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, 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 television program Late Night with Conan O'Brien. 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 on drums when Weinberg is touring with Bruce Springsteen and Clark Gabel when LaBamba is away.
[edit] History
Weinberg was the drummer for Bruce Springsteen as a member of the E Street Band until its dissolution in 1989. Weinberg returned to school, but soon desired to resume drumming. He auditioned to be the principal drummer for the Broadway show Tommy, but was selected only as the second alternate substitute percussionist. That night, Weinberg had a chance sidewalk meeting outside Carnegie Deli with newly selected Late Night host Conan O'Brien, where Weinberg spoke about his ideas for music on the show. 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 was also a member of 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. Rosenberg and Weinberg are the two most frequently singled out members of the band. O'Brien often makes jokes about Weinberg's supposedly perverse sexual habits. Rosenberg is often the butt of jokes for both his healthy sized mustache and his often awkward demeanor on air. O'Brien often has Rosenberg participate in potentially humiliating skits, such as dressing up his mustache in Christmas lights, or shaving it off. Additionally, Rosenberg provides the falsetto interludes for the regular skit "In the Year 2000". A noted incident of ridicule occurred in 2007 when the camera, which had unexpectedly cut to the band for a reaction shot, caught LaBamba consulting his sheet music with a somewhat puzzled look on his face. This caused Conan to draw attention to Rosenberg's goof, and to claim that LaBamba could not read music. While others, Scott Healy, Jerry and Jimmy Vivino brothers, and Mike Merritt are rarely used in sketches, Mike Merritt takes part in sketches where Conan talks about race, to which Mike's voice-over is used.
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.
Weinberg has, in the past, taken long leaves of absence to tour with the E Street Band. During his absences, he has typically been replaced by James Wormworth, and the band is led by Jimmy Vivino ("Jimmy Vivino and The Max Weinberg 7").
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", "Spanish Bombs" and "Train in Vain".
The band will often play a song to match a holiday or event ("My Funny Valentine" on Valentine's Day), or sometimes play a song that is the irrelevant to the event and causing O'Brien to question their choice of song ("Paint It Black" during Christmas).
[edit] Discography
Albums
- The Max Weinberg 7 (2000 - Hip-O Records)
[edit] External links
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