Longtime Late Present bandleader and his World’s Most Harmful Band accompanied Jimmy Fallon on genre-shifting rendition of Harry Kinds’ “As It Was”
Paul Shaffer made his one-night-only return to late-night Friday as he sat in for the Roots on The Tonight Present.
“It’s such a coincidence we’re right here tonight as a result of 41 years in the past this very week was when David Letterman got here on the air proper throughout the corridor right here at NBC… so that is like our forty first anniversary,” Shaffer advised host Jimmy Fallon.
The previous longtime Late Present bandleader and his World’s Most Harmful Band subbed in for Questlove and firm so the Roots might attend Sunday’s Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. “So because of you, I’ve reunited all the band from the Letterman present, and we’re all right here,” Shaffer added.
Shaffer mentioned his lengthy historical past with Letterman and 30 Rock, and the way he first declined Letterman’s overture to function musical director of the host’s then-NBC morning present. When Letterman moved to late-night, Shaffer accompanied him.
Shaffer and the World’s Most Harmful Band later showcased their still-sharp musical chops by serving to Fallon carry out Harry Kinds’ “As It Was” in a wide range of genres and singers, like David Bowie and Bob Dylan:
“Paul Shaffer is without doubt one of the most vital musical figures in late evening historical past,” Fallon beforehand advised Rolling Stone. “From SNL to Letterman, he’s achieved all of it. I’m past honored and excited that they’re getting the band again collectively.”
The concept to convey Shaffer and his band again to NBC for the evening surfaced over the previous couple of weeks. “What a stunning gesture on Jimmy’s half,” Shaffer advised Rolling Stone. “Questlove has all the time been so good about mentioning my work with Letterman to me. He and the fellows have gone forward and blasted it into the twenty first century.”