O'Brien attends post-Tonight Show documentary premiere Entertainment
AUSTIN, Texas - Conan O'Brien attended the premiere Sunday of the documentary that captured the turmoil he faced in the days following his departure from the Tonight Show. But he did it grudgingly.
"I personally have trouble watching it because it's a time in my life that I don't like to go back to," O'Brien said from the red carpet, shortly before the South by Southwest film festival premiere of Conan O'Brien Can't Stop. "I'm happy where I am now. I don't really need to go back to it. But I made a commitment" to director Rodman Flender.
O'Brien allowed camera crews to follow him during the "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television" tour, 32-city music-and-comedy show he embarked on last year following his unceremonious departure as the host of NBC's "Tonight Show."
It was a tumultuous time for the comedian, who said he didn't sleep much and lost 15 pounds.
"It's a swirly cone of crazy emotions," he said. "It was anxious, depressing but also euphoric and exciting. It was not just one emotion, it was a lot of emotion. I was confused but also really excited by new possibilities and I think you see almost every emotion in the movie. You see pretty much everything."
Flender, the director who has been friends with Conan since they were classmates at Harvard in the 1980s, said he didn't want the film to be a career retrospective or a marketing tool.
"This seemed like Conan in a specific position and how he was going to handle that and it was happening right then and there," Flender said.
Conan has moved on with a new late-night talk show, "Conan" on TBS and says he had had even forgotten that the film was in the works.
"I've put this all behind me and this came along and suddenly Rodman said 'Hey, the film's done' and I said 'what film?" O'Brien said.
"It might be informative to some people that are going through a crisis," he said. "If it can serve any good for anybody, then fine, then I'm happy."
Legendary jazz drummer Morello dies at 82
TRENTON, N.J. - Legendary jazz drummer Joe Morello, whose virtuosity and command of odd time signatures made him an integral part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet on such classic recordings as "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo a la Turk," has died at age 82.
Family members said Morello died Saturday at his home in northern New Jersey. A cause of death was not immediately available.
Brubeck said the loss of his friend "came as a complete shock to me."
"Many people consider the rhythm section of (bassist) Eugene Wright and Joe Morello in my quartet as being one of the most consistent, swinging rhythm sections in jazz," Brubeck said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. "Drummers worldwide remember Joe as one of the greatest drummers we have known."
Morello's decision to join Brubeck's quartet in 1956 paved the way for the leader's experiments in unusual rhythms on a series of groundbreaking "Time" albums in the late '50s and early '60s that earned popular and critical acclaim.
"Joe was a pioneer in odd time signatures and a vital part of the "Time" series the Quartet made at Columbia Records," said Brubeck. "His drum solo on 'Take Five' is still being heard around the world."
Brubeck got the inspiration for "Take Five" after hearing Morello playing a 5/4 beat while warming up backstage before a concert with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond. The pianist asked Desmond to write a melody in 5/4 time for a tune that would feature a Morello drum solo. Brubeck suggested combining two themes that Desmond wrote to create "Take Five," which became a surprise Top 40 hit on jukeboxes and one of the best-known jazz recordings.
Raised in Springfield, Mass., with impaired vision from birth, Morello initially studied the violin before becoming a drummer in his teen years.
He eventually made his way to New York City, where he played with many leading jazz musicians over the years, and first came to prominence for his work as part of pianist Marian McPartland's Hickory House Trio in the early '50s.
"I'm going to miss him terribly. He was a wonderful man, a wonderful drummer, a great educator" said McPartland, who has hosted "Piano Jazz" on National Public Radio for years. "When we first started playing together (along with bassist Bill Crow), you could see that Joe was going to be a star because he was terrific in every possible way. And pretty soon, he was so in demand, and he felt he had to move on."
- The Associated Press