A series of US dates, plus a second Montréal concert at Place des Arts, have been added to James' 2012 summer tour. These shows will see James and his extraordinary band perform across North America in 13 additional cities, beginning June 20 in Pittsburgh, PA.
The JamesTaylor.com Store will be offering presale tickets for all of the US shows, with some sales starting February 6 and the rest beginning February 7. Exact details and presale start times are listed on the Schedule page.
Seats are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, so ensure that you are in the Store before the presale start time in order to get the best tickets.
Tickets for the Montréal show are on sale right now in the JamesTaylor.com Store, so head over immediately!
Great Seats for Great Causes
A special selection of VIP Charity Seats is also available for these shows to benefit the Natural Resources Defense Council and other national and local charities through Tickets-for-Charity®! To learn more, please visit TicketsForCharity.com.
To see the full calendar of upcoming tour dates, visit the Schedule page.
Is your sweetheart the ultimate JT fan? Then win their heart this Valentine's Day with the perfect gift!
Bid on a personalized piece of signed sheet music ("Steamroller"!) or signed Yamaha F325 Guitar through the charitybuzz.com Valentine's Day Auction to benefit charity.
Tanglewood, 2009
James, along with his family and a group of friends, connected with commander Dan Burbank as he was 220 miles above Earth, to see an amazing view of our planet and to play a duet!
Awestruck.
That describes the reaction of James Taylor, his wife Kim and their twin sons, Rufus and Henry, as well as 20 friends, relatives and associates gathered on Sunday for a close encounter of the most unusual kind with outer space.
Through an iPad and satellite hookup from the high-tech recording studio at Taylor's hilltop home base overlooking Lenox, to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and then 220 miles above the Earth to flight commander Dan Burbank aboard the International Space Station, the conversation about space exploration and music flowed freely, thanks to a near-flawless technical setup.
A high-def, two-way video screen and camera displayed stunning images of the space station — the size of a football field — and its rotating view of planet Earth for the Taylor gathering, while Burbank had a chance to play a duet with his favorite singer.
Check out the full article at BerkshireEagle.com.
James and his legendary band will be playing the TeatroTeam in Bari, Italy on March 27, 2012. This concert is part of James' previously announced spring tour of Italy. JamesTaylor.com is pleased to announce your chance to secure tickets via our exclusive presale going on now at the JamesTaylor.com Store.
Don't forget. Seats will be assigned on a first come, first served basis. Be sure to visit the Store right away to get the best seats!
To check out the full calendar of upcoming tour dates, drop by the JamesTaylor.com Schedule page.
James and his band have added two new dates to their summer tour schedule. On June 27, they will perform at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts (Festival International de Jazz de Montréal) in Montréal, QC. Then, on June 30, they will take the stage at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH.
Presale tickets for both shows will be available through our Store beginning tomorrow, January 24, at 10 am EST.
Seats are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, so ensure that you are in the Store before the presale start time in order to get the best tickets!
The full calendar of upcoming tour dates can be seen on the Schedule page.
Celebrate Independence Day with James, who returns to Tanglewood with his extraordinary band of musicians for three concerts in the Koussevitzky Music Shed on July 2, 3, and 4. Presale tickets for all three dates will be available in our Store beginning January 18 at 10 am EST.
The July 4 concert will include a special fireworks display and all proceeds that evening will benefit Tanglewood! This year's performances mark James' twenty-first summer at Tanglewood since his debut in 1974.
These presale tickets will go quickly, so ensure you are in the Store before the presale start time. More details are listed below and a full list of upcoming show dates can be found on the Schedule page.
JamesTaylor.com is excited to announce a newly confirmed 2012 European tour date for James in Amsterdam.
On May 16, James, accompanied by his band, will appear at Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam, NL.
Presale tickets for this show will be available tomorrow (January 17) at 10 am CET through our Store.
JamesTaylor.com is excited to announce a newly confirmed 2012 European tour date for James in Iceland.
On May 18, James, accompanied by his band, will appear at Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Presale tickets for this show will be available tomorrow (December 16) at 12:00 pm GMT through Midi.is.
The full calendar of upcoming tour dates can be seen on the Schedule page.
Stops at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome, Italy, and the Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao, Spain, have been added to James and his band's 2012 European Tour.
Tickets for these shows are available right now through our Store. To purchase your tickets, click here.
Seats are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, so head to the Store now in order to get the best tickets!
The full calendar of upcoming tour dates can be seen on the Schedule page.
JamesTaylor.com is excited to announce two newly confirmed 2012 European tour dates for James in Spain.
On May 4, James, accompanied by his band, will appear at the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona. Then on May 7, they will perform at the Sala Riviera in Madrid.
Tickets for these shows are available right now through our Store. To purchase your tickets, click here.
