The Tonight Show Band was the house band that played on the American television variety show The Tonight Show. From 1962 until 1992, when the show was known as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the band was a 17-piece big band, and was an important showcase for jazz on American television. During the Carson era, the band was always billed as "The NBC Orchestra" (not to be confused with the NBC Symphony Orchestra) and sometimes "Doc Severinsen and the NBC Orchestra". History Just as Tonight! Starring Steve Allen was a continuation of the local New York Steve Allen Show (which had gone on the air in late July 1953), the first Tonight Show Band was an expansion of the small band on the Allen show that had been led by swing era trombonist Bobby Byrne (and, significantly, included trumpeter Doc Severinsen). But when the program went onto the NBC network, September 27, 1954, pianist Skitch Henderson was brought in as leader of a still-smallish ensemble band including Severinsen (who played the program's closing theme, a melody of Allen's entitled "Tonight"; he played that solo not once but three times every night to accommodate the various affiliate stations that left the broadcast at different times: midnight, 12:30, and 1:00 AM Eastern time.) The opening theme also was written by Allen, "Mister Moon". The band also included, among others, trombonist Lou McGarity and two french horns (Henderson's fondness for french horns can be gleaned from the fact that when Allen added a Sunday night prime-time series on NBC in June 1956, the orchestra included four French horns). The band functioned mostly as a backdrop for Allen's vocalists from the local New York show, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. When the program went network, female vocalists Pat Marshall and Pat Kirby were added, along with Andy Williams. Usually two of the singers would appear on each program. Tonight's producer, William O. Harbach had worked with Williams in the late 1940s when he was part of a nightclub act centered around Kay Thompson. Tonight! thus was the first national exposure for Williams, Lawrence, and Gorme. Though Henderson would continue as Allen's conductor on the prime-time show through 1959, the Henderson-led Tonight! band ended when Steve Allen stepped down as host at the end of January 1957. During the Tonight! America After Dark period from February through June 1957, a string of short-lived bandleaders