musician

Personal Information

Born 1957, in Philadelphia, PA; son of William (a corporate security manager) and Vera (a music teacher) Eubanks.
Education: Attended Berklee College of Music, c. 1976-79.

Career

Played in Boston-area fusion band; joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, c. 1980; signed with Elektra/Musician, 1981; released first LP, Kevin Eubanks: Guitarist, in 1982; signed with GRP Records, 1984; released Sundance and several other LPs; recorded Extensions with the Holland Quartet for ECM Records, 1991; signed with Blue Note Records; released Turning Point, 1992; joined the Tonight Show band as guitarist, 1992; took over Branford Marsalis's bandleader spot, January 1995.

Life's Work

Though Kevin Eubanks became a familiar name to millions of Americans when he became the Tonight Show bandleader in 1995, his reputation as a jazz guitarist had been well-established for over a decade. A teen prodigy from a musically gifted family--like his close friend Branford Marsalis--Eubanks had released several acclaimed albums of jazz and jazz fusion in the 1980s. His ability to move effortlessly in and out of musical genres gave him the flexibility necessary to lead the Tonight Show band through their diverse riffs, while his naturally reserved demeanor made him the perfect target for host Jay Leno's on- camera banter.

Eubanks was born in 1957, the second of four boys in the household of William and Vera Eubanks. All four would grow up to become musicians, perhaps unduly influenced by their mother, a music teacher. Additionally, jazz pianist Ray Bryant was the boys' uncle. Bryant who lived in New York City would come to the Eubanks' house to rehearse with his friends when he had gigs in town since the family owned a piano. However, the family lived in a somewhat rough area of Philadelphia, and Eubanks grew into a self-professed loner, especially after he began playing the guitar around the age of ten. "People thought I was weird," he told People magazine about his adolescence. "They left me alone." When he ventured into aberrant behavior, his parents would punish him by taking his guitar away.

Eubanks displayed an early virtuosity. By the age of 13 he was playing in Philadelphia jazz clubs, and in 1976 enrolled at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he first met Branford Marsalis, one of two talented New Orleans-born brothers. At Berklee, he came under fire from his more traditional-minded instructors since he taught himself to play without using a guitar pick, a rather unusual method. Around 1980, Eubanks--by then playing jazz fusion around Boston--auditioned for and won a spot with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, a traditional jazz outfit. With the famed ensemble he toured Europe and began to establish a name for himself; after returning to the States he moved to New York City. Over the next few years Eubanks played steady gigs in jazz clubs around Manhattan, earning good money and honing his skills and a personal style. The latter feat, he once told Guitar Player's Bill Milkowski, is "the hardest thing to do." He likened creating one's distinct sonic style to "chasing your own tail. You finally catch it, and then you realize it was attached to your butt the whole time."

After several dalliances with famed modern jazz artists such as Slide Hampton, Sam Rivers, and Ronnie Mathews, in 1983 Eubanks released his recording debut on Elektra/Musician, Kevin Eubanks: Guitarist. Milkowski, writing in Down Beat, called it an "auspicious first recording," describing it as representative of the many styles the young Eubanks had already conquered as a jazz artist. The guitarist told Milkowski that Sam Rivers had been the most impressive influence. "One time, sitting in a restaurant in Munich, he told me: 'Just take the chains off your mind. Nothing you play is wrong. Don't worry about making any sense of what you're playing."

Over the next few years Eubanks recorded a number of other records, many of them showcasing this freer style, after signing with the GRP label. These included Face to Face, released in 1986, and the following year's The Heat of Heat, an effort produced by George Benson. Down Beat lauded the latter for the "blazing display of virtuosity" from Eubanks, and it solidified his reputation as a jazz/fusion artist, a style that blended elements of rock into traditional jazz note structure but had served to split the term "jazz" into two camps: fusion aficionados and more traditional-minded purists. "While these albums ultimately established Eubanks as a recording artist who could sell in the 150,000-album range, they also branded him a strictly commercial artist in the eyes of many of his peers," wrote Down Beat's Zan Stewart.

By the early 1990s Eubanks was exploring new frontiers, symbolized by a move to the Pennsylvania countryside. "Moving out of New York has helped me to feel a lot better about the acoustic guitar," he told Milkowski in Guitar Player. "Out here I'm around hills and trees. It's allowed me to let more space in."

