THE voice is as unmistakable as the attitude. There's the disarming touch of country twang, a quick wit, and smooth charm just like it was when the always smiling Doc Severinsen was the foil for Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show.""Doc" was the hepcat in the flashy suits with eyes twinkling and moustache twitching as he bantered with the understated Carson.
So what's up Doc?
The trumpeter is in town for Monday's Honolulu Magazine Hale Aina Awards presentation to benefit the Honolulu Symphony. Doc not only will blow his own horn but also conduct the Symphony at the Hilton Hawaiian Village banquet.
The Grammy-Award winner will always be best known for leading "The Tonight Show" band despite having a career that spans 40 years and more than 30 albums. But he calls the post "Tonight" period after Carson retired in 1992 "the busiest time in my career."
"I'm on the road 45 weeks a year and when I'm at home I'm constantly programming or on the phone about the next date," Severinsen, 69, said. "It's really incredible. I hadn't expected it to be like this. I guess people started realizing I was available."
In addition to touring, Severinsen - who makes his home in California's Santa Ynez Valley, just north of Santa Barbara - is principal Pops conductor of the Phoenix Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra and the Milwaukee Symphony.
He's also enjoying performing more now. "See, I used to do music for a living; now I do it for a way of life. I just wish I had known that in the first place. It's more fun now, definitely."
It was Severinsen's father, whom he describes as "a country dentist (in Arlington, Ore.) and a marvelous musician," who gave him his first trumpet. Dad also hung the moniker "Little Doc" on the kid.
"My dad wanted me to do music along with him as something we could enjoy together," Severinsen said, laughing. "It got out of hand."
The trumpet was chosen because it was the only horn available in town, Severinsen said.
"You kinda go with what you get."
It's also the only instrument he can play. "If you do it right, there isn't room for much else," he said. "Just ask my wife."
After stints in bands led by guys like Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman, Severinsen at age 22 became a NBC band staff musician. He then joined "The Tonight Show" as a trumpeter in the 1950s when Steve Allen was host, and became band leader in 1967 giving him a longer tenure than Carson, who took over from Jack Paar in 1962.
It was conductor Skitch Henderson who demanded that the then-footloose and fancy-free Severinsen give up touring and join him on "The Tonight Show."
"Skitch said 'Carl' - he's the only one who calls me Carl - 'You come do that show with me and you won't be sorry.' Boy was he right."
Severinsen has nothing but good things to say about "The Tonight Show." "It only helped my career. It still has people interested in me and then they want to come out and see what that guy does besides wear funny suits and be a smart aleck. Then, I get the chance to show them what I can do."
As for the outfits, it all started when Doc was growing up in the wilds of eastern Oregon where he says "everyone was bigger and tougher than me." To show his individuality he began wearing "unusual outfits."
"I don't worry about what people think," he said. "I just pick what I like. I have a lady named Stella who does all the beading. Just finished picking up another two years worth."
He jokes that aspiring musicians "buy a lot of wild suits to have a gimmick."
"Seriously, the key is practice. You have to practice so when opportunities are presented, you're ready. Of course it helps to meet a Johnny Carson."
How did the two men get along for so long?
"Primarily it was those six unretouched photos I have of Johnny in a small hotel in Tijuana and my career kinda snowballed from there."
Severinsen is encouraged by what he calls the widening of the "cultural base" in the United States to include more forms of music.
"Big bands are not a fad and they're not going to die; they've become concert hall attractions," he said. The Hale Aina program, which Severinsen said is "designed for the occasion," will begin with the overture to Candide, and also include "What is This Thing Called Love," a medley from "The Phantom of the Opera," a tribute to the Three Tenors, "Georgia on my Mind," and "When the Saints Go Marching In."
While Severinsen doesn't believe symphony orchestras have outlived their time he emphasizes that to prosper conductors and musical directors will have to rethink how the music is presented.
"Everybody wears the same old suits in the same hall with the same lighting with the obligatory first piece, then the guest artist plays his concerto, then everybody comes back in and plays the symphony.
"There's room to be more stimulated through the programs. There is nothing more exciting than to hear what a symphony orchestra can do."
And how will Severinsen "stimulate" Monday's performance?
"Well one thing is for sure I'll be wearing a funny suit!"
What: 13th annual Hale 'Aina Awards honoring Hawaii's top restaurants; a benefit for Honolulu Symphony