As if 15 years as Jay Leno's comic foil wasn't proof enough, it seems it's pretty easy to get a laugh out of Kevin Eubanks. When I ask him if being a pescetarian is good for his soul - and add "no pun intended" - he cracks up. "That's good!," he enthuses. "I'm gonna use that!"
Eubanks left his job as The Tonight Show's music director last year and is now touring to support his latest recording, Zen Food. As official artist-in-residence at the inaugural Jazz On The Mountain At Whistler festival, he'll perform Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
You're coming here to play a jazz festival, but you don't consider yourself strictly a jazz artist, do you?
No, it's not even consider; I know. I grew up playing rock 'n' roll music and classical music and funk and R&B. I didn't start playing jazz music until I was in my late teens. And my appreciation for music definitely, without a doubt, expands beyond jazz or any one genre of music. But I've just given up trying to convince people that I'm into this or into that. Unfortunately, it typecasts you, so you do not get the opportunity to play on a professional level with musicians in other genres.
Someone in your position I would think could almost write your own ticket.
If I wanted to play on some straight up country music or rock 'n' roll music, the first people that would attack me would be the jazz community.
Would they accuse you of being a traitor? Of selling out?
Exactly. Or something like that. You are just not allowed to do it. Who do you think you are, playing that rock 'n' roll music? Oh, you mean the music I was playing since I was 12? I really did know who Jimi Hendrix was before I knew who Wes Montgomery was. I really knew the group Chicago's music before I knew the music of Charlie Parker. That's just a fact. But as soon as Garth Brooks calls or LeAnn Rimes - who I have worked a lot with, I love LeAnn Rimes, she's actually one of my favourite vocalists - the community that would be least likely to accept that is the community you've done the most for, which would be the jazz community. Which is really unfortunate. Because jazz musicians have a tendency to be able to play lots of other different kinds of music. I think some of the most gifted musicians are in jazz, and wind up having the least versatility when it comes to their career.
And you think it's because of the typecasting?
Absolutely. And musicians typecast themselves as well. They look down on other music: that's just three chords. Yeah, but that's B.B. King on three chords. That's Buddy Guy on three chords. Who cares how many chords it is or how difficult? Since when is that the prerequisite for something being useful or not? If it's complicated and it's useful and it's necessary, then beautiful. But if you're holding that up as some sort of badge of honour - it's more difficult so I'm better than you - I just think it's ridiculous.
You were on The Tonight Show for 18 years [15 as bandleader; there was also the short move to The Jay Leno Show]. How did that experience shape you and your music?
I don't think it shaped my music too much at all. It shaped my whole attitude, though, about appreciating other styles of music. From being on that show I became much more of a country music fan and a blues fan.
Do you miss it?
Oh, yeah.
Do you regret leaving?
I want to put it in a way that it's not misunderstood, because people are real sensitive about this: It just seems like a natural course of development that you go through. Yeah, I miss it a lot. It was fun. But it's like anything else that you enjoy but you just have to do something else: You miss it, but you still just have to follow what you think you need to be doing for your life too.
Is it a bit of a relief at the same time not to have to do it day after day?
I don't miss driving the five lanes of traffic. It's just a different life. It's hard to compare it to anything now. I got good at being on TV; I'd love to do another TV show. I hope that works out at some point. For the right reasons and everything, I would gladly go back to television.
Why did you leave? Was it to focus on the music?
I just needed a different pace in my life, and sometimes it's very difficult to do that, because it's not broke, it doesn't look like it's broke. So why are you fixing it and all that? You know, sometimes people will ask: 'You like living in this town?' 'Yeah I like it, it's really nice, it's peaceful.' 'Then why are you leaving?' 'Cause I really just got to see what's going on in New York City. I've got to feel what's going on.' It's not like I don't love my hometown or I don't love The Tonight Show. I've got to see what's across the street. It's been 18 years. I just want to have a look and see what's going on in the world.
Kevin Eubanks has several performances at this weekend's Jazz On The Mountain At Whistler, and will play a short acoustic set at Chapters in downtown Vancouver on Thursday at 2 p.m. (whistlerjazzfest.com).
This interview has been condensed and edited.
Marsha Lederman