Seats are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, so head to the Store now in order to get the best tickets!
The full calendar of upcoming tour dates can be seen on the Schedule page.
A series of ten European dates has been added to James' schedule. These new dates will see James and the band perform across six additional countries, beginning April 22 in Oslo, Norway.
Tickets for this show are available right now through our Store. To purchase your tickets, click here.
Seats are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, so head to the Store now in order to get the best tickets!
The full calendar of upcoming tour dates can be seen on the Schedule page.
James made a surprise appearance last night at Taylor Swift's final Speak Now concert of 2011, in Madison Square Garden. In a wonderful introduction, Taylor revealed to the crowd that her parents named her after James. The two then performed James' hit "Fire and Rain" together, followed by James playing guitar while Taylor performed her song "Fifteen".
"You know, the funny thing about playing Madison Square Garden is magical, magical things can happen. And uh, you never know if James Taylor might just walk out on stage," Taylor said.
To watch the full introduction and performance, click here.
Presented by The Berkshire Theatre Group, James Taylor will make his theatrical stage debut alongside his family in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Additional tickets are now available for the December 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30 performances of A Christmas Carol in the Gallery Section of The Colonial Theatre (Pittsfield, MA). Please click here to view the entire schedule of performance dates and to purchase your tickets.
Last week, The Berkshire Theatre Group announced that James Taylor will make his theatrical stage debut in a new community production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
Tickets-for-Charity® is offering a number of special VIP Charity Packages for each performance, including a limited amount of VIP Gala Packages available for Opening Night, Saturday, December 17 at 7 pm.
VIP Charity Package includes:
- 1 premium ticket
- 1 reserved parking spot (per two ticket purchase)
- 1 copy of James Taylor's CD/DVD, One Man Band
- Intermission reception with refreshments
- 1 copy of Nick Whitman's book The Colonial Theatre: A Pittsfield Resurrection
Opening Night VIP Gala Package includes:
- 1 premium ticket
- 1 reserved parking spot (per two ticket purchase)
- 1 copy of James Taylor's CD/DVD, One Man Band
- Intermission reception with refreshments
- Post-show cast party
- Signed cast poster
Proceeds will benefit the Berkshire Theatre Group and the Berkshire Natural Resources Council. For more information, or to purchase a Charity VIP package, visit TicketsForCharity.com.
Regular tickets are also available through the JamesTaylor.com Store. Visit the Schedule page for a complete list of performances and links to tickets.
The Berkshire Theatre Group announced today that James Taylor will make his theatrical stage debut in a new community production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Joining his family — Kim, Rufus and Henry — who appeared in last year's production, James will appear at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, MA, for the first time since he recorded his 2007 award-winning CD/DVD, One Man Band.
Of working with James, director Eric Hill said, "It's a thrill to direct James Taylor in his theatrical debut — the process for A Christmas Carol is one of celebration and sharing of our common humanity on a community level. I know that James will bring his inherent charm and gentleness to bear in his portrayal of Bob Cratchit, a good and unpretentious man. To work with Kim, Rufus and Henry Taylor again will only add to the joy."
To read more visit BerkshireEagle.com.
The JamesTaylor.com Store is pleased to be hosting a ticket sale for select performances of A Christmas Carol — featuring James and his family — on Tuesday, November 15, starting at 10 am EST. As with all JamesTaylor.com ticket sales, seats will be assigned on a first come, first served basis, so be sure you're ready to make your purchase promptly at 10 am EST, Tuesday, as our inventory is extremely limited and expected to sell out quickly!
NOTE: A special selection of Charity VIP Packages including opening night gala packages with cast party access will be available on Saturday, November 12, starting at 12 pm EST through Tickets-for-Charity®. Proceeds will benefit the Berkshire Theatre Group and the Berkshire Natural Resources Council, visit TicketsForCharity.com for more information.
In celebration of the upcoming holiday season, the JamesTaylor.com Store is pleased to announce that James's popular holiday CD, James Taylor At Christmas, is now back on sale at the special discounted rate of 15% off.
In addition, fans are invited to drop by and enjoy seasonal discounts on a number of other items currently on sale including classic James Taylor apparel, assorted albums such as Covers, One Man Band, James Taylor (Remastered) and The Best Of James Taylor and much, much more.
Don't forget, if you'd like to get your gift in time to get it under the tree, be sure to place your order before our Christmas shipping cut-off dates:
US & Canada: December 14
Rest of World: December 1
James and his legendary band will be playing the Auditorium Manzoni in Bologna, Italy on March 20, 2012. This concert is part of James's previously announced spring tour of Italy. JamesTaylor.com is pleased to announce your first chance to secure tickets via our exclusive presale going on now at the JamesTaylor.com Store.
Don't forget. Seats will be assigned on a first come, first served basis. Be sure to visit the Store right away to get the best seats!
