The World's Most Dangerous Band
| Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The World's Most Dangerous Band (until 1993 and after 2015) The Paul Shaffer Band CBS Orchestra (1993–2015) |
| Origin | New York City |
| Years active | 1982–2015, 2017-present |
| Members |
Paul Shaffer Anton Fig Felicia Collins Sid McGinnis Will Lee Tom "Bones" Malone Aaron Heick Frank Greene |
| Past members |
Steve Jordan Hiram Bullock Bernie Worrell Bruce Kapler Al Chez David Sanborn |
Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band is an American big band led by Paul Shaffer. It is best known for being David Letterman's house band for 33 years. The band formed in 1982 to serve as house band for NBC's Late Night with David Letterman. When Letterman moved to CBS and began hosting the Late Show with David Letterman in 1993, the band added a horn section and second guitarist, renaming itself (due to an intellectual property dispute with NBC) the CBS Orchestra, a name that lasted until Letterman left the Late Show in 2015. After a two-year hiatus, in 2017, the band was revived by Shaffer using its original name and released an album titled Paul Shaffer & The World's Most Dangerous Band, followed by a tour.
The original membership of "The World's Most Dangerous Band" was assembled in early 1982 and consisted of Paul Shaffer (keyboards); Will Lee (bass); Hiram Bullock (guitar) and Steve Jordan (drums). Lee, Bullock and Jordan were all previously members of The 24th Street Band, a jazz/rock fusion ensemble that released three albums in the late 1970s. The fourth member of the 24th Street Band was keyboard player Clifford Carter. Shaffer was a regular attendee at their shows and had worked with Lee as a session musician. When it came time to create a band for Late Night, Shaffer simply recruited the three non-keyboard playing members of the 24th Street Band, in essence hiring a ready-made supporting band for himself.
Bullock dropped out of the band around the end of 1983. Shaffer had met guitarist Sid McGinnis in 1978; McGinnis became a permanent member of the group, replacing Bullock, in 1984. Jordan was the second to exit, in 1986, and was replaced by Anton Fig. Shaffer and drummer Fig first played together at a Joan Armatrading recording session in March 1980. From the mid-1980s through 1993, saxophone player David Sanborn was a frequent guest player, usually sitting in with the band on Thursday or Friday nights. Sanborn was originally intended to be a permanent band member.
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