Comments on: Sunday Night with Jools Holland and David Sanborn

Sunday Night with Jools Holland and David Sanborn

carsonb — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 10:22:38 -0800

Sunday Night, later named Michelob Presents Night Music, was an NBC late-night television show hosted by Jools Holland and David Sanborn which aired for two seasons between 1988 and 1990 as a showcase for jazz and eclectic musical artists. [YouTubeFilter, via]

"A revelation to music fans, this show appeared and disappeared with little fanfare, being light-years ahead of the bulk of it's audience in style and substance. Every possible realm of music was boldly explored...from minimalist art-noise to traditional folk styles and everything beyond and in-between. Absolute genius, a marvelously noncommercial experiment that was doomed to failure despite itself. ..." (from imdb comments) Ambitious Lovers - Admit It Ambitious Lovers - Copy Me Annabouboula Artis (Spoon Man) Aster Aweke (More) Phillip Bailey - Fascination Phillip Bailey - I Thought I'd Never See the Day Tim Berne - Hong Kong Sad Song / More Coffee John Cale (& B.J. Cole) John Cale, Shawn Colvin & Richard Thompson - Heartbreak Hotel Nick Cave - The Mercy Seat Nick Cave, Charlie Haden and Toots Thielemans - Hey Joe Eric Clapton - Hard Times Leonard Cohen - Tower Of Song Leonard Cohen & Sonny Rollins - Who By Fire Shawn Colvin Hank Crawford - Don't Cry Baby Hank Crawford - The Peeper Robert Cray & Eric Clapton - Old Love Taylor Dane - Where Were You When I Needed You? Miles Davis - Hannibal Miles Davis - Tutu Djavan (Note: Video problem towards the end) Bill Frisell and Band Diamanda Galas Dizzy Gillespie - Tin Tin Deo Dizzy Gillespie - Ooh-Shoo-Be-Doo-Bee Al Green - The Message Is Love Charlie Haden & his Liberation Orchestra - Spiritual Charlie Haden & his Liberation Orchestra - The Anthem of the African National Congress Fareed Haque (with Sting) Debbie Harry - Calamari Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell On You Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Old Man River Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Bob Weir, Bongwater and the Fabulous Pussywillows Dan Hicks - I Scare Myself The Kronos Quartet - Spoonfull The Kronos Quartet - Four, for Tango The Kronos Quartet - Foxy Lady Abbey Lincoln - First Song Abbey Lincoln and Phil Woods - High Fly David Lindley - Bon Temps Roulez David Lindley - Werewolves of London Lounge Lizards - Voice Of Chunk Lounge Lizards - Uncle Jerry John Lurie and Naná Vasconcelos Curtis Mayfield - It's All Right Curtis Mayfield - Pusherman Curtis Mayfield (with Taylor Dane) - People Get Ready Maria McKee - Breath The Modern Jazz Quartet The Modern Jazz Quartet - The Legendary Profile Milton Nascimento - Canções e Momentos Milton Nascimento - Cravo e Canela Milton Nascimento & Naná Vasconcelos - San Vicente Youssou N'Dour - My Daughter Ken Nordine NRBQ - I Got a Rocket in my Pocket NRBQ - Wild Weekend NRBQ with Phil Woods - Little Floater NRBQ Blows up a New Kids on the Block Album Mary Margaret O'Hara Ivo Papazov and his Wedding Band Graham Parker - Slash & Burn Graham Parker - My Love's Strong Pere Ubu - Breath Pixies - Monkey Gone To Heaven/Tame Pretty Phat - Pretty Phat Girls Red Hot Chili Peppers - Subway to Venus Red Hot Chili Peppers - Sexy Mexican Maid The Residents - Teddy Bear The Residents - From The Plains To Mexico Marcus Roberts - Blue Monk Sonny Rollins Pharoah Sanders - Thembi Lakim Shabazz and his D.J. Shinehead Sonic Youth - Silver Rocket Jo-el Sonnier Pops Staples - Nobody's Fault But Mine Sting - Why Does the Sun Shine? Sting (with Bill Frisell and Fareed Haque) - Ain't No Sunshine Sun Ra Arkestra - Face the Music Sun Ra Arkestra - Retrospect Toots Thielemans - Sophisticated Lady Toots Thielemans - Little Suede Shoes Toots Thielemans plays the harmonica with a turkey baster Carla Thomas - Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes)Walking the Dog Rufus Thomas - The Funky Chicken Richard Thompson - Jerusalem on the Jukebox Richard Thompson with Jo-El Sonnier - Tearstained letter Steve Turre and his Sea Shells Conway Twitty & The Residents - When You're Cool Conway Twitty - It's Only Make Believe Stevie Ray Vaughan - Crossfire Was (Not Was) - Can't Turn You Loose Was (Not Was) - Earth to Doris/Robot Girl Was (Not Was) - Hello Operator Was (Not Was) with Frank Sinatra Jr. - Wedding Vows in Vegas Bob Weir & Rob Wasserman - The Victim Phil Woods Zahar (with Hassan Hakmoun) Warren Zevon - Splendid Isolation Also, check out the MeFi archives because it's apparently the year of great 80's/music televison: 120 Minutes (Bookhouse) Night Flight (Methylviolet)