To check out the full calendar of upcoming tour dates, drop by the JamesTaylor.com Schedule page.
Entertainers who attended Sunday’s Dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial came together to create a special, impromptu celebration for attendees immediately following the Dedication Ceremony. Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, and Ledisi, backed up by American Idol’s Ray Chew Live, performed on the West Potomac Park stage.
“The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation is fortunate to have such wonderful friends and supporters. We’re all very much looking forward to this extended celebration, which will be a joyous capstone to the day’s events,” said Harry E. Johnson, Sr., president and CEO of the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc., before the ceremony.
Stevie Wonder entertained guests at the August 24 Honoring Global Leaders for Peace International Salute Gala with a surprise performance. The first official Dedication Week event was moved to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center after the earthquake damaged the National Building Museum, the event’s planned venue. During Dedication Week, Ray Chew participated in The Message in the Music Concert of Civil Rights Era Music.
About Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc.
A Memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was dedicated on October 16, 2011. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is on the National Mall, situated adjacent to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and in a direct line between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. Congress passed a Joint Resolution in 1996 authorizing Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. to establish a Memorial in Washington, D.C. honoring Dr. King. McKissack & McKissack/ Turner Construction Company/Tompkins Builders, Inc./Gilford Corporation Joint Venture served as the Design-Build Team. For more information or to make a donation, visit www.buildthedream.org. 
On March 6, 2012, in Napoli, James and his legendary band will begin a series of unforgettable concerts in Italy. Starting today, the JamesTaylor.com Store has your presale tickets!
Seats are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, so visit the Store immediately in order to get the best tickets!
The full calendar of upcoming tour dates can be seen on the Schedule page.
By Art Garfunkel
I sing to James Taylor before every show I do. I warm up in my dressing room to "Handy Man," "Sarah Maria," "Song for You Far Away," "Sweet Baby James," "Copperline" and about 20 other favorites. Then I go from James' bass-baritone to tenor singing with the Everly Brothers — first Don, later Phil.
While I'm unisoning with James, my reverence rises; my heart and mind become engaged in the sober intelligence of the song and the beauty of the singing. James' accuracy of pitch is like a trader's honesty. To me, it has always been paramount in singing. There is an illuminating love of living things — all of them here on earth — that lies within the tenderness of his line readings (listen to his song "Gaia," from Hourglass). If vocal-cord vibration were like surfing off the swelling of the heart, James would be my favorite rider on the cusp — a little in the air, sublime in the spray.
Read the full story here.
On Friday and Saturday, August 26 and 27, 2011, James will be joining five-time Academy Award-winner and renowned composer John Williams as he returns for his annual weekend at the Hollywood Bowl to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in John Williams: Maestro of the Movies. The concerts feature incredible film music, including The Reivers Suite, which will be narrated by James.
In the world of film music, there is no more recognized voice than the incomparable John Williams. In the three decades since his Bowl debut, he has written countless beloved film scores including some of Hollywood’s most recognized and memorable themes.
For tickets, please visit Ticketmaster.com or call the Hollywood Bowl Box Office at 323-850-2000. Groups of 10 or more may call 323-850-2050 for information about special rates, subject to availability.
David Dooley, Goldenplec / July 25, 2011
It is with some trepidation that I approach Dublin’s o2 arena. With a mere 45 minutes before James Taylor’s 8pm start, the area is looking unusually scarce for such a big name gig. Was everybody else inside already seated? Were they running a bit late? Or were they just planning on not showing up. Upon entering the main arena a simple explanation was in place: half of the arena had been cordoned off with a giant black curtain reducing the o2’s capacity greatly but in turn giving the venue a far more intimate setting. Whether this cordon was due to poor ticket sales we’ll never know but it means Taylor will be playing to a sold out crowd tonight in Dublin’s newest (and possibly only) 5,000 seater venue.
Read the full story here.
Edward Morris, CMT / July 8, 2011
Sure, there were fireworks. But it was the crackle of sweet memories that resonated through Vince Gill's mind during the recent Fourth of July weekend as he stood onstage, singing with his musical idol, James Taylor.
Gill and his wife, pop and gospel singer Amy Grant, were Taylor's personally-invited guests at Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Mass., on July 3-4. Each show drew a sold-out crowd of 18,000 fans.
Read the full story here.
Editorial, The Boston Globe / July 2, 2011
When the Boston Pops tunes up for its Esplanade performance on July 4, another legendary act will be taking the stage across the state at Tanglewood. James Taylor will be doing the fifth of his now-annual benefit weekends for the Boston Symphony Orchestra at its summer home in Lenox. And while hundreds of thousands of celebrants will cram the banks of the Charles for the free Pops concert in Boston, about 60,000 will pay between $21 and $115 for one of Taylor’s four weekend gigs - adding millions of dollars to the BSO’s coffers.
