Saturday Night Live Band

Saturday Night Live Band
Also known as	The Live Band
Origin	New York City, New York, United States
Years active	1975–present
Members	Leon Pendarvis Earl Gardner Lenny Pickett Steve Turre Alex Foster Christine Ohlman Shawn Pelton Valerie Naranjo James Genus Ron Blake Jared Scharff Tuffus Zimbabwe
Past members	See below

The Saturday Night Live Band (referred to in the closing credits as The Live Band) is the house band of the NBC television program Saturday Night Live (SNL).

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

Band leaders and musical directors

Howard Shore 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 (Lily Tomlin singing "Saint James Infirmary," with the band also performing back-up vocals; and Jill Clayburgh singing "Sea Cruise"). 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 (who has been a member of the band since 1985) became co-director, then became the sole musical director upon Hardwick's retirement in 2000. Longtime SNL bandmember and keyboardist Leon Pendarvis (who has been a member of the band since 1980) 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

Mariah Carey utilized the horn section of the Saturday Night Live Band (Lew Delgatto, Lenny Pickett, George Young, Earl Gardner, and Steve Turre) 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" (a song she says was inspired by Mariah Carey).

Personnel

Members

Current

• Leon Pendarvis – piano, organ (1980–present)
• Earl Gardner – trumpet (1985–present)
• Lenny Pickett – tenor saxophone (1985–present)
• Steve Turre – trombone (1985–present)
• Alex Foster – alto saxophone (1985–1990, 1995–present)
• Christine Ohlman – vocals (1985–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 – piano, organ (2010–present)
• Maddie Rice - guitarist (2020-present)

Former

• Gregory Bloch – violin, mandolin (1979–1980)
• Bob Cranshaw – bass guitar (1975–1978)
• Cheryl Hardwick – piano, organ (1975–1980, 1985–2000)
• Howard Johnson – bass saxophone, tuba (1975–1980)
• Bert Jones – electric guitar (1975–1980)
• Tom Malone – trombone, trumpet (1975–1985)
• Lou Marini – tenor saxophone (1975–1983)
• Alan Rubin – trumpet (1975–1983)
• Paul Shaffer – piano, organ (1975–1980)
• David Shaw – drums (1975–1977)
• Howard Shore – alto saxophone (1975–1980)
• Mauricio Smith – baritone saxophone (1975–1976)
• Lew Del Gatto – baritone saxophone (1977–1980, 1985–1995, 1998–2005)
• Steve Jordan – drums (1977–1978)
• Buddy Williams – drums (1978–1985)
• Georg Wadenius – electric guitar (1979–1985)
• Elliott Randall - electric guitar (1979-1980)
• David Spinozza – electric guitar (1979–1982)
• Marcus Miller – bass guitar (1978–1980)
• George Young – alto and baritone saxophones (1979–1980, 1990–1995)
• Ray Chew – piano, organ (1980–1983)
• Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone (1980–1985)
• Ronnie Cuber – baritone saxophone (1980–1983)
• Lawrence Feldman – alto saxophone (1980–1983)
• Neil Jason – bass guitar (1980–1983)
• Chris Palmaro – piano, organ (1980–1983)
• David Sanborn – alto saxophone (1980)
• Tom Barney – bass guitar (1983–1985, 1995–2000)
• Tom Wolk – bass guitar (1985–1991)
• Steve Ferrone – drums (1985–1986)
• Chris Parker – drums (1986–1991)
• G.E. Smith – electric guitar (1985–1995)
• Buster Poindexter – vocals (1986–1987)
• Tony Garnier – bass guitar (1987–1989)
• Matt Chamberlain – drums (1991–1992)
• Paul Ossola – bass guitar (1991–1995)
• Jane Getter – electric guitar (1995)
• Lino Gomez – baritone saxophone (1995–1998)
• Yoshino Hirashige – electric guitar (1995–1997)
• Lukasz Gottwald – electric guitar (1997–2007)
• Katreese Barnes – piano, organ (2000–2010)
• Jared Scharff – electric guitar (2007–2020)

Timeline

External links

• Official NBC Website
• Saturday Night Live Band – fan-based website (re-activated as of 5/27/2008).