As a somewhat of a Carson aficionado, and as a family friend, it was clear that from the time he brought the Tonight Show to Los Angeles in the early 70's that he had tremedous say so in who would appear as a musical guest. He grew up with big band instrumentalists and singers, and as a drummer boy himself (he wasn't at all bad!) often had loud/high note fan Buddy Rich on. Johnny was intimately familiar with so many of the instrumentalists he grew up listening to, and that included Maynard when he had Doc at his side on the Charlie Barnet Band, but on "Tonight," he often stayed with vocalists, which he knew would resonate more with his audience: Sarah Vaughn, Della Reese, Donna Summer, Joe Williams was a frequent guest, and wasn't widely known, but Carson put him out there.

I credit him, single handedly for keeping big band music alive when it otherwise might have fallen off the cliff. 15 to 30 million watched Doc play every night. That's some forum, and clearly Maynard benefited from that nightly exposure of jazz in the public's ears. It's what turned me on to trumpet in the first place. When Carson passed and Doc and Tommy Newsom played a tribute to Carson on the Letterman show, it's clear that he was deeply affected as he played Here's That Rainy Day through tears. I watched through them.

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