Anton Fig

Drummer Anton Fig enjoyed a nightly dose of fame on NBC-TV's popular Late Night With David Letterman. He was a part of the show's studio band led by Paul Schaffer. Fig started playing drums at age four. Later he studied at Boston's New England Conservatory of Music graduating with honors in 1975. In 1976 he moved to New York to become a freelance musician. Ten years later, he joined Letterman's late-night band. Fig has appeared on recordings by <a href="spotify:artist:74ASZWbe4lXaubB36ztrGX">Bob Dylan</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Mick Jagger</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:07XSN3sPlIlB2L2XNcTwJw">Kiss</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6tbjWDEIzxoDsBA1FuhfPW">Madonna</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:23wr9RJZg0PmYvVFyNkQ4j">Gary Moore</a>, Spider, <a href="spotify:artist:62olK5zZHSgFUXGDykgBL8">Ace Frehley</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1bdAJUX6JPsnYHbTl5jbk6">Joan Armatrading</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1iQbAecYvKMXhpaFg7oSRq">Paul Butterfield</a>. On stage he's backed <a href="spotify:artist:2CvCyf1gEVhI0mX6aFXmVI">Paul Simon</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3eqjTLE0HfPfh78zjh6TqT">Bruce Springsteen</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7guDJrEfX3qb6FEbdPA5qi">Stevie Wonder</a>. He performed with Booker T & the $MG's for <a href="spotify:artist:74ASZWbe4lXaubB36ztrGX">Bob Dylan</a>'s 30th Anniversary concert celebration. When Letterman moved his late-night talk show in the late '90s to CBS where it became The Late Show With David Letterman, Fig followed. While being a member of the CBS Orchestra (as the <a href="spotify:artist:1FdRWg2tqR4I7jjA29vWYU">Schaffer</a>-led band was now called), he still found time to back a slew of artists including <a href="spotify:artist:0kbYTNQb4Pb1rPbbaF0pT4">Miles Davis</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7GaxyUddsPok8BuhxN6OUW">James Brown</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5gxynDEKwNDgxGJmJjZyte">Stevie Winwood</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2lolQgalUvZDfp5vvVtTYV">Tony Bennett</a>. Fig, still an-indemand session drummer, appeared on various projects including his own drum instructional video and book sets: In the Groove features the Paul Shaffer Band, the Ace Frehley Band, <a href="spotify:artist:2RnjzTi9pBPXEqOtKh4OPj">Blondie Chaplin</a>, former Letterman bassist <a href="spotify:artist:4yfYzng7htuuRXosAJYtun">Will Lee</a>, Sid McGinnis, and a "Top Ten List" from David Letterman. Late Night Drumming is an edited version of ...Groove; both were released by Warner Bros. Publishing. ~ Ed Hogan, Rovi