By: Eekacat

Eekacat — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 10:29:32 -0800

Yeah, I was a huge fan of this show. Not only was there an interesting mix of music, but often the artists would play together at the end. Great, great show, and doomed to die.

By: 23skidoo

23skidoo — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 10:38:36 -0800

I remember being in high school, and flipping the channels one night, and I stopped on the show because I thought "Hey, there's that guy who sometimes sits in with David Letterman's band" and then he introduced the Pixies and they blew my mind. Thanks for the post.

By: vronsky

vronsky — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 10:57:44 -0800

seriously good post. Thanks.

By: LinnTate

LinnTate — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:15:14 -0800

GREAT show and great FPP! I've been working on pulling together YouTube videos from Sunday Night for a while now, but I was nowhere near so far along as this, carsonb. I'm pleased you beat me to the punch by a long shot because now I can just sit back and enjoy. Though, if I find any in my bookmarks you missed, I'll certainly post them here. Many, many thanks!

By: ibmcginty

ibmcginty — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:17:45 -0800

Terrific, terrific post, thanks. Am just too young to have known about this. As for Sanborn, he pops up on Bowie and Stevie Wonder albums in the 1970s. He's good. And Jools Holland was the keyboardist for Squeeze for a while, before becoming a show host.

By: SansPoint

SansPoint — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:19:15 -0800

Interesting note about that Pere Ubu "Breathe" video: David Thomas of Pere Ubu HATES YouTube, and regularly demands they take down all Pere Ubu videos, particularly concert footage recorded by bootleggers. Upon finding the Night Music clip, I fired off an e-mail to Mr. Thomas, asking him to spare it on the next wave of purges. He did so, explaining that YouTube claims copyright on all posted videos. He allowed the Night Music clip (and probably the other Night Music performance, Waiting for Mary. Presumably, since David doesn't have the copyright on the recording, he's willing to allow it. Without intervention though, that clip would have been nuked ages ago.

By: LinnTate

LinnTate — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:20:34 -0800

Another, Todd Rundgren's Hot Toddies hosts "Todd (with his wife Michele Gray Rundgren, Taj Mahal and David Sanborn) performing "Never Mind The Why and Wherefor" from the famous Gilbert & Sullivan musical [H.M.S. Pinafore]." You'll have to scroll down a bit for the specific link.

By: FelliniBlank

FelliniBlank — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:21:35 -0800

Oh, thank you. I was another rabid fan of That Sunday Night Music Show (as we called it when it kept changing its name), and while I've seen bits and pieces, it's great to have all these clips collected in one place. Sanborn, who isn't really my cup of tea as a musician, was a wonderful host because he was so unhosty, just an introverted-seeming jazz guy who was genuinely happy to have these folks appear on his little show.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:22:51 -0800

Sorry to steal your thunder LinnTate. I can take no credit past the albaphetization; everything (even the quotes) was gathered by the incredible Mr. Dante Fontana (in the via) and bobby4000 and scmm42 are the rockstars at YouTube. All thanks to them. And to you of course, if you bring along more performances.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:27:58 -0800

Oops, I see I didn't close the Carla Thomas link properly, which fudged Rufus Thomas - Walking the Dog

By: escabeche

escabeche — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:50:48 -0800

Great post! Like 23skiddoo, I had my mind blown by the Pixies playing "Tame" on this show (their first TV appearance.) Watch it!

