Author Archives: steele

Doc Severinsen talks about when he made some sartorial changes after becoming the leader of The Tonight Show band and Johnny’s reactions to his eccentric outfits. Johnny Carson: King of Late Night premieres May 14.  Check your local PBS listings. Doc Severinsen Outtake

by Tom Ineck Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 12:15 am Contrary to some advance publicity, Doc Severinsen’s appearance Monday night at the Lied Center for Performing Arts was not a program of classical Spanish, movie music or gypsy jazz. As expected from the 84-year-old trumpeter and his 16-piece big band, the […]

Submitted by The City Wire staff on Mon, 03/12/2012 – 2:58pm Story and photos by Ruby Dean ALMA — Johnny’s gone. So is Ed. But fans of the popular Tonight Show starring the late Johnny Carson and his sidekick Ed McMahon are still enjoying perhaps the most talented personality on the show, legendary NBC Orchestra […]

By Mimi Beck Knudsen, Reno Gazette-Journal Allow me to don my Carnac the Magnificent turban and give my answer first: Wow! The question? Well, there are several. Whatever happened to Johnny Carson’s bandleader, Doc Severinsen, since the legendary late-night show “retired” in 1992? Does an 84-year-old Severinsen still have the lips and lungs to let […]

By Jim Beal Jr. San Antonio Express-News For a quarter of a century, Doc Severinsen was likely the highest-profile trumpet player and band leader on the planet. From his spot on the “Tonight Show” stage, the sartorially out-there Severinsen kibitzed with storied host Johnny Carson and sidekick Ed McMahon while leading the Tonight Show Orchestra […]

The RIC Concert Jazz Band will be accompanied by legendary trumpeter and former “Tonight Show” bandleader Doc Severinsen on Monday, May 2, at 8 p.m. in the Nazarian Center’s Sapinsley Hall. Joseph Foley, RIC associate professor of music, will direct the show. Severinsen, who toured with the Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman bands in the […]

LAWRENCE WELK’S BIG BAND SPLASH  March 2011 (check local listings) LAWRENCE WELK’S BIG BAND SPLASH, hosted by bandleader and trumpeter Doc Severinsen, is a celebration of the Big Band Era’s classic hits, performed by the great Welk Band and the talented Musical Family on the popular “Lawrence Welk Show.” Broadcast on network television from 1955 […]

For more than an hour and a half Monday, Carl Hilding “Doc” Severinsen, renowned trumpeter and leader of the NBC Orchestra during The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, spoke to a captivated crowd in a cafeteria of Manchester High School about the trials and tribulations of a life in the music industry. He also filled […]

If it hadn’t been for a fateful encounter five years ago, two extraordinary jazz virtuosos, guitarist Gil Gutiérrez and trumpeter Doc Severinsen, wouldn’t be performing together at Carnegie Hall on January 28. In fact, they wouldn’t be making music together at all. As anyone knows who has heard these artists riff off each other, that […]