Better than Belushi

I've been getting a real kick out of watching the old episodes of Saturday Night Live that NBC has been running in the 3 a.m. to 4:30 time-slot on Sunday Mornings (or Saturday night, if you're a nite owl like me). I'm never sure which episode they'll rerun -- NBC's website isn't particularly forthcoming, and neither is TV Guide -- but the ones I've seen have all been worth watching -- particularly the early episodes where they haven't slipped into the comfortable comedy/music pattern they've been in for decades now. And a few weeks ago, they played an 80s episode with Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Julia-Louis-Dreyfus, Rich Hall, and others -- they're honestly one of my favorite casts, purists be damned.

But last week's was an early one, with Peter Boyle hosting. There were some funny bits (a wrestling match between the Bees versus the Wasps, a car commercial poking fun at Ricardo Montalban, and the fantastic Dueling Brandos) and some odd cultural references (a Weekend Update gag about George Bush, head of the CIA) -- but the finest thing in this episode was the musical guest, Al Jarreau.

I'm not a big fan of the musical guest segments, and nearly fast-forwarded this one without a listen. I'm glad I didn't. Jarreau had just released his debut album, We Got By, and his performance of the title track was absolutely compelling. I've watched it three times so far, and will probably do so again before finding a home for it on VHS. His voice soars and bubbles, moving looping around wherever the song needs to go. It's a treasure. He also performed "You Don't See Me," another sweet couple of minutes of music that make it absolutely clear what an influence he's been on Vance Gilbert, an excellent singer-songwriter in his own right. Gilbert often sings Jarreau's "Could You Believe" in concert, but that now seems like a tribute to Jarreau's influence, not the extent of it.

But believe me when I tell you: Jarreau was amazing on this show. We Got By is definitely worth seeking out.

Rob