Kevin Eubanks

From 1992 to 2010, Kevin Eubanks was seen by millions of viewers nightly as the leader of Jay Leno's Tonight Show Band, where his main purpose was to assist the comedian/host rather than play creative jazz. Eubanks comes from a musical family that included Ray and Tommy Bryant as uncles and older brother/trombonist Robin Eubanks. After studying at Berklee, he played with Art Blakey's big band (1980-1981), had stints with Roy Haynes, Slide Hampton, and Sam Rivers, and in 1983 started leading his own groups. After debuting on Elektra, starting in 1985 Eubanks began recording regularly for GRP. Switching to Blue Note in the '90s, Eubanks emphasized acoustic guitar. He continued to release albums into the new millennium, including Zen Food in 2010 and Duets, with Stanley Jordan, in 2015. ~ Scott Yanow