JT & HIS ALL STAR BAND - AMERICAN SUMMER TOUR 2016

Hey Alberta … you’ve got a friend in James Taylor.

The Massachusetts-born, North Carolina-bred singer-songwriter pledged to donate concert proceeds of his two Alberta gigs (Tuesday in Edmonton and Wednesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome) to Fort McMurray fire victims at the front-end of his current Canadian tour.

The gesture was heartfelt, sincere and loving. But there was also the musical portion of the evening that the 68-year-old, five-time Grammy winner would have to deliver on a night where no one could possibly feel let down. Mission accomplished … Taylor can still deliver, even after all these years.

Appearing on a no-frills stage typical of artists who prefer to let the music rather than the flash do the talking, Taylor sashayed onto the stage, with a smile beaming from ear-to-ear and promptly received a standing ovation from the half-full house … just for showing up. Now … that’s respect.

With an absolutely stellar 10-piece backing band behind him, Taylor leaned into the relaxed and familiar strains of Wandering, which was quickly followed by Secret o’ Life and the jazz-infused Buddy Holly nugget, Everyday.

There is so much more to the true artist who has been there and done that … with nothing to prove except to provide, yet again, the emotion of the music that somehow, almost unknowingly, has become the soundtrack of our lives.

As relaxed in his story-telling as in his Taylor-made customary crooning, his sense of humour and stories were as disarming as that soulful, pleasing and immediately identifiable voice. Hell, he does not sound like a 68-year-old James Taylor … he sounds like, well, James Taylor in his prime. Yeah, as good as you’re thinking.

“We’ll get around to that,” he quipped at any one of the numerous requests for hits of days gone by, while picking up a set list near his feet.

“See … I even wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget!“

Still wearing his newsboy cap (talk about your classic old-school) the master weaved his way through a litany of songs that you recognized without always knowing from where, from when or from whom.

From Country Road, The Frozen Man, Down On A Copperline and Carolina In My Mind to Carole King’s Up On The Roof, a stunning interpretation of Fire & Rain and Shed A Little Light, it all felt as familiar and comfortable as a favourite pair of dungarees.

In the name of fairness, we’re often critical of the typically awful sound in the Scotiabank Saddledome. But last night … well, last night was magic. The grand old barn sounded like Carnegie Hall. Buy that soundman a beer!

In any case, the gathered throng swayed and smiled in their seats through second set crowd-pleasers such as You’ve Got A Friend, Angels Of Fenway, Sweet Baby James and Your Smiling Face.

During a show that was already clocking in at two hours-plus, a three-song encore which included Eddie Floyd’s Knock On Wood (no disrespect to Ami Stewart) and Marvin Gaye’s How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) sent longtime fans and relative newbies to the exits satisfied — and then some.

It all came in knowing that a great cause in this province was the icing on what was already a truly great evening.

No opener on this night … and none required.

A smooth-talking, sweet-singing James Taylor was the host with the most at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday night — funny, forthright, and fabulous.

Taylor, 68, played tour guide during his first Victoria show since 2008, taking 5,771 fans on a trip through the easygoing 1970s.

And he played his trump card — nostalgia — perfectly. Many of his jokes, of which there were plenty, were aimed at those old enough to remember the same “hippie bulls---” Taylor said he wrote about in the hit Country Road.

He also lamented not being able to remember anything about his dealings with the Beatles, who signed him to their Apple Records label in 1968.

“Old jokes are best,” Taylor quipped, with a comic timing that has been honed to a sharp point over decades of touring. “Told time and time again, over and over.”

A lengthy standing ovation followed a spot-on Fire and Rain, which was well deserved (the audience also roared its approval following You’ve Got a Friend and Carolina in My Mind, which featured some nice guitar work from the singer).

Taylor was in perfect voice, backed by a spectacular-sounding 10-piece band. And though the set ran for well over two hours and went 25 songs deep, pacing was never a problem.

Anyone who knows Taylor is already hip to his mellowness, but he wasn’t sleepy. He simply settled into a third-gear groove, and never let go.

