Shaffer looks at life after Letterman
Musician appears in upcoming Bill Murray holiday special
TORONTO Late-night band leader Paul Shaffer says life after the Late Show With David Letterman includes a lot of family time, plans for a new record and wistful chats with his old boss about reteaming for another comedy project.
Reached by phone in New York, the Thunder Bay, Ont.-bred musician says he sees Letterman regularly and admits they’ve mused on the possibility of working together again.
“We’ve spoken a little bit about it, that perhaps we might do (something),” Shaffer says in a freewheeling conversation.
“He’s been kicking around the desire to just do something that enables him to get in front of an audience.
“But there’s nothing to announce.”
It’s only been six months since Letterman ended his 33-year run on late-night TV as host of CBS’s Late Show With David Letterman and NBC’s Late Night with David Letterman before that.
But Shaffer suggests Letterman’s already itching to get back to work.
“He absolutely misses it, for so many reasons. But he likes to perform,” says Shaffer.
“People say to me, ‘Maybe he’ll produce something.’ What he likes to do is be in front of an audience. I have a feeling he’s going to figure a way, not necessarily on TV, but just as long as I think he can get in front of an audience, we may see him doing that.”
Shaffer says he, too, misses the daily broadcasts and has found it a challenge to adjust to life after Late Show.
“I did it for so long, on a daily basis ... so now, to turn it off so suddenly, has led to quite a period of decompression. Which is still going on, sort of. It’s quite a major change.”
That’s not to say Shaffer is settling into retirement.
The pianist can be seen tickling the ivories for a crooning Bill Murray in the Netflix special A Very Murray Christmas. The star-studded variety show debuts Dec. 4, with comedy pals including Chris Rock, Amy Poehler and Jason Schwartzman spreading holiday cheer along with George Clooney and Miley Cyrus.
Next for Shaffer are plans to record an album.
“Probably with the same band that I ended up with by the end of the Letterman show,” he says, expecting it would be a collection of cover songs.