(NoTV) Even if Jon Batiste goes 0-for tonight

[David Bruggeman]

Mr. Batiste has 11 nominations at tonight's Grammys (he's also scheduled to perform), but based on today's CBS Sunday morning piece, it may not be what Stephen asks him about first on the next new Late Show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS9TSxsA78c

David

[PGage]

Really nice piece. Wish them the best. I have been on the line (in our case losing) the fight with fucking leukemia with a close family member. Sucks. But then, we were not as relentlessly (sometimes obnoxiously?) positive as Batiste.

I am really into his “We Are” album (I will be shocked if he goes 0-fer tonight) but as almost always with his non-Late Show work, wonder why that guy does not show up with Colbert very often.

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[David Bruggeman]

I can only guess as to why Batiste is not as active in a non-band sense on the show.  My sense is that Batiste's creative energies are mainly focused on non-Late Show projects, which is fine with me.  Whether that flexibility was a condition for accepting the gig, or it simply evolved that way, I don't know.

I think many people have gotten used to the notion of a late night bandleader as a sidekick, thanks to Paul Shaffer.  But I think that role is still pretty rare.  Max Weinberg was arguably a mix of Paul and Doc Severinsen (still with us at 94), and The Roots are more like Batiste in being active outside The Tonight Show.

David

[PGage]

Congratulations to JB, for not only not going 0-fer, but for winning the biggest Grammy (among his 5), Album of the year. I am always shocked when something I like wins a Grammy, as I am so far out of the demo (I had to Google Olivia Rodrigo, then I think I remembered fast forwarding thru her on SNL in the last year or two). But his album really was my favorite this year.

A big year for late night TV musicians, as Questlove was the winner of the Best Documentary Oscar that got overshadowed by Will Smith’s nonsense. That was a remarkable piece of work.

I’m not so surprised that Batiste doesn’t do more of his own solo work on the show, or that he doesn’t contribute more as a side kick (in fact, I think the show is better the less it tries to use him in that way). It’s more that the depth and quality of his musical signature does not seem to come through on that show. I feel like we get a much clearer  sense of that signature from Doc, Paul and Questlove. Though truthfully I don’t watch Colbert that regularly anymore so maybe that has changed.

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[JW]

> I can only guess as to why Batiste is not as active in a non-band sense on the

> show.  My sense is that Batiste's creative energies are mainly focused on

> non-Late Show projects, which is fine with me.  Whether that flexibility was a

> condition for accepting the gig, or it simply evolved that way, I don't know.

Batiste has never struck me as someone whose comedy mind would really add to the show the way Paul Shaffer did. If the outside projects become big enough, I can imagine him moving on from the Late Show, in sort of a less acrimonious version of what Branford Marsalis did.

> I think many people have gotten used to the notion of a late night bandleader

> as a sidekick, thanks to Paul Shaffer.  But I think that role is still pretty rare.

> Max Weinberg was arguably a mix of Paul and Doc Severinsen (still with us at

> 94), and The Roots are more like Batiste in being active outside The Tonight

> Show.

I don't remember whether Late Night was originally forbidden from having a sidekick as one of Carson's conditions, but I recall that one reason for hiring Paul was that he had comedy chops in addition to being a superb musician.

Hosts often need someone to play off of, whether it's a sidekick like Ed McMahon or Andy Richter, a bandleader like Paul Shaffer or (post-Andy) Max Weinberg, Guillermo, or Wally the Cue Card Guy for Seth Meyers. Colbert seems to use either the audience or himself, and that's not as good.

[Doug Eastick]

> I think many people have gotten used to the notion of a late night bandleader

> as a sidekick, thanks to Paul Shaffer.  But I think that role is still pretty rare.

> Max Weinberg was arguably a mix of Paul and Doc Severinsen (still with us at

> 94), and The Roots are more like Batiste in being active outside The Tonight

> Show.

LET'S NOT FORGET GEOFF PETERSON!

https://youtu.be/qAHSUTB5BJc

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[Tom Wolper]

I’ve mostly given up on listening to Fresh Air (I track the episodes on an RSS reader and stream ones I want to listen to) and the interviews with Batiste and Questlove have been especially rewarding and worth looking up. Batiste is gifted not only at composing but also at describing how he does it. Maybe if Colbert put him in the guest chair and gave him a chance to talk about it that would give the audience an idea. Being called on to be a regular sidekick feels like more of a waste.

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[PGage]

More than a waste, as he seems to be really bad at it (Side kicking)

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[Dave Sikula]

Something I've noticed in the two tapings I've been to is that, while I'm not a real fan of the music the band plays during the actual show, they blow the roof off the dump during the commercial breaks and play stuff that the home audience never hears.