Taylor has succeeded during his decades as an artist by delivering a succession of well-written hits, proving not only his prowess as a singer but also his worth as a songwriter.

This was clearly evident Friday night: Taylor touched upon various stages of his life through song, mirroring the arc of his fans’ lives in the process.

Nostalgia never felt so good, even when it occasionally cut deep emotionally. “Since we’re only here for a while,” he sang on Secret O’ Life, “might as well show some style.”

Taylor’s set showcased songs from all phases of his career, including his newest album, Before This World, and he shone brightly, albeit modestly, during each turn. He also tackled material from Carole King, Buddy Holly, Eddie Floyd, Chuck Berry and Marvin Gaye, which put some full-band wind beneath his wings when Taylor and a quietly strummed guitar wasn’t cutting it.

Taylor is not the most thrilling performer, in terms of movements on stage, but that wasn’t a concern for his fans, who seemed happy to sit as the singer and his band took the long way around some of the material. Near the close of the concert, Taylor and Co. went into funk mode, a move that gave Steve Gadd, a drumming icon, a chance to flex his percussion muscles, and he did so with a touch of finesse.

Taylor, for his part, was the picture of class, even during the intermission. He remained on stage between sets to chat, take pictures and sign autographs. Many there were chuffed to be up close and personal with a performer who truly gets better with age.

Hard to blame them for feeling the love. He is Sweet Baby James, after all.

mdevlin@timescolonist.com

It took James Taylor about 30 minutes Sunday night to realize he was a bit overdressed for Tucson's hottest June 19th on record.

He was in the midst of introducing drummer Steve Gadd and was going to shake his hand when he shucked his suit coat. He then unbuttoned the top button of his long-sleeved dress shirt and rolled up the sleeves.

Several members of the audience loosely filling Tucson Arena shouted "Hydrate" as Taylor took a swallow from a water bottle on his mic stand.

"Yeah, it's a dry heat," Taylor quipped, adjusting his signature newsboy hat. "And so is my toaster. Was it 120 today? That's toasty."

But it was anything but toasty in the arena, thanks to the blast of cold coming from the air conditioner and the breeze of cool coming from Taylor and his 10-piece band.

Anyone who expected a quiet stroll down memory lane — one that called for planting yourself in your assigned seat and politely applauding after songs that went back 30, 40 years — were happily misled.

Taylor, 68, showed us that he is every bit the entertainer he was in his prime, only these days he does it with a sense of abandon. See, Taylor has nothing to prove; he's earned his place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the sales and radio play charts, and atop the various most-played song lists with a catalog of near iconic hits from "You've Got a Friend" to "Fire and Rain." He doesn't need to dress them  up with fancy stage lights and props, although he had some pretty nifty video complements Sunday night that flashed city scenes and some cool lighting effects.

His show Sunday night was all about breaking down walls that separate audience and artist. We felt like we were all gathered in a big campfire circle telling stories and singing songs. When a woman in the crowd yelled out "I love you James Taylor!" the singer jokingly responded, "You brazen hussy," a comment that generated a rush of laughs and applause.

Taylor told stories about the inspiration behind several songs including being homesick in England when he wrote "Carolina In My Mind," an ode to his boyhood home. When he sang it, he was joined by a quiet chorus that coursed through the arena — voices that grew more pronounced during "You've Got A Friend."

With few exceptions, Taylor sounded as remarkably nuanced and strong voiced as he did at the beginning of his career in the mid-1960s on songs including the inspiring come-together plea of "Secret of Life" and the lovers lament of "I Was A Fool to Care."

He got vocal assists on "Shower the People" from his 15-year-old son Henry and longtime backup singer Arnold McCuller, who sang the bluesy wail at the end with the passionate conviction of Sunday morning preacher.

