| November 29, 2025 
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My time as an avid “Entertainment Tonight” viewer overlapped with John Tesh’s tenure as a co-host of the show (1986-1996). If it felt like everyone knew the same Hollywood news, and was buzzing about the same gossip, we were — information trickled out of main arteries like “E.T.” and People magazine, and the pop culture obsessed soaked it in. So learning a factoid about Tesh (that he’d composed the catchy theme song that played whenever an N.B.A. game was on NBC) outside of that ecosystem was a shock: That guy? Could it be? (Before Google, who knew!) Tesh left the show to focus on music, which was his true passion. While he might not be the image that pops to mind when someone says “indie musician,” that’s exactly what he became, putting out dozens of albums (they were often tagged new age, but also encompassed worship music, jazzy covers and more), mostly on his own label, for the following three decades. With “Roundball Rock” returning to NBC this fall, I wanted to know more. Details are very important to Tesh, and we met at Gallagher’s steakhouse in Manhattan, where he’d had his first job interview for CBS News in 1976. (I started my own career across the street at Entertainment Weekly, which people frequently called “Entertainment Tonight.”) He told me about getting into Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and camping out at the West Village club the Bottom Line, where he got exposure to keyboardists like Lyle Mays. Tesh’s own music may not call to mind such names; he makes an amalgam of several unhip genres, and has endured the punchlines that accompany them. But authenticity hides in unexpected places, and I found his story fascinating. Hopefully after enduring this long newsletter windup, you will too. Jon Pareles’s profile of David Amram blew me away this week, too. He’s 95, and has spent his life creating music in a variety of genres, making a powerful impression on his many collaborators along the way. Carolina Abbott Galvão spoke with theremin enthusiasts who are trying to demystify the instrument (don’t miss the videos, with sound, in this one). Bob Mehr wrote about John Prine, who is the subject of a new documentary five years after his death from Covid-19. Lindsay Zoladz caught us up on eight new songs, and Ben Sisario picked out eight to remember Jimmy Cliff, who died this week at 81. Make a friend’s day: Forward this email! Get this from a friend? Sign up here. Follow us on X, formerly Twitter @nytimesmusic. Send your feedback on Louder at theplaylist@nytimes.com. Check out our full range of newsletters and subscribe to The Amplifier here. |