Read the full story here.
Jeremy D. Goodwin, The Birkshire Eagle / July 2, 2011
Independence Day weekend is, for many, a time to reenact traditions -- to gather in the same (or similar) places with the same (or similar) people and do the same (or, yes, similar) things. As with any ritual, the pleasure comes not from the promise of finding something new but from the soft comfort of familiarity and repetition. So it is with James Taylor’s annual run of shows at Tanglewood, and so it was with this year’s kick-off performance on Thursday night at Ozawa Hall.
Read the full story here.
Sarah Rodman, Boston.com / June 26, 2011
“You’re in the living room, but if you take two steps this way, you’re in the kitchen,’’ says Andrea Zonn with a smile.
Zonn is gamely giving a visitor the nickel tour of the cozy confines of the tour bus that she’s been living on for the past few months as part of James Taylor’s backup band.
Read more and view video here.
It's just been confirmed that on July 19, James will be playing a very special one-off concert at the magnificent outdoor square Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy!
This is James's first appearance in Italy in several years and definitely should not be missed.
Tickets for this show are available right now through our Store. To purchase your tickets now, click here.
For a full listing of all upcoming shows, visit the Schedule page.
Thousands of performances, decades of applause and countless honors have not dimmed Taylor’s deep-seated love for what he does. When he steps up to a microphone, guitar in hand, before a crowd of upturned faces, he opens his heart and his face softens, beaming.
“Shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel,” he sang Wednesday night at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, perfectly encapsulating the emotional compass of his show.
The crowd in the sold-out auditorium sang along softly, swaying to the gentle tune, united in the notion that “things are going to be much better if you only will.”
Beyond the consistent emotional bond with his audience, the most striking thing about Taylor is how little he has changed his approach to singing and performing over the span of more than four decades since he began.
Although he is backed by a first-rate band and a choir of four, he still manages to convey a sense of sticking to the basic approach of man, guitar, melody and lyric. Taylor is a master of the effortless weaving of the American tale, and his craft needs no fancy footwork for its execution.
On stage, he creates intimacy not only by striking emotive chords but through humor. “I don’t like this song much – it’s not my favorite,” he deadpanned as he introduced “Angry Blues,” which has uncharacteristically bleak lyrics. “One thing you can say about this song – you feel better when it’s over.”
Then, when it was, he said, “There, I feel better now. You can’t love ’em all.” The crowd ate it up.
Taylor’s beguiling sense of wonder extends to the recounting of his earliest days as a singer and his first record deal, with The Beatles’ Apple label. He described auditioning for George Harrison and Paul McCartney in 1968 as a nerve-wracking “out-of-body experience,” but one that gave him his first big break.
The song he performed that day, “Something in the Way She Moves” – which, incidentally, later inspired one of Harrison’s biggest hits – was probably the best song, Taylor said, that he had written up to that point. “The ones that came before this were pretty terrible,” he told the Baltimore crowd, as he picked the tune’s first notes to a rain of applause.
Unsurprisingly, Taylor is modest about his talent for composing the approximately 150 songs that have defined his life. “It’s a mystery to me where they come from,” he said. “I don’t really write songs – I’m just the first person to hear them.” Their themes rarely vary, he went on, from yearnings for home (“Carolina In My Mind”) to the wanderlust of the road (“My Traveling Star”), with the occasional sharply observed commentary on the world’s peculiarities.
For the latter category, he delivered a long, wry introduction to “Line ’em Up,” a song about the final moments of Richard Nixon’s presidency in 1974, when the disgraced leader walked to a helicopter as the world watched, shaking hands “perhaps for the first time” with a long row of White House employees.
“Nixon didn’t have a great walk,” Taylor said, comparing it to the gait of a Cro-Magnon man “climbing out of the ooze.”
Just as Nixon and his wily co-conspirators became emblems of negativity and corruption in the 1970’s and the years that followed, so did Taylor and others of his ilk become synonymous with the optimism and creativity of the age and the power of persistent talent.
Taylor is an American institution in the manner of Paul Simon and Bob Dylan – no other country could have produced him, and none but those three artists could have paid so enduring an homage to the American musical idiom.
By Nick Madigan
Baltimore Sun
James Taylor may be the foremost contemporary composer of what you might call American lullabies. “Carolina in My Mind,” “Sweet Baby James,” “Shower the People,” “My Traveling Star” and “You Can Close Your Eyes,” all of which he performed at a Carnegie Hall gala concert on Tuesday evening celebrating the hall’s 120th year, share the same elusive magic. Along with “Home on the Range,” “Red River Valley” and Stephen Foster ballads, they seem somehow to have always existed.
