|
_____NIGHT MUSIC INFO
Night Music -it actually started out as Sunday Night, but was renamed in the second season - is a Michelob-sponsored, syndicated television series by NBC. (they renamed the show so they couls broadcast it whenever they wanted) According to David, it all began like that: "My manager and I had been talking about trying to do a TV show. There was a series of shows back in the '50s, where they'd get a bunch of musicians together and they'd jam. You could see them sitting around and talking, and people would get up and play... I loved that informality of that; it was very non-proscenium oriented. We thought, "Wouldn't it be great to update that idea?" We gradually started developing this idea for a show, where people would come on and not do their latest hit; have a lot of collaboration." Night Music was produced and broadcasted (live) in 1988 and 1989. The shooting was done in New York City. Jools Holland was chosen to be David's co-host. The aims of the shows are on the on hand to show artists rarely seen on television, on the other hand to present duets never seen before on a stage (due to changing music producers) and on the third hand to make fine, pure music. Often, guest musical producer were invited; people like Georg Duke. Paul Simon and Hal Wilner. In contrast to other programms, the stage looked like a living room with pictures on the wall. The result was a much more personal, relaxed, homey atmosphere - even the pianos had a name (Nigel and his cousin Alan). In 1988/89 major changes ocurred: Jools Holland and Marcus Miller left the show, the stage moved from the "hot banana room" to ..well, just a room. The surroundings got darker, spotlight on the musicans. The chats between David and Jools had to be dropped and generally the show got more serious. Although Night Music lost profile, some of the greates artist appeared in this year: Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders, Sting etc. "We had a group called The Residents -- kind of "German Dada-Expressionist-Cabinet of Doctor Calagari." They did "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear" as a primal scream number. We had them and Conway Twitty. That was a trip. That's the one that blew the sponsors out. " The show finally died due to a lack of sponors. |