Sunday Night

One of my favorite shows of all time- Sunday Night and later Night Music was a music performance program (not unlike the late, lamented Sessions at West 54th) which featured an incredibly diverse assortment of talent that has never been seen before or since on national television. With host David Sanborn and a backing band featuring Hiram Bullock, Omar Hakim, and Philippe Saisse, diversity and unusual combinations of artists was the rule. Where else could you see jazz legend Sonny Rollins backing up Leonard Cohen, or one show featuring the likes of Miles Davis, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Kronos Quartet? How about Conway Twitty and the Residents? Philip Glass and Debbie Harry? Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Bongwater? I was crushed when the show was cancelled, and I dream that at least a compilation DVD of this show will someday be released, but until then I'll guard my homemade tapes with my life.

Similar to the other reviewers here, this show really sticks in my mind as a one-of-a-kind show that I am very gratified to have seen almost every episode. Unfortunately, my home-made tapes have long since bitten the dust. Favorite performances: Eric Clapton and Robert Cray jamming out a few tunes from Clapton's "Journeyman" several months before the album was released. Sanborn playing with the Chili Peppers. One of the last televised appearances of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Dan Hicks & his Hot Licks. The list goes on and on. Too bad this show will never be released on DVD. Too many different record labels would have to cooperate. (God forbid!)

A revelation for music lovers, this unequaled weekly show flew under most people's radar, and was all too quickly given the axe with nary the faintest trumpet-call. It was a fearless journey through every realm of music imaginable...accessible/mainstream rock/pop acts, experimental art-noise, traditional folk styles, pan-cultutral sounds, and everything beyond and in-between. Better, still, the artist featured would often merge their talents, giving rise to many highly unlikely and unexpected collaborations.

This astonishingly noncommercial experiment was obviously doomed to die young, but its smallish legion of devotees will remain eternally grateful that it ever got a "green light" in the first place. I hope someone out there will one day release these episodes to the public...there are some extremely rare and very special musical moments in urgent need of preservation from this important, if not iconic program.

10/10...absolute perfection. Television as it should be.

Remarkable variety of great music, great jams & great house band..Youtube has many great performances from the show. Put "night music david sanborn" in youtube's search engine to bring them up. Put "Sunday Night (U.S. TV program)" into Wikipedia's search engine to find every guest from every episode then search youtube for the performances from the show you want to see.

Hi...I remember this show from when I was in high school. It was quite enjoyable, but my MAIN memory, and I want desperately to believe it is real and not imagined, is JOE WALSH. I remember him being on the show, and from what I recall, he was playing _I think_ "Rocky Mountain Way"...and he FORGOT EVERY COUPLE LINES OF LYRICS. It was just funny! He would go "Making records..." and then just shrug and play the guitar without singing the next line. I can't seem to find anything online anywhere to back up my memory of this, but I am sure I saw it. My friends think I might have made it up, but then again they know Joe's history and think it's certainly possible. What a crazy enjoyable TV memory!