Tuba Gooding Jr.

Tuba Gooding Jr.
Tuba Gooding Jr. with The Roots at Central Park Summerstage, August 24, 2024
Tuba Gooding Jr. with The Roots at Central Park Summerstage, August 24, 2024
Background information
Birth nameDamon Bryson
Genres
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Sousaphone, Tuba
Member ofThe Roots, The Tonight Show Band

Damon Bryson (born 1978), better known by his stage name Tuba Gooding Jr., is an American tubist and member of the hip hop band The Roots, joining the band in 2007. He plays the sousaphone in The Roots in the house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[1][2]

The sousaphone is a low brass instrument mainly used as a marching band tuba.[3] Bryson was named "one of the top sousaphone players of all time" by Brass 'n Wind.[4]

In a 2014 interview, Bryson told reporter Mister Mann Frisby that he named his 37 pound sousaphone "Onyx" because of the color.[5]

  1. ^ Vincenty, Samantha (January 4, 2024). "All About The Tonight Show Band, The Roots". NBC.
  2. ^ Scaggs, Austin (May 15, 2008). "The Roots of the Roots". Rolling Stone.
  3. ^ Kasman, Shari (June 20, 2012). "You're Playing the What? (The Sousaphone)". Toronto Standard.
  4. ^ Davis, Yvette. "Top Sousaphone Players of All Time". Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  5. ^ Frisby, Mister Mann (February 19, 2014). "'Tuba Gooding Jr.' marches from South Philly to 'Tonight Show'". The Daily News.