Saturday Night Live Band


The Saturday Night Live Band is the house band of the NBC television program Saturday Night Live.

Noteworthy members

The band has featured many studio musicians from New York, including Paul Shaffer, Lou Marini, David Sanborn, Michael Brecker, Ray Chew, Alan Rubin, Georg Wadenius, Steve Ferrone, and Tom "Bones" Malone, who served as leader of the band from 1981 to 1985. Guitarist G. E. Smith was director from 1985 until 1995. Drummer Matt Chamberlain is a former member of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, has played drums for Pearl Jam, Tori Amos, and Fiona Apple and is a very in demand session drummer. Lukasz Gottwald, also known as Dr. Luke, was the guitarist from 1997 until he left the band in 2007 to focus on his work as a producer. In 1991, Christine Ohlman, otherwise known as the "Beehive Queen" joined the band as their lead vocalist. David Johansen often appeared as a feature player with the band in the late 1980s.

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, musical pieces in between commercial breaks, and the closing theme music "Closing Theme," written by Howard Shore. Often, the band will provide the music to a sketch when necessary.

Band leaders and musical directors

served as the original band leader and musical director from 1975 until 1980, when he was succeeded by singer and music producer Kenny Vance for the 1980–1981 season. David Spinozza was the conductor in 1980 and guitarist in 1981. During the 1975–1980 period, the band was sometimes referred to as "Howard Shore and his All-Nurse Band." On two occasions, the almost entirely-male band appeared on-camera in women's nursing uniforms as they accompanied songs performed by guest hosts. They also appeared once dressed in angel costumes for "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" with the cast members singing, and a rare featured bass saxophone solo. Original band member Tom Malone took over leadership duties during executive producer Dick Ebersol's tenure from 1981 to 1985. Keyboardist and founding member Cheryl Hardwick co-directed the band with Hall & Oates guitarist G. E. Smith from 1985 until 1995. Upon Smith's departure, longtime band saxophonist Lenny Pickett became co-director, then became the sole musical director upon Hardwick's retirement in 2000. Longtime SNL bandmember and keyboardist Leon Pendarvis was promoted to second musical director.
Katreese Barnes also served as the music director for a time, around the year 2000.
Sanborn returned to SNL as the show's lead saxophonist for the 1979–80 season and was featured as a musical guest in the latter half of said season. He returned seven years later, while Shaffer hosted the show in 1987. Shore, Shaffer, Hardwick, and Smith are also among those band members who appeared in sketches during their tenures.

Other projects

utilized the horn section of the Saturday Night Live Band for her performance of "If It's Over" during her 1992 MTV Unplugged special.
Katy Perry used the Saturday Night Live horn section on her 2013 song "Birthday".

Personnel

Members

;Current
;Former

Timeline


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bar:Shaw text:"David Shaw"
bar:HowardS text:"Howard Shore"
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bar:Lew text:"Lew Del Gatto"
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bar:Buddy text:"Buddy Williams"
bar:Georg text:"Georg Wadenius"
bar:Young text:"George Young"
bar:Spinozza text:"David Spinozza"
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bar:Michael text:"Michael Brecker"
bar:Ronnie text:"Ronnie Cuber"
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bar:Palmaro text:"Chris Palmaro"
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bar:Lawrence text:"Lawrence Feldman"
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bar:Ossola text:"Paul Ossola"
bar:Shawn text:"Shawn Pelton"
bar:Getter text:"Jane Getter"
bar:Gomez text:"Lino Gomez"
bar:Hirashige text:"Yoshiko Hirashige"
bar:Naranjo text:"Valerie Naranjo"
bar:Gottwald text:"Lukasz Gottwald"
bar:Barnes text:"Katreese Barnes"
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