He continued to play his custom-made guitars, both acoustic and electric, without picks, and kept writing and performing with fellow musicians like his friend Dave Holland's Holland Quartet, with whom he recorded the 1991 LP Extensions; he also appeared on older brother Robin's 1991 Karma album. The following year, Eubanks's new label, Blue Note, released his pivotal Turning Point, which evidenced some new twists to his style.

In 1992, old pal Branford Marsalis offered Eubanks a job that would change his life. Marsalis had been hired as the new bandleader for the NBC late-night staple the Tonight Show when Jay Leno took over as host as part of its revamping, and Marsalis offered Eubanks a permanent slot as the guitarist for the new house band. Eubanks accepted without reservation. "I had been on the road pretty much since I was 19, and I was like 34," he told Down Beat's Stewart. "The curiosity and the financial thing got the better of me." Marsalis was also responsible for providing another significant opportunity for Eubanks: he introduced Eubanks to Tammy Townshend, a television actress, and the two became a pair. Even Leno teased Eubanks on the air about his relationship with the daytime soap-opera star occasionally during 1994, and late in the year--after the couple had a falling-out when the bodybuilding fanatic/guitarist suggested that Townshend might lift weights to tone her legs--Leno embarrassed them by bringing Townshend on the show so the two could mend their quarrel. Eubanks, with a somewhat shy and reserved personality, was mortified.

Despite the demands of the Tonight Show, Eubanks continued his recording career. He released two Spirit Talk solo LPs, and with John Amaral co-wrote the 1995 how-to book, Kevin Eubanks: Creative Guitarist. The work, aimed at musically adept fans, came with a CD and offered technical pointers as well as a demonstration of the process through which Eubanks adapts notes and melodic constructions into his personal artistic style. Marsalis first broached the idea of Eubanks taking over as bandleader for the Tonight Show in 1994. Marsalis felt constrained and wanted to pursue other projects; the two discussed it for months before the announcement was made. Eubanks made his debut as bandleader in early 1995. With his new and highly visible slot on the show came an added requirement: serving as Leno's comic foil. "I think it's flowing because Kevin is shyer than Branford, so now you have what's good in any comedy team: one loud person [Leno] and one reserved person," Leno told Down Beat's Stewart. "With Branford, it was two loud guys. Plus, Kevin's a great musician. He fits right in."

Eubanks's new job as Tonight Show bandleader offered new challenges to the seasoned jazz artist. To introduce guests and frame the commercial breaks, the band--which includes Eubanks's friends, the bass player Bob Hurst, Marvin "Smitty" Smith on drums, and saxophonist Ralph Moore--bursts into accessible melodies drawn from all musical genres. The goal is to stir the house audience. "If they get excited about the music they're hearing during the commercials, when we come back [on the air], they have all this energy built up that's ready to release," Eubanks told Stewart in Down Beat. "That creates energy for the show, and that way the people at home feel it more." Eubanks did confess to People magazine about having a case of the jitters before his debut. "Tammy told me to just go on, be myself, and then everything would be fine," Eubanks told the magazine. "I just told him that stuff so I could get some sleep," Townshend rejoined. He moved to Los Angeles when he initially took the Tonight Show job, but on the occasional show hiatus Eubanks travels back to New York City to play improv-jazz gigs with musician friends at clubs like Visiones in Greenwich Village. On Sundays in Los Angeles he plays at the Jazz Bakery.

Works

Selective Discography

• Kevin Eubanks: Guitarist, Elektra/Musician, 1983.
• Sundance, GRP, 1984.
• Face to Face, GRP, 1986.
• The Heat of Heat, GRP, 1987.
• The Searcher, GRP Promise of Tomorrow, GRP, 1990.
• (With the Holland Quartet) Extensions, ECM, 1991.
• (With brother Robin) Karma, JMT, 1991.
• Turning Point, Blue Note, 1992.
• Spirit Talk, Blue Note, 1993.
• Spirit Talk 2: Revelations, Blue Note, 1995.

• (With John Amaral) Kevin Eubanks: Creative Guitarist, Hal Leonard, 1995.

Further Reading

Sources

• Down Beat, July 1983, p. 48; November 1995, p.26.
• Essence, January 1988, p. 27.
• Guitar Player, August 1992, p. 23; June 1995, p. 141.
• People, May 1, 1995, p. 99.

— Carol Brennan