There were so many songs from so many milestones in the lives of the audience, many of whom were well north of their 50s. He mixed and mingled old — the lullaby "Sweet Baby James," the toe-tapping "Mexico," a rocking cover of Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood" and the nostalgic reminiscence of "Copperline" — with new from his latest album "Before This World." Taylor promised — as he does every night when he pulls out the new material — to make it fast, like pulling off a bandage. Besides, he assured them, his new songs sound a lot like his old songs, written from that place where he seems to always retreat when he writes.

The crowd cheered him on through the rocking "Today Today Today," the ballad "You And I Again" and the folksy "Montana." One man in the back even shouted out a request from that album — the baseball-inspired "Angels of Fenway," which Taylor penned in honor of his favorite team the Boston Red Sox. The song recalls the "Curse of the Bambino," the long World Series drought that fans believe was directly linked to Boston selling Babe Ruth to New York Yankees.

Of course, Taylor added in his ever optimistic way, droughts  eventually end; the Red Sox won the Series in 2004.

LENOX – It is as much a Fourth of July tradition as fireworks, cookouts, and carnivals: James Taylor at Tanglewood.

The summer home of the BSO is also the annual holiday hangout of JT. The Berkshires resident opened up his two night (he's there Monday night as well) residency at the famed shed with a two-hour, 24 song set in front of a sold out crowd.

This being, quite literally, Taylor's backyard, the artist-audience relationship tends to take on a host-guest dynamic.

The singer earned an ovation upon arrival, striking a chord long before he plucked a note. He tipped his newsboy cap and picked up the acoustic guitar to open the show with "Something in the Way She Moves."

The ever-gracious Taylor was anxious to highlight the talent sharing the stage and introduced keyboard player Larry Goldings and guitarist Mike Landau out of the gate, part of a 10-piece ensemble that included three backing vocalists.

"I know you didn't come here tonight to hear 'no gah-damn new music'," Taylor joked. "But the new ones are just like the old ones. And we'll do it quick like ripping off a Band-Aid."

He offered "Today, Today, Today," from his latest album "Before This World" which is already a year old.

With new songs, hits, choice covers like Buddy Holly's "Everyday," and a couple of Carol King songs, Taylor built a set he referred to as "sturdy and adequate." His easy listening essays required little heavy lifting from either him or the audience and the evening went as scripted on the over-sized, printed itinerary at his feet.

He told stories and explained the origins of songs from "Country Road" ("it was part of the whole nature as church hippie bull (expletive) from 1968") and how his North Carolina upbringing influenced "Copperline."

He performed "Fire and Rain," acoustically and brought the full band back, plus wife Kim and son Henry on vocals, for the set closing "Shower the People."

Taylor spent most of the 20 minute intermission signing autographs for fans that shuffled down to the front of the stage.

The second set featured the band stretching out on Chuck Berry's "Promised Land," and quiet hits like King's "You've Got a Friend."

As inconceivable as it may seem that this gifted songwriter could pen something as trite as "Angels of Fenway," an ode to the once-cursed Red Sox, it is harder to fathom Taylor's including the drivel in his live performance.

He recovered with "Sweet Baby James," and the band jammed relatively heavy on "Steamroller Blues." Taylor closed the set with "Mexico" and "Your Smiling Face." He opened the three-song encore by channeling Wilson Pickett with "In the Midnight Hour."

Songwriting legend shared eclectic setlist at Arena on Friday


Singers on the cusp of 70 shouldn’t be expected to sound like they did in their 20s. Real fans understand this; cynical critics like to point out the flaws at every opportunity.

But at 68, James Taylor energized and embraced the sold-out crowd Friday night in Binghamton with a voice that seemed to show signs of no aging at all — it’s still as clear and emotive as on his self-titled debut album from 1968.

More than 5,000 people turned out at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena, but although he's played there before — I’ve heard that the last time was in the early 1990s — a legend like Taylor is accustomed to playing in much larger venues these days. On Saturday, for instance, he’s doing a show in Syracuse for a crowd nearly twice the size, and even that’s still on the small side.

