#Never Too Late: The Doc Severinsen,

We remember Doc Severinsen as Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show bandleader, a cool cat with a mean horn and a loud wardrobe. Nearly 30 years later, this lively American Masters profile catches up with the tireless trumpeter (above), still blasting away in his nineties.

“He’s a marvel of a human being,” says fellow trumpet master Chris Botti, with Never Too Late as living proof. We learn Doc’s colorful history while watching him work out at the gym (three times a week), conduct a master class for a student band and provide one-on-one encouragement to a blind novice. His devotion to his instrument cost him three marriages, but his passion for music keeps those high notes blaring.

Never Too Late: The Doc Severinsen Story, 9/8c, PBS (check local listings at pbs.org)