For years, Kevin Eubanks has been known as the ultimate good sport, constantly laughing off the sharp barbs from Jay Leno as the band leader on "the Tonight Show. "
Yet the Philly born guitarist and composer is much more than a mere comic foil. A musician since he was a child, Kevin has released 25 albums since 1980. He's also taught music at several different schools, receiving an honorary doctorate degree from the Berklee College of Music.
This past week, he returned to his Philly roots and served as the main musician for the 10! Show. We got the chance to sit down with Kevin and discuss a wide range of topics, including his reasons for leaving the Tonight Show and his thoughts on the Jay and Conan controversy.
What sparked your interest in jazz music?
My interest in jazz came from wanting to know more about the theory behind music. I started playing rock and roll, R&B and classical music. I played violin for a long time before I played guitar. I started getting deeper and deeper into guitar. I wanted to know how chords were built and just the theory behind it. I thought that the more I went into jazz, the more theory I would learn and the more articulate I would be. I wanted to know the science behind it. With jazz, it’s all there.
I have a love for all music though. I play with a lot of jazz musicians so now I’m a “jazz guitarist.” But I never think of myself that way. It seems like in this world once people label you something, it doesn’t matter how you see yourself, and it’s how other people see you that creates some obstacles or opens doors for you.
You grew up in a family of musicians. Did they influence your decision to get into music?
Absolutely. My mom is the biggest influence. I just grew up around music all day. Its kind of like if you grew up near the ocean you’re going to know how to build boats. It’s just a way of life. It really taught me that music is a natural force. It was around me everyday. My mother has a master’s degree in music education and she taught piano lessons all the time. She was a music director for churches around the city. As a baby instead of having a babysitter I would just go to church and the whole choir was a babysitter. [Laughs] Before I knew it I was a musician. There really wasn’t a decision to be made.
How different do you think the music business is today compared to when you first got started?
I think it’s more in transition now. There was never any specific formula that would work. But there were things that traditionally people were comfortable with. If you got a record deal, a record company would develop you into a working artist. You would have a place to work and grow as a recording artist. Once digital hit everything could be handled so much more like any other thing that was being sold, like a candy bar or a set of dishes. It was something that you could compartmentalize in this area or that area. Right now technology is moving so fast that there’s no one set way for anything anymore. It’s all in transitional form. You still have to work really hard but by the time you get from point A to point B, point B may have changed. When I was coming up you could count on it being the same but now things are happening so fast.
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The way music is in files now on iTunes, there aren’t even CDs anymore. It’s all just files and the way people copy music and the way it’s recorded is just wide open. In a way it’s a little stranger and you don’t have anything to really focus on because it can change overnight. At the same time your imagination is wide open because pretty much anything you think of you can kind of make happen if you go after it because everything is in such a transitional state in a technological sense. You can come up with something if you pursue it hard enough. So in that sense I think its still a wonderful thing.
No matter what happens with technology there are certain things that you have to have no matter what it is that you do. You have to be able to focus and study, become very literate in whatever it is that you’re studying and you have to be able to get along with people. If you don’t have those ingredients, you’re not going to be successful in anything.
How did you get the Tonight Show gig?
Mostly it was because I did all the hard work that I just talked about and I got along great with Jay. We just naturally seemed to get along with each other.
Was the whole back and forth banter that you two were known for improvised?
Mine was all improvised. We started out that way and I thought that we should keep it that way because I’m not an actor. So if you write stuff out for me it’s not going to feel natural.
You left the Tonight Show earlier this year. What made you decide to call it quits?
I did 18 years and now I want to see more of the world and play more music. It was a great gig and I learned so much doing it. It was a really difficult decision to leave. It’s just something about what we call success, especially in Hollywood. You can get so caught up in the money and being famous and the attention that goes with that. You kind of get put in this bubble and you start thinking wow, my nieces are older now and I haven’t even gone to an amusement park with them. There’s no critical thing in their life that they’re going to remember you from. Or you think about how your parents are doing while you’re walking down the red carpet. I haven’t gotten a hug in a long time that was a deep hug. I get an “industry hug” from a work colleague but it’s a different feel.
Don’t get me wrong, I cried for a month about leaving all that money on the table. [Laughs] But after awhile your idea of success changes. So I guess mine changed. I just followed my heart.
There was a lot of controversy with Jay returning to replace Conan as the Tonight Show host. What are your thoughts on the whole situation?
I think the whole thing was silly. It was a bad decision by somebody upstairs. Probably everyone wishes it never happened. The one thing I have yet to understand is why people blame Jay. I was right there and I didn’t see anything except Jay wondering what was going on.
I don’t understand how anybody could think that Jay’s big master plan was to have the number one show on late night, fire himself and go to ten o’clock which was the worst slot to go in, fail at that, get Conan fired and go back to 11:30 and dig the ratings back up, then send Conan to a cable show on TBS.
How could anyone think that Jay was to blame for that? If he could do that then I’d want him working to get Obama re-elected [Laughs] But that’s just crazy. I was right there and believe me; Jay had nothing to do with that.
The media always needs a scapegoat.
I don’t understand why they picked him as a scapegoat. And then people actually started believing it. What did Jay get out of it? He’s fighting to get the ratings back to the way that they were, before he apparently fired himself. It doesn’t make sense.
How did you get involved with the 10! Show? I was in Philly awhile back going around doing different TV shows after I left the Tonight Show. They asked if I could come by the 10! Show and talk. Now it seems like whenever I come back they always invite me over to hang out and contribute to the show. I was on TV for so long that I feel just as comfortable on a TV set as I am on stage.
What are your future career plans?
I just released a CD called Zen Food. We’re booking a tour for next year. It’s going to be a lot of work but its what I’ve always loved doing. I’ll also start recording the next record. I have a three record deal with Mack Avenue Records.
Any chance at all that you’ll return to late night?
Could be, you never know. I’m not ruling it out just because I’ve seen so many crazy things happen. I’m still friends with Jay and everybody else there. So I wouldn’t rule it out.
To check out Kevin's music, including his latest album "Zen Food," you can visit his website here.