Especially when Mr. Taylor sings them in a voice that is both astringent and soothing, he conjures the image of a lonely cowboy murmuring to himself by a campfire in the mountains. The sadness and comfort that these songs evoke are two sides of the same coin. Like no one else’s, Mr. Taylor’s music distills a primal American yearning that can never be completely satisfied: the dream of home sweet home.
Because there is a ceremonial quality in everything Mr. Taylor does, the gala felt a little like an upbeat church service at which he presided over his flock like a modest Protestant minister. It was the first of four thematic shows, all featuring Mr. Taylor, called “Perspectives.”
A “Roots” evening next Wednesday will concentrate on music he heard while growing up. “Guitar Conversations” on May 6 will team him with some of his favorite guitarists. And “Quintessential James Taylor,” on May 9, will be an anthology of the songs that Mr. Taylor is proudest of.
Tuesday’s gala, a retrospective of Carnegie Hall’s history, encompassed Broadway, jazz, folk music and comedy. Featured guests included Bette Midler, Barbara Cook, Steve Martin, Dianne Reeves, Sting and two choruses.
A somewhat shaky “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” a song very much off Mr. Taylor’s beaten track, led off the show (directed by Scott Ellis), during which photographs of stars who have appeared in the hall were flashed onto a screen at the back of the stage. A flexible band playing musical arrangements by Charles Floyd negotiated the stylistic leaps from vaudeville to folk to rock with impressive agility.
Ms. Midler channeled Sophie Tucker in a medley that included “Some of These Days,” “After You’ve Gone” and “My Yiddishe Momme.” Demonstrating her stylistic audacity, she leapt from an understated “Pirate Jenny” to a raucous “Sweet Blindness.” Mr. Martin, whom Mr. Taylor introduced as “a banjo-playing fool,” led a bluegrass ensemble through “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” and leavened the evening with sly witticisms.
Although Ms. Reeves performed only one number, the Billie Holiday lament “Don’t Explain,” it was a killer. Paced very slowly with minimal accompaniment, she sang as though she were dragging the weight of the world behind her.
But the evening’s most compelling performance was Ms. Cook’s “Here’s to Life.” To hear this indestructible woman, who is now 83, muse, “I had my share, I drank my fill/And even though I’m satisfied, I’m hungry still” in a voice that has lowered without shedding any of its luster was to receive lines of personal scripture torn from the soul.
The notion of a James Taylor-Barbara Cook duet may have sounded promising in theory. But as they regaled each other with choruses of “Not While I’m Around,” from “Sweeney Todd,” like son and mother, their voices didn’t match.
The show’s only outright failure was its attempt to cover comedy by having Kevin Pollak impersonate Lenny Bruce in an excerpt from a live recording that Bruce made at Carnegie Hall. The impression was deft, but the material hasn’t held up.
The appearance of Sting late in the show, singing “Penny Lane,” gave the evening a sudden lift. From then on it was smooth sailing. And when the Tanglewood Festival Chorus arrived to join Mr. Taylor and Sting on “How Sweet It Is (to Be Loved by You),” euphoria reigned. Who knew, until Mr. Taylor put his stamp on it in 1975, that this Marvin Gaye standard could be transmuted so seamlessly into an upbeat folk-pop chorale?
After former President Bill Clinton made a pitch for the Weill Music Institute’s education programs, a second group, the Young People’s Chorus of New York, trooped down the aisles to sing “Shower the People,” and the collective joy intensified.
Reflecting on Carnegie Hall’s history, Mr. Taylor named Judy Garland’s 1961 concert there as the hall’s show-business high point, and he sang a tender “Over the Rainbow.”
“It’s what I think of as the anthem of Carnegie Hall,” he declared.
By Stephen Holden
New York Times
James Taylor is no stranger to Carnegie Hall. Indeed, he made his first appearance in 1970, but last night he admitted with a chuckle from that venerable stage that he was a little hazy on the details of that debut.
That was all that the seminal singer-songwriter was unsure of, as he and an all-star supporting cast of friends, including Bill Clinton, gathered to celebrate the venue’s 120th anniversary with a superb, nearly two-hour tour through its history with popular music. The performance was also the first in a four-part “Perspectives’’ series dedicated to aspects of Taylor’s career that will include shows April 20, May 6, and May 9.
Taylor proved an excellent host and centerpiece, kicking things off with a sly, acoustic take of “There’s No Business Like Show Business.’’ Sometimes Taylor and his stellar backing band were the main attraction. At other points he played the happy sideman.
Aided by archival projections on the back wall, Taylor told the tale of the many names who practiced enough to earn the Carnegie Hall stage, from red-hot vaudeville mama Sophie Tucker, given voice by a sassy Bette Midler, to jazz greats like Billie Holiday, represented by Dianne Reeves in a breathtaking, unamplified rendition of “Don’t Explain,’’ and pop acts like the Beatles — Sting did the honors on “Penny Lane.’’
