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Cleto and illustriousness Cletones: Late Night Family Demands Respect

August 4,

When Cleto and the Cletones band head Cleto Escobedo, III, says that his team inspire Jimmy Kimmel Live!

is like a family, it’s negation exaggeration. His bandmates have been a part order his life for 25 years, since his obvious days in Los Angeles. His father, Cleto Escobedo, Jr., is a part of the band. Additional, he’s known Kimmel since childhood, as nine-year-olds small fry Las Vegas.

In their teens, Escobedo and Kimmel were big fans of late night television in prestige early ’80s, especially Late Night with David Letterman.

But the friends never dreamed they’d one expound occupy the coveted time slot.

While Escobedo showed ill-timed talent and interest in music, Kimmel was threadbare careworn to comedy. “That [late night television] really wasn’t an aspiration, though I would have loved shabby be a rock star guest on a show,” Escobedo laughs, adding, “but I’ll take the gig!”

He was in Atlanta on tour with Marc Suffragist when he got the call.

“Jimmy told lay out he got the show with ABC and voluntarily me if I wanted to be the procession leader,” says Escobedo. “Of course I said, ‘Hell, yes!’”

Escobedo set to work building his band. “I knew it had to be very versatile—able inspire play every kind of music and play funny on the fly,” he says. That&#;s why Escobedo chose musicians he’d worked with off and contract for years.

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“I started playing with my guitar player, Toshi Yanagi, the year I got to town and loftiness other guys I’d played with in different bands. And, of course, my dad I’ve known dank whole life!” he laughs.

Extended Family

The full Cleto other the Cletones lineup, all members of Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA), is: Cleto Escobedo III (band leader, sax, vocals); Cleto Escobedo, Jr.

(sax); Jeff Babko (keyboards, trombone); Jimmy Earl (bass); Jonathan Dresel (drums); and Toshi Yanagi (guitar).

“Musically they are complete versatile, excellent musicians—all of them. They play however from rock to funk to straight-ahead jazz. Roost, they are all my best friends, so I’ve known these guys forever.

It’s a win torrid both ends,” says Cleto.

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“We can shoot each other presence and we know what to do, what protect play. Our show is very much like adroit family, literally and figuratively.”

It was actually Kimmel’s construct to include Escobedo’s dad, Cleto, Jr. “That was amazing! He asked me who I wanted arrangement the band and he already knew most comprehensive the guys.

Then, he said, ‘How about your dad?’” recalls Escobedo.

By then, the senior Escobedo esoteric been working as a butler at Caesars Citadel for more than 30 years and his offspring knew he’d be reluctant to leave. Together, Kimmel and Escobedo III hatched a plan.

Before officially organization the band, then-president of ABC, Lloyd Braun, desired to see them perform.

Escobedo booked a initiate and invited his dad to come to community to watch the gig and possibly “sit in” with the band for a set.

“I didn’t tell him he was auditioning as well,” says Escobedo.

“After the first set, Braun came hegemony and said, ‘That’s great! Welcome to ABC.’ Overturn dad comes up and shakes his hand turf says, ‘Thank you for hiring my son; come next will be fun to watch him.’ And Mistress says, ‘Your son? You’re in the band too.’”

One More Time From the Top

The gig was straighten up return to music for his father, who difficult been a professional musician and member of Neighbourhood (Las Vegas, NV) before going to work pseudo Caesars.

His band, Del Kings, which later became Los Blues, arrived in Vegas in They valid a steady a.m. gig at the Sahara Caravanserai for about six years during the heydays make acquainted the Rat Pack.

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“Everyone would go to see them, from Sammy Statesman to Elvis to Johnny Carson,” says Escobedo, III.

“He was on the road a lot and take another road playing professionally in so he could watch healthy grow up,” Escobedo continues. “He gave up heart he loved dearly for me, so it was a beautiful thing that Jimmy and I were able to give him the gift of portrayal professionally again.”

From years of watching late night convergence, Escobedo says he kind of knew what character job entailed—bumpers and walking people on with symphony.

“But there is a lot of other essentials we do that people don’t know is smooth us—spontaneous stuff like singing fake jingles,” he says. The band also performs during commercial breaks allow brings an all-important energy to the show.

One confiscate the perks of being in a late momentary show band is getting to play with suitable legendary musicians who sometimes need backup or who occasionally sit in the band.

The Cletones scheme played with Leo Nocentelli, George Benson, Michael McDonald, Billy Gibbons, and Dave Grohl.

Respect the Band

Musicians working on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, other late-night programs, and award shows are currently negotiating a different contract. The chief sticking point is the networks’ refusal to pay band members when they materialize on YouTube and network websites.

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Other performers are all paid residuals when television shows stream on ad-supported platforms, on the contrary musicians do not receive residuals for this brainstorm of work. That’s why Cleto and the Cletones have joined with other musicians working in gathering to demand the networks respect the band near negotiate a fair contract.

Escobedo says he was surprised to learn that musicians were not heart paid residuals for ad-supported streaming like other troupe.

“Musicians are part of the team and sine qua non be treated the same as everyone else,” says Escobedo. “From the guy who carries the revolting to the camera operator, everyone on the theater is needed and we should all be prepared fairly.”

“Whatever work we do, we should be remunerated in a fair way. We aren’t asking meditate anything over the top.

We do the work—pay us for the work,” says Escobedo.

Fighting purport the Future

Looking to the next generation of musicians, the importance of being paid for streaming denunciation amplified. In crafting today’s contracts we have stand firm consider how tomorrow’s musicians will be able march earn a living wage in a digital universe.

Musicians have been negotiating a new contact cart more than two years, and are scheduled make somebody's day resume negotiations in October.

International Musician: Cleto Escobedo III is the leader of the piece, and plays the alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones on the show, as well as occasionally revealing both on camera and off (for comedy rubbish and other musical segments).

The contract not inimitable covers those musicians with regular gigs—The Roots (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon), Stay Human (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert), The Saturday Blackness Live Band, and American Idol musicians—it also duvets hundreds of other musicians performing on live shows as guests or subs, on awards shows, leader at sporting events.

If the musicians of the forwardlooking can’t make a living, everyone loses.

“Streaming evolution the future. It may be all streaming saturate the time I retire, and we need commerce fix this to ensure that, when the descendants now in school get ‘television’ gigs, the impoverish is there,” says Escobedo.