I don't think Batiste is great at side-kicking, either, but I also don't think Colbert really sees that as his job. In the few taped segments he's done, he's been all right, but (surprisingly) not real charismatic.

I know he and Colbert go way back, but I can't imagine that -- as successful as he's starting to be and as good as he is -- he'll be around the Ed that much longer. Or maybe he'll pull a Max Weinberg and take breaks to tour while maintaining nominal control of the band.

--Dave Sikula

[Bob Jersey]

While I am aware there's been turnover in the band since the show launched, I also know that current band members Cowboy Joe Saylor (tambourine... LNwDL and SNL veteran Steve Jordan was the drummer), Endea Owens (double bass) and Louis Cato (guitar, but also played drums in the absences first of Saylor and then this past week for JB) all appear on "We Are," and could ostensibly tour with Batiste... that might have to be worked out should he take the Weinberg route.     B

Dave Sikula, to PGage, Tom Wolper, and David Bruggeman, in part, April 5th:

Something I've noticed in the two tapings I've been to is that, while I'm not a real fan of the music the band plays during the actual show, they blow the roof off the dump during the commercial breaks and play stuff that the home audience never hears. [snippy]

[Bob Jersey]

Stephen on his off night released a clip of St Vincent performing with the Batiste-less Stay Human during at least one of the breaks, possibly 'cause she had not been scheduled to perform any songs of her own... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBNOnyiOIR8 (link)

How sweet.     B

Dave Sikula, to Tom Wolper, PGage and David Bruggeman, April 5th:

[David Bruggeman]

FWIW, the show will continue these guest residencies for at least the next two weeks.  James Taylor is scheduled to sit in starting August 1, and Joe Walsh on August 8.

https://guitar.com/news/music-news/st-vincent-joe-walsh-james-taylor-musical-residency-late-show-stephen-colbert/

So there may be additional videos released along these lines on subsequent Fridays.

David

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[Brad Beam]

*BREAKING* Stephen announced on tonight's show that Jon Batiste has bid the show adieu. Louis Cato has officially taken the reins of what Stephen called the "Late Show Band." (Not sure if that's an official name change....)

[Kevin M.]

Maybe Kevin Eubanks is available?

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

[David Bruggeman]

Not sure Kevin really wants an answer, but Mr. Eubanks released a new album earlier this year and has been touring in support of it.  He's also horrible about updating his website.

Lengthy profile from June in Jazz Times, including quotes from his Tonight Show predecessor, Branford Marsalis, who's known Eubanks since college.

https://jazztimes.com/features/profiles/kevin-eubanks-remarkable-life-journey/

FWIW, I'll miss Mr. Batiste on the show, but it always seemed likely that he would leave at some point.  I think Louis Cato is still growing into the non-musical aspect of the job, but since he's been working on some of the music for other parts of the show (he's also credited as music producer).  He has a new album coming out later this year, so we may find out who will be the Kevin to his Branford sooner rather than later.

Best,

David

[Dave Sikula]

I wish him well, but I wonder if this is due to his career taking off, his wife’s health, or (most likely) a combination of at least the two.

— Dave Sikula 

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 11, 2022, at 9:11 PM, Brad Beam <b.b...@suddenlink.net> wrote:

*BREAKING* Stephen announced on tonight's show that Jon Batiste has bid the show adieu. Louis Cato has officially taken the reins of what Stephen called the "Late Show Band." (Not sure if that's an official name change....)

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[Bob Jersey]

I'll vote for both.     B

Dave Sikula, to Brad Beam, Aug 12th:

[Mark Jeffries]

Colbert is off next week.  I'm guessing they're taking three weeks and Labor Day off and will be back on Sept. 6 with a new title sequence.

I'm guessing there's going to be a new keyboard player.  Larry Goldings sat in with James Taylor last week and there was someone else hidden in the back this week with Joe Walsh (it might've been Goldings, because they were playing the same keyboard Goldings played).  I guess we'll find out in September.

Whatever it is (and I saw on last night's show for the first time that Batiste had a general producer credit), I just hope that Cato will have a say in music bookings and that they do something more than just book who WFUV is playing this week.

Mark Jeffries
spotl...@gmail.com

Virus-free.www.avast.com

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[Dave Sikula]

Was Batiste doing the music bookings? If so, I’m surprised, as he seems to have a wider musical palate than what showed up on the program. The bands on the show all had only two observable qualities: they were bad and they were loud.

—Dave Sikula

[Mark Jeffries]

I don't think he was, which is why I'm hoping Cato might have a say.  Of course, if it was Colbert's call they'd probably book nothing but musical theater people, and I don't think CBS would be happy about that.  On the other hand, Laura Benanti would've sung on his show five years sooner than she did (during the pandemic pre-taped when she had an album coming out).

