the job you’re doing. But it takes time to get the experience to do that properly.

How did you get the Tonight Show gig?

I’d never thought about being on TV, but Branford asked me if I wanted to be in the band and I said yes. Then he split and I was asked if I wanted to be the bandleader. I was nervous at first. The first day I was doing it my face broke out in a million bumps. I told the makeup guy, “Don’t worry, it will pass.”

Does Jay know a lot about music?

I don’t think Jay knows that much about music. He would say, “You know music, I know cars. You know broccoli, I know pizza.” He knows music up to about 1969. But in a strange way we respected that about each other. And it worked out because we stayed out of each other’s way. Every now and then he would say, “Do you know this song? What do you think about doing that with this guest?” That was very seldom, so I always obliged him. We were opposites in some ways, but as soon as we hit the stage we were together because we love what we do and we trusted each other.

Who are your audiences?

Whenever I do a gig, the audience is filled with different age groups who want to hear what they hope is good music. And you get a lot of people coming from that television audience into the concert and the club, where they perhaps haven’t gone before. They come because they want to see you, they feel like they know you.

What did you learn from the show?

Wow, that’s a whole different interview—there’s so much. But one thing for sure is that I’ve learned a lot about TV and I want to continue with it to some extent. It can be very rewarding, and I feel so comfortable in a TV studio. I really want to develop a cooking show.

Do you meet people who don’t know you had a career before Tonight?

There are plenty who don’t. They don’t watch the Tonight Show for music. People would come up to me at the show and say, “Have you ever thought about doing a CD? Because you sound really good.” I take that as a compliment.