Broadway legend Barbara Cook performed a stunning duet with Taylor on “Not While I’m Around’’ from “Sweeney Todd.’’
Steve Martin provided comic and musical entertainment, needling Taylor, introducing Kevin Pollak to perform an excerpt from Lenny Bruce’s Carnegie Hall live album, and strapping on a banjo for the Flatt and Scruggs classic “Foggy Mountain Breakdown’’ and his own “Jubilation Day.’’
Taylor closed the evening with “Over the Rainbow,’’ in tribute to another famous Carnegie Hall alum, Judy Garland.
By Sarah Rodman
The Boston Globe
In an interview to promote his Perspectives concerts as part of the 120th anniversary celebration of New York’s Carnegie Hall, James Taylor remarks how the current state of the music industry, impacted as it is by decreased album sales courtesy of illegal downloading, has seen a change in fortunes for the musicians who sound great in live performances. In the age of Autotune and extensive remastering, it’s easy to be a popular artist that cranks out a #1 record without having the live show stamina and charisma to earn their keep on the road. However, for artists who cut their teeth in an age when studios didn’t have the same arsenal of computer tricks, the live show was an art form, and not just a ritual to proclaim the coming of the next album. It’s been decades since James Taylor released a “hit”, but what he’s done instead, in fact what he’s been doing his entire career, is practicing the good ol’ fashioned art form of the live show. Thus, as you might imagine, when you put a practiced and traveled musician in one of the best music venues in the country, you’re going to get a fantastic show with great sound.
James Taylor outdoes the imagination.
Sitting atop a stool in the middle of the Carnegie stage with his guitar, a bottle of water and the set list scrawled on a chalkboard tablet large enough for the front row to read, Taylor engaged the audience with a deluge of music unfettered by an agenda of album promotion or greatest hits inclinations. The selection certainly touched on the favorites, but mixed within a respectable list of sentimental choices and some friendly audience chatter. Taylor’s long career has left him with stories of hustling into the recording booth at Trident Studios in Europe during the breaks the Beatles would take when recording their White Album or his memories of Nixon’s impeachment and his long walk of shame to the helicopter as he shook the hands of the White House’s many attendees. He recalls Nixon’s hunched walk, which lacked the regal photogenic qualities of a nation’s leader and reminded him instead of one of the penultimate stages in the classic “Evolution of Man” image. That long path Nixon walked, bordered with all of the staff, would go on to inspire the song “Line ‘Em Up”.
The evening’s first half had a lively and spontaneous tone, with Taylor playing more upbeat songs and having what passes for a conversation between a man on a stage and enthusiastic fans in the seats eager to hear certain songs, even responding to the occasional profession of love by joking, “I love you too, man. I just can’t figure out. Maybe it’s best we never met.” For other shouted song requests Taylor played them off with good humor and dove into a songwriter’s lament of really only having written 15 songs, but having written each 10 times each. It’s a modest statement, but if James Taylor has only written 15 songs in his career, it makes you wonder how many unique songs your average artist today could really claim to have recorded.
Talking further about his songwriting, he mentions how certain songs, which can take a musician “longer to play, than it did to write”, haunt them throughout their concert careers with everyone asking to hear it, referring in this case to “Steamroller”. As a parallel, during his final two songs in the encore, he recalls how “You’ve Got a Friend”, his cover of Carole King’s hit, has become a similar case of replay anxiety ever since he rushed home from the Troubadour Café to learn it after hearing it on the radio in what he guesses was one of the first few times it was ever aired. You can’t control which songs your fans love to hear, but when you cover a song by Carole King, you shouldn’t be surprised. He isn’t.
Joining him onstage, Andrea Zonn, Arnold McCuller, Kate Markowitz, David Lasley, and Caroline Smedvig Taylor acted as his vocal accompaniment with Larry Goldings (piano, organ, keyboards, accordion), Jimmy Johnson (electric bass), Chad Wackerman (drums), Luis Conte (percussion) and Michael Landau (electric guitar(s)) as the instrumental support to James’s own guitar. As a special treat, Walt Fowler joined in on the horns, and Lou Marini of Saturday Night Live fame offered up a few great saxophone solos here and there.
The concert consisted of a 20-song set split into two 10-song halves with a 20 minute intermission, the point of the latter amusing Mr. Taylor with him telling the audience, “Talk amongst yourselves, and we’ll go backstage and watch the clock.”
If ever you should have the opportunity to see James Taylor in concert, make sure you do so. The man is a testament to a golden era of live music, and should you be so lucky to catch him in a place that fully captures his music and puts it at its best, like Carnegie Hall, you’ll be witnessing an act of greatness.