 

Mark Jeffries
spotl...@gmail.com

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[David Bruggeman]

It's not that clear who does the bookings currently, and a search of our archives only notes that a prior music booker for The Late Show was fired in 2020 over sexual misconduct allegations at a previous job.  My sense is that bookers for these shows are generally focused on booking and dealing with the guests, musical or no.

I'd welcome more input from the bandleaders on the music bookings, regardless of the show.  I would like to know who over at CBS thought it a good idea to book acts that are only shown on the Late Show's YouTube channel and not broadcast.  Doesn't make sense to me, but I'm old.

As for the new band name, this group might have something to say about it.

https://primesourceentertainment.com/bands/the-late-show-band

David

[Bob Jersey]

Well, if you can possibly believe this, I screencapped every page of the last full credit sequence I recall seeing on TLS (in May)... and here's the one with all the bookers... Giovanni Cianci was the cat that got sacked...

And I'd venture to bet that the reasons for not showing enough musical guests on stage are all the ones you'd expect... time, artists' schedules and existence of videos.     B

David Bruggeman, to Mark Jeffries and Dave Sikula, in part, Aug 12th:

[Bob Jersey]

To update, Goldings did also appear with Walsh; several Redditors confirned.    B

Mark Jeffries, in part, Aug 12th:

[David Bruggeman]

They may not be in any hurry to name a permanent keys player.  We might see a rotation of folks

Goldings did post some photos and audio from his Late Show appearances with Taylor on the 'gram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg2LXbBlo86/?hl=en

David

[David Bruggeman]

Tonight's opening credits were almost identical to last season's, with the only change being Louis Cato and the rest of the Late Show Band walking onstage in the same spot Jon Batiste used to.

No new or guest personnel tonight.  I do note that James Taylor is scheduled for later this week, so we may see Mr. Goldings on keys as well.

And of course, this is just the first episode of the new season.

Best,

David

[PGage]

I have always perceived Colbert to be one of the most genuinely liberal voices on mainstream TV, dating back to before The Colbert Report. He was always clearly more liberal than the more libertarian Jon Stewart.

All that to say that I take Colbert’s constant focus on Critiquing Trump to be authentic to his beliefs. But I suspect one reason I have fallen away from regular viewership is that it also seems to be a calculated marketing strategy. This suspicion has been deepened by Licht’s non-Colbert behavior, both pre at MSNBC (Morning Joe) and post at CNN, which is consistent with the interpretation that he has no values other than corporate values. 

The problem for me is not that I only want to expose myself to genuinely liberal voices on TV (I don’t) but I don’t want to feel like I am being exploited for my own liberal values. I’ve never paid for the services of a sex worker, but I imagine the feeling afterwards might be something like how I feel after watching Colbert. Well, not exactly, but kind of.

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[Bob Jersey]

https://twitter.com/colbertlateshow/status/1567335721265991688 for a video sample. Good for them. (I catch the Youtube segments more often than watch the full thingie on the CBS site)     B

David Bruggeman, Sept 7th:

[Kevin M.]

I have always enjoyed Colbert, and I’m not opposed to politics in late night monologues… talk shows are supposed to be topical and relevant to the headlines of the day. If Trump is in the news, there should be Trump jokes. If Biden is in the news, there should be Biden jokes.

I’ve stated before I stopped watching all of them, but my reasons have changed. The monologues (and SNL satirizations) have been proven to catapult the most absurd politicians into the spotlight. Under the axiom of “no such thing as bad publicity,” if they’re talking about you, you must be doing something right. 

There were at least four better Democratic presidential candidates than Biden in 2020, just as there were better GOP candidates than Trump, but those two were the easiest to make fun of, which made them ratings gold. Bernie Sanders, likewise, is demonstrably ineffective, but he’s cranky and generates sound bites that can be picked apart and mocked. Same with the thankfully gone Boris Johnson in the UK… these people aren’t leaders; they just generate noise.

We get the candidates we deserve, and as long as culture focuses on who is the loudest and most obnoxious, those will be our leaders. Talk shows didn’t create the problem, but they do perpetuate it. 

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

[daves...@gmail.com]

I don't know that Colbert is the most-left host (Kimmel could give him a run for his money), but he's consistently been anti-Trump.

The problem (for me) is the overstuffed laziness of the writing on his show. It really struck me last night how dependent he is on the prompter in the monologue. I realize he's not telling "jokes" that can be summarized/telegraphed on cue cards, but his monologue is about as spontaneous as something by Rachel Maddow -- and I don't mean that as a compliment.

It's overstuffed in the sense that the monologue is full of long, long, long remarks and recaps of the stuff that's already been dealt with (badly) in the cold opening (which, as long as it highlights Stack, will remain the second-weakest* part of the show) and endless explanations that set up the "punchlines" he's about to deliver. (In my mind, if the setup takes that long, the joke isn't worth it.)

