Bunker Hill Community College Alum Joins NBC "Saturday Night Live" Band
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The one-time pianist for the Bunker Hill Community College Jazz Ensemble debuted this month on the season premiere of the NBC hit television show “Saturday Night Live.” Tuffus Zimbabwe, a Roxbury native who attended BHCC and went on to graduate from Berklee College of Music, triumphed over 28 other keyboard artists to win a seat in the live band that plays on the show.
“Tuffus just stayed in my mind as satisfying all the criteria I was looking for – good feel, nice vibe, sight reading, ability to play different styles,” said “Saturday Night Live” music director Lenny Pickett, a saxophonist who played with the legendary rock band Tower of Power. “Tuffus is a good piano player.”
At BHCC, Tuffus befriended jazz-ensemble leader and BHCC English Department Chair Timothy M. McLaughlin, who is also a saxophonist. “Tuffus just thinks music. He plays jazz and he's played in churches and he composes his own music,” McLaughlin said. McLaughlin, who often plays weekend gigs, brought Zimbabwe along whenever possible. “We played an event at the Kennedy Library, and there was a request to do "Lift Every Voice and Sing," a song for which we had no music,” McLaughlin remembers. “Tuffus just said, "Sure," asked the singer the key and off he went, the rest of us tagging along for the ride.”
Zimbabwe came to BHCC as part of a common trend at community colleges. He was home schooled and needed to obtain an official GED in order to continue to a four-year college. His brother is currently a student at BHCC.
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About Bunker Hill Community College
Celebrating 50 years of excellence, Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is Massachusetts' largest community college, annually welcoming a diverse community of around 16,000 students. With campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, BHCC extends its reach across several locations in Greater Boston. BHCC is celebrated for its diversity, boasting a student body where 65% identify as people of color and more than half are women. The College also embraces a global perspective, with over 600 international students representing 90 countries and conversing in more than 65 languages. Our commitment to diversity is further reflected in BHCC's designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI).