Richie Rosenberg
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Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg | |
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 Rosenberg performing in 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | LaBamba (or La Bamba) |
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Big band Contemporary |
| Instrument | Trombone |
| Website | http://www.labambamusic.com/about |
Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg is an American trombonist originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a former member of the house band on Conan O'Brien's late-night talk shows.
Early life and education
[edit]Rosenberg became a trombonist when his junior high instrumental director, Leroy Evans, lent him a trombone to practice with over a summer break. Evans, concerned about a shrinking brass section due to graduating students, told Rosenberg to learn how to play and to come see him in the fall when school resumed. Rosenberg attributes "it all" to Evans.[1]
Rosenberg attended George Washington High School on Bustleton Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia. His senior year in high school, he and the saxophonist in jazz band both made first chair in the Philadelphia All City Jazz band.[2] Rosenberg's early influences included J. J. Johnson, Otis Redding, and Teddy Pendergrass.[citation needed]
Early career
[edit]After a short-lived first year at the Philadelphia Music Academy, Rosenberg abandoned his scholarship to tour with the band Vicki Allen and the Image. A high school friend and fellow musician Rick Gazda called him with "an offer [he couldn't] refuse" that brought him from Schenectady, New York to the Stone Pony rock club in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The offer came from Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.[citation needed]
After joining the Jukes, Rosenberg moved to the Jersey Shore and lived in Belmar, Long Branch, and across from the Stone Pony.[citation needed]
In 1981, a Jukes show at The Savoy, now the Hudson Theatre in New York City, caught the attention of Diana Ross's producer Nile Rodgers, who asked the horn section (known as The Miami Horns) to go on the road with her. After a two-year tour with Ross, Rosenberg returned, only to hit the road with Little Steven's world tour in support of his album Men Without Women.[citation needed]
Rosenberg was a member of "The Horns of Love," a five-man backup for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on his 1988 Tunnel of Love Express tour of the US and Europe.[3]
On May 3, 2007, Rosenberg performed the national anthem at the Golden State Warriors' playoff game (Game 6) vs. the Dallas Mavericks. With O'Brien being in San Francisco that week filming his show, Rosenberg was invited to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Oracle Arena in Oakland.[4]
Rosenberg related how he acquired his nickname in an interview by Patrick Jones: "I had an Afro and a Fu Manchu (moustache) at the time ... Everybody from Asbury Park was given a nickname: Jukes (Southside Johnny), The Boss (Springsteen), and Miami (Steven Van Zandt). The roadie said, 'We have to come up with a nickname to call this guy. He looks Spanish. How about LaBamba?'"[1]
Association with Conan O'Brien
[edit]
While touring in Europe with Southside Johnny in 1993, Rosenberg got a phone call from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg, who had been tapped as the bandleader for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Rosenberg joined fellow Miami Horns trumpeter Mark Pender on the show's band, The Max Weinberg 7. The band moved over with Conan O'Brien to The Tonight Show in 2009 and became Max Weinberg and The Tonight Show Band. When O'Brien left NBC as a result of the 2010 Tonight Show conflict, the band followed him again, this time to TBS, for O'Brien's new television show Conan where they were known as Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band.[citation needed]
In addition to playing the trombone, he also performed in skits such as "In the Year 2000." He was also commonly the butt of O'Brien's jokes during his monologues or interviews in which Rosenberg was often implied to be some variety of sexual deviant. Rosenberg responded with chagrin, or a few times, hid his face behind sheet music.[citation needed]
In January 2019, O'Brien premiered the new format for Conan which removed the band, ending their nearly quarter-century television relationship.[5]
Personal life
[edit]Rosenberg is married and has five children.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Jones, Patrick (Fall 2007). "Late Night with LaBamba" (PDF). Classic Style magazine. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ Wilkowe, Ellen S. "Bruce Springsteen, Man With a Horn, Answers the Call from Springsteen, Southside, Conan". Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ https://brucespringsteen.net/news/2015/now-available-la-sports-arena-california-1988/
- ^ "Warriors: Playoff Preview 050307". NBA.com. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ Kilkenny, Katie (January 22, 2019). "'Conan' Debuts Short-Format Show With Smaller Stage, New Look, Tom Hanks". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
External links
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| Authority control databases: Artists |
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- Living people
- People from Belmar, New Jersey
- Musicians from Philadelphia
- American trombonists
- Male trombonists
- The Max Weinberg 7 members
- Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes members
- Musicians from New Jersey
- Jersey Shore musicians
- Jewish American musicians
- The Tonight Show Band members
- Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band members
- 21st-century trombonists
- The Miami Horns members
- The Sessions Band members