For the last 15 years, Eubanks has kept the late-night institution purring, serving as
With his amused manner, winning smile, and easy
chuckle, Eubanks has made it all look so easy that viewers tended to
take him for granted.
Until, that is, the guitarist announced last week that he will be stepping down at the end of next month.
What led to his decision?
“I’ve been trying to put my finger on it,” he said
by phone Monday. “It kind of creeps up on you after that long — 18
years on television, five days a week, 46 weeks a year and never
missing a day of work. It’s a lot to keep that energy up every day.”
Some in the press have speculated that Eubanks’
departure was precipitated by the ugliness surrounding Leno’s recent
supplanting of
“It really didn’t have anything to do with it,”
insists Eubanks. “That situation was a strain on the entire show, not
just Jay but on the crew. On me. But you still have to do your routine.
My job was to make sure (the band) stayed focused and didn’t get caught
up in things we had no control over. I just need a change of pace.”
For the moment, he’s keeping his post-“Tonight” options wide open.
“I want to play some music and not just jazz,” he
says. “Other genres, too. It’s weird but I don’t consider myself just a
jazz musician.”
So there’s a good chance he’ll put together an
ensemble and take it into the recording studio or out on tour. But
surprisingly, Eubanks, 52, is also determined to stay active in
television.
“People say, ‘Oh, we thought you would go back on
the road.’ Well, I learned a lot and I’m proud of being able to work in
this medium,” he says.
“I don’t feel it’s necessary to abandon one to do
the other,” he continues. “There are some shows that tape only four
months out of the year, so there’d be time to do a variety of things.”
In the short term, maybe he’ll just return to his parents’ house in
“I lay on the couch and act like I’m helpless and
can’t possibly get to the kitchen,” he says with his infectious laugh.
“‘I know it’s just in the next room, but could you bring me some food,
Mom?’ She seems to enjoy it.”
Growing up in that house, Eubanks was steeped in music. His mother, Vera, is an accomplished pianist. His uncle,
“I can’t think of a time when I wasn’t engaged in music,” he says. “I started playing violin when I was 7.”
After graduating from high school, he went on to study guitar at
“I was so broke all I could afford was rice, beans,
fruits, and vegetables,” he says. “They were a lot cheaper. I couldn’t
even afford hamburgers. It lasted so long I got used to it.”
Given those pinched circumstances, it’s understandable that he left early to take paying gigs with such noted jazzmen as
The guitarist’s career has been almost evenly split
between nonstop touring and punching the clock at “The Tonight Show.”
Which is the better lifestyle?
“I think it depends on where you are in your career,
what your age is, whether you have a wife and kids,” he says. “I’m not
married and I don’t have a wife so I can try this and try that. On the
road, in a TV studio, it all works pretty good for me.”
With his looks, talent and charm, you’d expect Eubanks to have made the trip to the altar at least once by now, wouldn’t you?
“Ask my mother,” he says, laughing heartily. “She’d say, ‘Hell yeah!'”
As he prepares to leave TV’s late-night arena, Eubanks is proud of his contribution.
“It’s a continuum. The bandleader tradition goes back to
“Every band since likes to think they started something. For me, that was being part
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