By: intermod

intermod — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:56:20 -0800

Exactly what FelliniBlank said. I vivdly remember this show and mourn its passing. This may become my most favorite post ever ... thanks carsonb!

By: toma

toma — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 12:15:26 -0800

Wow, if ever there were a good (and useful) post, this is it. Thanks carsonb. I really liked the show, too, and was sad to see it go. We may never get that mix of great musicians ever again, on any medium. I caught Leonard Cohen playing 'Who By Fire' with Sonny Rollins and was both amazed and laughing out loud. I was hooked.

By: lazywhinerkid

lazywhinerkid — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 12:33:33 -0800

Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Bob Weir, Bongwater and the Fabulous Pussywillows *Head asplodes*

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 13:30:07 -0800

Conway Twitty + The Residents = teh awsum great post!

By: rxrfrx

rxrfrx — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 14:00:23 -0800

Check the Tin Tin Deo video for Dizzy being a dick to Jools Holland, classic.

By: spartacusroosevelt

spartacusroosevelt — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:19:26 -0800

Great post, but you missed Bongwater blowing my fragile college mind.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:53:24 -0800

Thanks for the post, would favorite several times if possible! It was indeed a great show, sad there's nothing like it anymore.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:57:03 -0800

How 'bout that Sanborn's hair, though, eh?

By: carsonb

carsonb — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:07:44 -0800

How 'bout that Sanborn's hair, though, eh? Fo' serious. I keep imagining a mic popping out of the top, Sanborn turning into a profile shot, and then the coif itself going into a Schuur-like rendition of Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair. Yeesh.

By: FelliniBlank

FelliniBlank — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:50:23 -0800

Me three on the freaky Sanborn 'do. I keep expecting him to break into a rousing rendition of "If I Were King of the Forest." Meanwhile, watching these links has been just delightful. The performance of NRBQ here was my introduction to them; I remember being beside myself seeing Terry bash that piano and thinking, "Yeah, these guys are for me!" And Len Cohen + Sonny Rollins, Dan Hicks . . . 20 years later, this stuff still puts me into a catatonic state of ecstasy.

By: Wolof

Wolof — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:14:10 -0800

Super post, thanks a lot!

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:26:44 -0800

Allright, y'all, I'm gonna engage in a little on-topic self-linking here: Check the Zahar (with Hassan Hakmoun) link from this FPP (here is is, just so's you don't have to scroll back up). The guitarist in that excellent (but sadly, shortlived) trio is one of the most genuinely musical guitarists I've ever had the pleasure of working with: his name is Hahn Rowe. Some time back I posted a song to MeFi Music that features Hahn on guitar, from a record we made together in 1995. Anyone wantin' to hear it can step over this way.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:30:31 -0800

Oh, and by the way, the drummer from that Zahar clip is Yuval Gabay, who later went on to some rnown as tub-thumper for Soul Coughing.

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:39:02 -0800

That is a cracking version of Tear-stained Letter. Top post!

By: FelliniBlank

FelliniBlank — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:43:12 -0800

Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Bob Weir, Bongwater and the Fabulous Pussywillows *Head asplodes* And if that weren't already asplosive enough, they're doing Roky Erickson's "You Don't Love Me Yet." I can now die happy.

By: Hadroed

Hadroed — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 18:45:37 -0800

I have now seen Steve Turre channel Rahsaan Roland Kirk as he solos over All Blues playing two sea shells(!) simultaneously. For that reason, and so many others, this is a great post about what was obviously a great show. Thanks.

By: bonefish

bonefish — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 00:55:47 -0800

I recently stumbled upon some Night Music episodes I taped on VHS, and one in particular that I love that is not included on the list above was Carla Bey with Bootsy Collins - very cool!

By: thatswherebatslive

thatswherebatslive — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:08:54 -0800

Here's a clip of vintage-coiffed Sanborn getting real free with Sonic Youth on a cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog".

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 02:06:31 -0800

I recently stumbled upon some Night Music episodes I taped on VHS, and one in particular that I love that is not included on the list above was Carla Bey with Bootsy Collins - very cool! Please to post to the youtubes?

By: alikins

alikins — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:29:10 -0800

Definitely the best music show I've ever seen. I also remember Adrian Belew and Elliot Sharp being on there at some point. I would gladly buy a DVD set if it ever comes out.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 07:55:05 -0800

GOOD WORK, SansPoint.