Taylor clearly relished being onstage at what is (for him) a more intimate show, goofing around with his band and joking with audience members who shouted out song requests and random exclamations of adoration. He seemed loose, funny, happy and reveling in the collaboration with his 10-member band, which he introduced as “the most amazing band on the face of the planet.” (Included in the stellar lineup: jazz pianist/organist Larry Goldings, saxophonist Lou Marini from the original Blues Brothers band, drummer Steve Gadd, guitarist Michael Landau, trumpeter/film orchestrator Walt Fowler, Cuban percussionist Luis Conte and bassist/band leader Jimmy Johnson.)

Working from a setlist written on a giant piece of what he said was roofing material (strong and flexible “just how I like my women”), he delivered two sets that mixed classic tunes and a few covers with songs from his latest album, “Before This World,” which hit No. 1 in the Billboard charts when released last year. “I have attempted to anticipate your every musical request,” he promised — and judging from the crowd’s many standing ovations, he did just that.

After more than 50 years as a performer, Taylor clearly knows how to structure a show, building up the audience’s energy and bringing them to their feet, then stripping everything back for a mellower ballad. The effect was like watching a master conductor manage a symphony of emotions.

Picking out specific highlights from the show is difficult - I wrote down some compelling notes for pretty much every tune - but I think what I enjoyed most were the show’s funkier and more gospel-driven moments. Backup singers Andrea Zonn (who also plays a mean fiddle), Kate Markowitz and Arnold McCuller blended well with Taylor’s distinctive tenor, and McCuller in particular got moments when he briefly took the lead vocal (like on “Shower the People”).


I admit that I’m only a casual James Taylor fan, but a show this memorable will definitely lead me to explore more of his back catalog. He seemed truly grateful for the enthusiastic response from the Binghamton crowd, and hopefully the robust ticket sales will encourage more promoters to book acts at the Arena.

Thanks, Mr. Taylor — it was nice to have you back in town. Don’t be a stranger, OK?

• An odd but fun footnote: Sharing the row with me was “Frasier” and “Cheers” star Kelsey Grammer, out to see the concert with family members. He has a home in Delaware County, so it’s not completely inexplicable but still a surprise. Once people recognized him, bolder audience members went up to him for a handshake or a selfie. I played it cool and resisted the urge — even a star deserves a night out without a mob surrounding him.

Katrina Tulloch | ktulloch@syracuse.com By Katrina Tulloch | ktulloch@syracuse.com
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on July 31, 2016 a

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- James Taylor is a chatty man.

Throughout his 2.5-hour performance at the Oncenter War Memorial Arena on Saturday, Taylor spent plenty of time praising his backing band and telling endearing, though long-winded, stories behind his songs.

Early in the night, Taylor reminisced about the "excellent" year 1968, his big break into showbiz. "It was as if I walked through a door and the rest of my life was on the other side of it." Taylor also introduced his bandmates by giving short biographies, listing their hometowns, instrumental talents and even previous jobs.

One by one, he then crossed the stage to shake their hands or give them hugs. It was sweet and earnest, if a little odd, as if he was meeting them for the first time.

Most of the audience had no problem with Taylor's tendency to ramble. One man, who yawned throughout slower songs, sat up straight and leaned forward intently whenever Taylor shared lengthy stories about songwriting, like "Carolina in My Mind" (inspired by a "clinical case of homesickness").

Not everyone liked the stories between the songs, though. Before singing "Angels of Fenway," Taylor embarked upon a six-minute tale about "how miserable it is" to be a Boston Red Sox fan, concluding with a not-so-brief history of the rivalry between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees. One audience member yelled, "Long story!"

The problem with the War Memorial is how shouts carry throughout the cavernous arena. Taylor thanked the crowd over and over for being patient.

Overall, Taylor best handled the vocal members of the crowd with jokes. When people yelled out song names, he showed off his set list on a comically large board, propped up onstage. "It's definitely on this list, which is written on some sort of roofing material," he quipped. "It's very strong and flexible, like I like my women."