Set List - Part I
“Everyday”
“Something in the Way She Moves”
“Walking Man”
“Line ‘Em Up”
“Country Road”
“Your Smiling Face”
“My Traveling Star”
“Carolina in My Mind”
“Up on the Roof” (The Drifters cover)
“How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)”
Set List - Part II
“Western Plains (When I Was a Cowboy)” (Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter cover)
“Copperline”
“(I’m A) Road Runner” (Junior Walker and the All Stars cover)
“Circle Round the Sun”
“Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight”
“Steamroller”
“Sweet Baby James”
“Fire and Rain”
“Mexico”
“Shed a Little Light”
Encore Songs
“You’ve Got a Friend” (Carole King cover)
“You Can Close Your Eyes”
By Lex Walker
JustPressPlay.net
Stephen Holden, The New York Times / Apr 13, 2011
James Taylor may be the foremost contemporary composer of what you might call American lullabies. “Carolina in My Mind,” “Sweet Baby James,” “Shower the People,” “My Traveling Star” and “You Can Close Your Eyes,” all of which he performed at a Carnegie Hall gala concert on Tuesday evening celebrating the hall’s 120th year, share the same elusive magic. Along with “Home on the Range,” “Red River Valley” and Stephen Foster ballads, they seem somehow to have always existed.
Read more here.
On May 28, James will be making a second stop at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta, GA, with his legendary band and the JamesTaylor.com Store has your tickets!
Starting April 5 at 10 am EDT, the Store will be offering presale tickets to this show.
Seats are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, so be in the Store before the presale start time in order to get the best tickets!
The full calendar of upcoming tour dates can be seen on the Schedule page.
Great Seats for Great Causes
A special selection of VIP Charity Seats are also available for this performance to benefit the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), MusiCares® and other national and local charities through Tickets-for-Charity®! To learn more, please visit TicketsforCharity.com.
James will be making a stop at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta, GA, with his legendary band on May 27 and the JamesTaylor.com Store has your tickets!
Starting March 28, the Store will be offering presale tickets to this show. Presale start time and other details are listed on the Schedule page.
Seats are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, so be in the Store before the presale start time in order to get the best tickets!
The full calendar of upcoming tour dates are listed on the Schedule page.
Great Seats for Great Causes
A special selection of VIP Charity Seats are also available for this performance to benefit the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other national and local charities through Tickets-for-Charity®! To learn more, please visit TicketsforCharity.com.
Tomorrow, President Barack Obama will present the National Medal of Arts to eight recipients for their outstanding achievements and support of the arts (ten medalists were announced; however two are not able to attend the ceremony. Their medals will be presented at another time). The medals will be presented by the president in the East Room ceremony at the White House. Mrs. Michelle Obama will also be in attendance. The National Medal of Arts is a White House initiative managed by the National Endowment for the Arts. Each year, the NEA organizes and oversees the National Medal of Arts nomination process and notifies the artists of their selection to receive a medal, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence.
“The National Medal of Arts recipients represent the many vibrant and diverse art forms thriving in America,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. “From criticism to literature, music, poetry, sculpture, and theater, these honorees’ devotion to shaping and sharing American art is unrivaled, and I join the President and the country in saluting them.”
See the official White House press release here.
Thanks to all of James' fans for weathering so many presale announcements this month. The spring and summer tours, plus Carnegie Hall and Tanglewood festival concerts are shaping up to be something very special and James is psyched to be heading back out on the road in just a few short weeks.
We will have more announcements coming soon, including Guitar Lesson #2. Stay tuned and sorry to flood your inboxes.
In the meantime, for those who missed the "James Building a Snowman" video, you should click on the image below (thanks to our dear friend, Dave Mirkin, for helping to make it Oscar-ready).
If you missed James's December, 2010, BBC "Interview from the Barn" as part of The Lennon Legacy, we have posted the full raw footage. If you want to cut to James' intimate solo performance of his favorite Lennon tune "In My Life ", you can skip to: 28:47.
Also, from December 2010 is James' performance of "Let It Be" honoring
Sir Paul McCartney at the Kennedy Center Honors. Among the many artists joining him for the evening's finale were Mavis Staples and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler.
We're not allowed to say anything about James' (and Kim's!) upcoming cameo on the new Matthew Perry sitcom, Mr. Sunshine (air date for Episode 6 is March 16) but, well, actress Allison Janney can. You can read about that here.
And here is Matthew Perry's own story from the New York Times, which ends with a quote from "Secret of Life".
Today's Berkshire Eagle reveals the most details (but don't tell the folks at ABC!).
James, Allison Janney and Matthew Perry
Courtesy of Sony Pictures Television/Mitch Haddad, photographer.
Finally, we want to congratulate Carole King and James for the honor they received last Saturday night at the 22nd Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards in LA. The "Troubadour Reunion" Tour won the award for "Most Creative Tour Package" of 2010. An honor well-deserved and a tour design conceived of by Carole and James themselves.
