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[MUSIC REVIEW] James Taylor at Tanglewood
8.25.07
TANGLEWOOD
James Taylor
"One Man Band" Show
Koussevitzky Shed
August 24, 2007
Review by SETH ROGOVOY, editor-in-chief and critic-at-large, BERKSHIRE LIVING Magazine
(LENOX, Mass., August 25, 2007) -- James Taylor pulled off the seemingly impossible last night, taking his "One Man Band" program intended for auditoriums and theaters and putting it across in front of an audience of nearly 20,000 concertgoers. At least in the Shed seating about six-thousand, Taylor didn't seem to lose an ounce of intimacy in the transition from the smaller venues -- such as the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield where he performed basically the same program just a couple of months ago -- to the main venue at Tanglewood; rather, through his amiable, self-deprecating personality, impeccable musicianship and stagecraft, and with the aid of high-def video screens, transformed the latter into the former.
In other words, 20,000 people enjoyed James Taylor last night at Tanglewood as if he were entertaining them in a coffeehouse, which is basically the genesis and raison d'etre of the show.
Even for one who has sat through the show several times, hearing much of the stories, jokes, and stage patter that introduced and followed each song, the show was full of surprises and unexplored nuances. Taylor is such an in-the-moment performer that he can tell the same joke over and over again and each time it comes out funny, or even funnier, as he finds new ways of accenting or phrasing what he has to say -- much in the same way that he has found license in improvising the phrasing of such well known songs as "You've Got a Friend" and "Fire and Rain."
Last night's program was spiced up with a bit of "James Taylor karaoke." Taylor assembled his full 11-piece band and singers at his studio barn not far from Tanglewood a couple of weeks ago and had them record three numbers without him and his faithful sidekick, keyboardist Larry Goldings (who seemed to have been channeling Randy Newman in his playing last night -- a good thing).
In this way, Taylor was able to perform more rocking numbers such as "Mexico" and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" with full band backing on sound and video, Taylor and Goldings filling in their parts live -- hence, karaoke.
With the run of his one-man show coming to an end, one looks forward even more to Taylor's next tour with his full band, to see how the lessons he's learned standing on stage for two-plus hours basically alone will inform or affect his performance when he is surrounded by his superb ensemble.
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