His refusal to show or speak Trump's name is juvenile, and his reduction of Biden to a clueless glad-hander in aviator glasses is as toothless and inane as something on SNL.(I don't mind criticism of Biden; I do mind uninspired criticism.)

(*The weakest part will always be the panels, which have always been too-heavily reliant on whatever's been discussed in the pre-interview, and are hampered by his continued inability to listen to the guests or avoid talking over them.)

The biggest problem with the show's politics is its continually self-congratulatory preaching to the choir. I'm not saying he should be bipartisan (I'm glad he's picked a lane), but there's a smugness to the show that borders on the unpleasant for me. Meyers's show (obviously) deals with the same subjects, but any "Closer Look" segment does that work better, more efficiently, and in a funnier way than anything on TLS. (Unsaid before is remarking on whatever Noah's done to TDS. Other than Roy Wood, Dulce Sloan, and Jordan Klepper's remotes, it's really a train wreck. Hell, last night -- after three or four weeks off -- they had a remote segment by Michael Kosta that was so old there was snow on the ground. This is timely and cutting-edge?)

--Dave Sikula

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[David Bruggeman]

A recent development with the interviews I find really annoying is bumpering what will be talked about in the next segment (if the interview goes longer than a segment) as they go to commercial break.

I think the shows' efforts to address the war in Ukraine have emphasized the show's comedy being on auto-pilot a lot of the time.  "(insert Russian thing here)....is potato" was just as tired the third time as it was the 1000th time.

Licht's departure has not, nor did I expect it to, result in a shakeup, but I would welcome an overhaul of the showrunners and/or writers room.  Could they please get out of the Ed (safely) once in a while?

David

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[Mark Jeffries]

That's not going to happen until either Fallon starts beating Colbert again (Gutfeld doesn't count, besides he starts at 11) or Stephen just says that it's time to make changes and he doesn't care that the show's number one. Or is that all wishful thinking?

Mark Jeffries
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[Tom Wolper]

I also feel a sense of disappointment for Colbert’s Late Show. It’s a shame because I think Colbert has always been a great interview subject but I don’t enjoy the Late Show as much as those interviews.

Like Dave Sikula, I think Kimmel does a sharper monologue and Myers does better political material. I don’t have a simple answer for where I think Colbert went wrong. I think he comes from a place of comfort and he can’t channel the anger a lot of his TV audience is feeling.

I think his biggest weakness is the cult who followed him from the Report into the Ed Sullivan Theater and they’re keeping him from challenging himself and his staff.

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[daves...@gmail.com]

Something that I've found interesting with Colbert's Late Show is that, as loyal as he seems to be toward his staff, we know nothing about them.

I contrast this with Dave's version, while acknowledging that Letterman's late-night shows were a 30-year novel about his psychological state. Depsite that, we knew the staffers: writers, audio people, costumers, producers, directors, even (especially?) Tony Mendez and Rupert Jee. Granted, the AFLers knew many of them up close and personal (Tony in particular told us a lot of stuff he shouldn't have), but even a less-than-casual viewer would have recognized Pat Farmer, Kenny Sheehan, Biff Henderson, Alan Kalter, or even George Clark, Barbara Gaines, and Sue Hum. (Hell, even Meg Parsont ...). I have no idea what Fallon does (I'd imagine most of his staff would prefer not to be recognized as having anything to do with TTS), but certainly Kimmel mentions and shows his staffers, as does Meyers (especially his writers).

I don't know if they want to keep the focus on Colbert or if the staff prefers to stay out of the spotlight, but it does seem like a one-man show at the Ed. (Excepting the horrific warm-up guy. I hoped they've changed him since the last time I went to a taping, because he was terrible.) Does he even have cue-card people, or is he totally reliant on the prompter?

--Dave Sikula

[Doug Eastick]

Corden on LLS shows a lot of his staff on the show as well.

I know most people can't tolerate Corden himself, but I do like a lot of his staff appearances.

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[Kevin M.]

On Fri, Sep 9, 2022 at 7:52 AM Doug Eastick <eas...@eastick.ca> wrote:

Corden on LLS shows a lot of his staff on the show as well.

I know most people can't tolerate Corden himself, but I do like a lot of his staff appearances.

Nick, the VP of CBS late night, is constantly on LLS. And as mentioned previously, he was once an NBC Page and I hired him when I was head of security on awards shows, so technically I’m entirely responsible for his career. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

[David Bruggeman]

I've noticed that some Late Show staff writers occasionally show up for bits, usually to highlight some 'youth trend' that 'Steve' just doesn't understand.  But this is done infrequently.  And when Colbert talks to someone off screen we rarely see a cutaway to whomever it is/was (usually Licht or whomever has replaced him).

Best,

David