Saturday Night Live Band

Saturday Night Live Band
Also known as	The Live Band NBC Saturday Night Live Band NBC Live Band
Origin	New York City, U.S.
Years active	1975–present
Members	Leon Pendarvis Alex Foster Lenny Pickett Steve Turre Christine Ohlman Shawn Pelton Valerie Naranjo James Genus Ron Blake Tuffus Zimbabwe Maddie Rice Summer Camargo
Past members	See below

TheSaturday Night Live Band(referred to in the closing credits asThe Live Band) is the house band of theNBCtelevision programSaturday Night Live(SNL).

Role onSaturday Night Live

The band consists of mostlyjazz,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 memberHoward Shore.Often, the band will provide the music to a sketch when necessary.

Band leaders and musical directors

Musician and futureAcademy Awardwinning film composerHoward Shorewas the original musical director and bandleader from 1975 until 1980. Singer and songwriterKenny 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 trombonistTom Malonetook over leadership duties under executive producerDick Ebersol's tenure from 1981 to 1985.Hall & OatesguitaristG.E. Smithcame on board as the new musical director once original producerLorne Michaelsreturned and stayed in that position until 1995 when lead saxophonistLenny Pickettwas promoted as bandleader. Katreese Barnesalso served as the music director for a time, around the year 2000. KeyboardistLeon Pendarvis(who has been a member of the band since 1980) is also 2nd musical director alongside Pickett.

Other projects

Mariah Careyutilized the horn section of the Saturday Night Live Band (Lew Delgatto,Lenny Pickett,George Young,Earl Gardner, andSteve Turre) for her performance of "If It's Over" during her 1992MTV Unpluggedspecial.

Tom Malone, Lou Marini, and Alan Rubin were members of theBlues Brothersband fronted bySNLcast membersJohn BelushiandDan Aykroyd.They were also featured in thefirst Blues Brothers movie,with Malone as a member of fictional lounge act "Murph and the Magic Tones," Rubin as maitre d' of an expensive French restaurant, and Marini as a fry cook atAretha Franklin's soul food restaurant.Paul Shafferwas also involved in early Blues Brothers performances, but had scheduling conflicts and could not appear in the film, untilthe sequel.

Members

Current members

• Leon Pendarvis– keyboards, musical director (1980–present)
• Alex Foster– alto saxophone (1985–90, 1995–present)
• Lenny Pickett– tenor saxophone, musical director (1985–present)
• Steve Turre– trombone (1985–present)
• Christine Ohlman– vocals (1991–present)
• Shawn Pelton– drums (1992–present)
• Valerie Naranjo– percussion (1995–present)
• James Genus– bass guitar (2000–present)
• Ron Blake– baritone saxophone, flute (2005–present)
• Tuffus Zimbabwe – keyboards (2010–present)
• Maddie Rice– electric guitar (2020–present)
• Summer Camargo – trumpet (2022–present)

Musical directors

• Howard Shore(1975–1980)
• Kenny Vance(1980–1981)
• Tom Malone(1981–1985)
• G.E. Smith(1985–1995)
• Lenny Pickett(1995–present)

Past members

Founders

• Bob Cranshaw– bass guitar (1975–80; died 2016)
• Lew Del Gatto – baritone saxophone (1975–79, 1985–2005)
• Cheryl Hardwick – keyboards (1975–80, 1985–2000; guest 2015)
• Howard Johnson– bass saxophone, tuba (1975–80; died 2021)
• Bert Jones – electric guitar (1975–79)
• Tom Malone– trombone, trumpet (1975–85)
• Lou Marini– tenor saxophone (1975–83)
• Alan Rubin– trumpet (1975–83; died 2011)
• Paul Shaffer– keyboards (1975–80; guest 1982, 2015)
• Dahaud Shaar– drums (1975–77; died 2018)
• Howard Shore– alto saxophone (1975–80)
• Mauricio Smith – baritone saxophone (1975–77; died 2002)

1970s additions

• Gregory Bloch - violin, mandolin (1977-1979)
• Steve Jordan– drums (1977–78)
• Buddy Williams– drums (1978–85)
• Marcus Miller– bass guitar (1979–81)
• Elliott Randall– electric guitar (1979–80)
• David Sanborn– alto saxophone (1979-80; died 2024)
• Georg Wadenius– electric guitar (1979–85)
• George Young– alto and baritone saxophones (1979–80, 1990–95)

1980s additions

• Ray Chew– keyboards (1980–83)
• Ronnie Cuber– baritone saxophone (1980–83; died 2022)
• Lawrence Feldman – alto saxophone (1980–83)
• Neil Jason– bass guitar (1980–83)
• Chris Palmaro – keyboards (1980–83)
• David Spinozza– electric guitar (1980–83)
• Tom Barney– bass guitar (1983–85, 1995–2000)
• Michael Brecker– tenor saxophone (1983–85; died 2007)
• Steve Ferrone– drums (1985–86)
• Earl Gardner– trumpet (1985–2022)
• G.E. Smith– electric guitar (1985–95; guest 2000, 2015)
• Tom Wolk– bass guitar (1985–90; guest 1994; died 2010)
• Chris Parker– drums (1986–91)
• Buster Poindexter– vocals (1986–87)
• Tony Garnier– bass guitar (1987–89)

1990s additions

• Matt Chamberlain– drums (1991–92)
• Paul Ossola – bass guitar (1991–95)
• Jane Getter – electric guitar (1995)
• Lino Gomez – baritone saxophone (1995–98)
• Yoshiko Hirashige – electric guitar (1995–97)
• Lukasz Gottwald– electric guitar (1997–2007)

2000s additions

• Katreese Barnes– keyboards (2000–10; died 2019)
• Jared Scharff – electric guitar (2007–20)

External links

• Official NBC website