Kevin Eubanks Leaving Tonight Show

Kevin Eubanks ponders his Leno-less future (photo courtesy of CNN.com)

So apparently the drama over at the Tonight Show isn’t going to stop any time soon. First, Conan O’Brien got the boot so that Jay Leno could slink back onto late-night after his failed attempt at making people laugh in prime-time. And as of today, the show has prompted another big headline – Kevin Eubanks Leaving Tonight Show.

And if you don’t know who that is, Eubanks is the guitarist and leader of the band. He took over from former band-boss Branford Marsalis, who left the show in 1995. And Eubanks has been with the show even longer, since Jay Leno first took over the Tonight Show in 1992.

The fact that Eubanks is leaving Jay Leno and the Tonight Show is a big deal and he’ll be hard to replace. Not for his musical chops, of course, since great jazz guitarists are a dime a dozen. What they’ll really have a tough time finding is someone who can actually make viewers believe he finds Jay Leno amusing enough to laugh at all his jokes. The only other guy laugh so much at so little is Paul Shaffer, and he’s already got a gig.