He delivered his most recognizable hits with a corny, self-deprecating sense of humor. He joked that his set list was "adequate," but his live shows sound as good, if not better, than his famous recordings. He hits high notes with remarkable clarity and ease.

A cover of Chuck Berry's "The Promised Land" was just plain fun. Percussionist Luis Conte played the washboard and frottoir, while Taylor did a funny jig with his long, lanky legs. "Fire and Rain" and "Mexico" brought the sitting audience to their feet for standing ovations.

When the encore rolled around, Taylor challenged the crowd to keep standing, "We're gonna try to keep you on your feet!" It worked, for the most part, though ending on the slow, new song "You and I Again" didn't fire up the crowd nearly as much as "Knock on Wood."

It was hard to keep this audience standing, however. Besides a handful of dancing guests in the front rows, thousands more sat stiffly, despite multiple attempts from Taylor's back-up singers to get them to stand up or clap.

This audience of avid listeners, not dancers, seemed to appreciate Taylor's music and storytelling far more than shaking their hips.

James Taylor’s debut Fenway Park performance last year served effectively as proof of concept, showing that a fairly non-demonstrative singer known for working in a quieter mode could pull off a stadium concert without difficulty. So his return Wednesday night was an easygoing, low-pressure affair that found him in good spirits even on his saddest material.

Of course, that’s always been part and parcel of Taylor’s appeal, with the singer/songwriter’s unique brand of bittersweet folk-rock wrapping around his listeners like a cozy, minutely scratchy sweater on a brisk autumn day. And it stayed that way even when his most intimate material was writ ballpark-huge. “Fire And Rain” remained a breath determined not to turn into a sob, with drummer Steve Gadd shining by pushing in unexpected places as he nonetheless kept moving the song forward. And Taylor’s voice and acoustic guitar were more than enough for “Carolina In My Mind,” even as other instruments joined in one by one with each verse.

But Taylor’s reserve could sometimes be a misdirect, nowhere more evident than on “Country Road,” introduced as being about the singer’s consistent theme of nature-as-church. The arrangement centered around Taylor’s plucked acoustic, even as a conga groove rose and Gadd’s drums and Michael Landau’s stinging electric leads stepped forward. By the end, Taylor’s own vocal had caught fire, testifying mightily as the song became as big as it could get. He goofed off during “Steamroller,” singing it as the blues parody it was, until the song transformed in the middle thanks to screaming organ and guitar solos.

Jackson Browne with Fenway Park reflected in his glasses as he opened for James Taylor at Fenway Park.

Then again, Taylor’s image as a sensitive folkie is not-so-secretly belied by his string of feel-good pop hits. The warm and luxurious “Shower The People” was nakedly sentimental, but it worked, and “Mexico” was fairly indistinguishable from Jimmy Buffet. Given that his smiling-face pop era started in the mid-’70s, many of the arrangements that found their way to Fenway were slushy, from the glassy keyboards and smooth horns of “Walking Man” to an overworked version of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday.”

Not that it mattered. When he brought opener Jackson Browne out for an encore duet on “Doctor My Eyes,” the two created a joyous energy together, and he closed with nothing but acoustic fingerpicking and group vocals on the lovely “You Can Close Your Eyes.” Even when he goes too far afield, Taylor always knows when to come home.

Proving once again (after Bonnie Raitt last year) that Taylor does not fool around with his opening acts, Browne kicked things off with an hour-long performance that eschewed a greatest-hits set in favor of a somewhat idiosyncratic hop across his career, playing major hits such as “Running On Empty” and the inherently ‘80s “Somebody’s Baby” alongside quality material with a smaller popular footprint. He didn’t set fire to his best songs, such as “For A Rocker” (with its three-guitar showdown at the end) and the stately “For Everyman,” so much as dig in with his unassuming but curious voice that didn’t seem substantially diminished by age.



Vidéos "Take It Easy" & "For A Rocker" avec Jackson Browne à visionner https://jamestaylor.superforum.fr/t1516-james-taylor-jackson-browne-prevoient-2-dates-communes#6557]ICI :