The Max Weinberg 7
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| The Max Weinberg 7 | ||
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 The Max Weinberg 7 during an episode of Late Night.
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | New York City, New York, USA | |
| Genre(s) | House band | |
| Years active | 1993 - present | |
| Label(s) | Hip-O Records | |
| Website | Official site | |
| Members | ||
| Max Weinberg Jimmy Vivino Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg Jerry Vivino Mark Pender Scott Healy Mike Merritt |
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The Max Weinberg 7 is the house band for the Late Night with Conan O'Brien television program. The band is led by drummer Max Weinberg and also features Jimmy Vivino on guitar, Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg on trombone, Scott Healy playing keyboard, Mike Merritt on bass guitar, Mark Pender playing trumpet and acoustic guitar, and Jimmy's younger brother Jerry Vivino playing a variety of woodwind instruments. The band also occasionally features James Wormworth filling in for Weinberg on the drums.
In 1974, Weinberg began playing with Bruce Springsteen as a member of the E Street Band. In 1977, Weinberg also appeared as the drummer for Meat Loaf on the Bat Out Of Hell album. When Bruce Springsteen stopped using the band, Weinberg gave law school a brief try but withdrew during his first year.
After a chance meeting in 1993, Conan O'Brien agreed to give Weinberg an audition as bandleader for his forthcoming show. Weinberg quickly put together The Max Weinberg 7, recruiting musicians he had worked with during his career, and got the job.
Rosenberg and Pender had played with The Miami Horns, and had a long joint history with Weinberg from touring or recording together with Springsteen, Southside Johnny, Little Steven, Gary U.S. Bonds, and Darlene Love. In the early 1990s Weinberg and Pender were also in a band together called Killer Joe, which also featured Jimmy and Jerry Vivino. The Vivino brothers were experienced New York session musicians and had been members of various Broadway pit bands. They recruited the final two members of the band, Healy and Merritt, who had played together in various bands such as Jimmy Vivino & The Black Italians and The Vivino Brothers Band. Fill-in James Wormworth also came from those bands.
Members of The Max Weinberg 7 often participate in skits on the show, particularly fedoraed La Bamba—who rarely speaks on air and is often the punchline of O'Brien's jokes—and bald, bespectacled Mark Pender, who will often sing a tribute to one of the show's guests only to invariably launch into hysterical shrieking as he climbs the scaffolding of the theater's seating area. Pender was also told by Conan to imitate soccer player Zinedine Zidane's famous World Cup headbutt due to both Pender and Zidane's lack of hair. Max is often involved in short, awkward, and humorous banter with host Conan O'Brien. Additionally, Rosenberg provides the falsetto interludes for the regular skit "In the Year 2000".
The show often features a performance by a musical guest (a band or a solo artist) at the end, and some or even all members of The Max Weinberg 7 perform as backup musicians for the guests when needed. Particularly the horn section adds extra flavor to many performances. The band has also performed an a cappella vocal intro replacing the respective instruments they each play. The piece was enjoyed by the audience as part of a skit displaying budget cuts due to NBC's falling to 4th place in the ratings.
Weinberg has, in the past, taken long leaves of absence to tour with the E Street Band. During his absences, temporary replacement drummers are hired, and the band is led by Jimmy Vivino ("Jimmy Vivino and the Max Weinberg 7"). Often during these times, O'Brien will call the band "Jimmy Vivino and his 7 Max Weinbergs".
The band plays a very wide and eclectic selection of music on the show. One of the bands that the group plays the most songs of is The Clash, playing songs such as "Police on my Back", "The Magnificent Seven", and "Train in Vain".
[edit] Discography
Albums
- The Max Weinberg 7 (2000 - Hip-O Records)