See you on the road!
Thirteen more US dates have been added for James and his legendary band's US tour this spring, and the JamesTaylor.com Store has your tickets!
Starting February 7, the Store will be offering presale tickets to all of these shows. Exact details and presale start times are listed on the Schedule page.
Seats are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, so make sure you're in the Store before the presale start time for the show you wish to attend, so that you give yourself the best possible chance at the very best tickets.
All upcoming dates are listed on the Schedule page.
Great Seats for Great Causes
A special selection of VIP Charity Seats is also available for these shows to benefit the Natural Resources Defense Council and other national and local charities through Tickets-for-Charity®! To learn more, please visit TicketsforCharity.com.
We regret to inform you that the James Taylor show at the Civic Center in Des Moines, IA, has been rescheduled to March 6 due to a scheduling conflict. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Your tickets are valid for the March 6 show. All JamesTaylor.com ticket purchasers have been emailed about this. If you purchased your tickets through another retailer, contact them if they haven’t gotten in touch already.
Thank you for your understanding,
The JamesTaylor.com Team
James and his band will return to Tanglewood this summer to perform four concerts. Starting on February 3 at 10 am EST,
JamesTaylor.com will be selling presale tickets for all four dates.
The four-concert series will open with a special program in the more intimate setting of Ozawa Hall on June 30, where James will perform a selection of songs that have made him one of the most beloved artists of our day.
On July 1, James makes a special appearance with John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra. Then on July 3 and 4, Tanglewood presents The Essential James Taylor, featuring James with his extraordinary band of musicians for two special performances. Fireworks will follow the July 4 concert and all proceeds from that concert will benefit Tanglewood.
Our presale tickets are likely to go quickly, so make sure you go to the Store before the presale start time for the concert you wish to attend. More details are listed and information about all upcoming shows can be found on the Schedule page.
Great Seats for Great Causes
A special selection of VIP Charity Seats are also available for all Tanglewood performances to benefit the Birkshire Natural Resources Council and other charitable causes through Tickets-for-Charity! To learn more, please visit TicketsforCharity.com.
On April 30, James and his legendary band will be performing at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, KS, and the JamesTaylor.com Store has your tickets.
Starting January 31 at 11 am CST, the Store will be offering presale tickets to this show. Seats are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, so make sure you're in the Store before 11 am to give yourself the best possible chance at the very best tickets.
Additional US tour dates will be announced shortly and all upcoming dates are listed on the Schedule page.
Great Seats for Great Causes
A special selection of VIP Charity Seats are also available for this show to benefit the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other national and local charities through Tickets-for-Charity®! To learn more, please visit TicketsForCharity.com.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sir Paul McCartney says his songs often bring out deep emotions among his fans.
The former Beatles legend has the luxury of being able to perform a back catalogue that stretches over 50 years, full of memorable songs. The 68-year-old confirms that he is aware of the intense feelings he creates in his supporters during live shows but acknowledges they are usually having more fun than he is.
“You’re not as aware of it as the people in the audience you talk to afterwards. But you’re aware of a feeling. The nice thing is it’s a common feeling, ‘cos it’s you and them feeling it. Obviously when I do 'Here Today' or 'Something', I’m specifically thinking of John or George. When I do My Love or Maybe I’m Amazed, I’m specifically thinking of Linda. So there’s an inherent emotion in those songs,” he told Q magazine.
Paul believes he understands these feelings more after witnessing them first hand during a live performance by James Taylor. The American singer-songwriter wowed Paul who found himself deeply moved.
“But I get myself sometimes with other artists. A few years ago I saw James Taylor and... it wasn’t the song... it was just the memory of his voice and his guitar and I just thought, ‘I f**king love this guy’ And it got me. I suddenly found myself crying,” he revealed.
Source: Belfast Telegraph
In April and May, James Taylor will host four concerts as part of his Perspectives series at legendary Carnegie Hall in New York City.
While tickets for three of the four concerts are sold out, JamesTaylor.com is excited to announce ticket availability for all four concerts.
The ticket sale process for these concerts will be unique. To ensure that everyone has equal access to the very limited number of available tickets, JamesTaylor.com is hosting a lottery for the chance to participate in these sales.
Participation in the lottery is easy. First, go to JamesTaylor.com/Carnegie and create an account. From there, you'll be able to select the concerts you are interested in seeing. On January 27, a lottery will be held for each of the four concerts. Those who are selected will be sent a unique, one-time use link that they can use once our ticket sale starts.
Receiving a link to the sale does not ensure you will be able to purchase tickets, but it will narrow the competition significantly so that those who are chosen have a much better chance of placing an order.
Those who are not selected in the lottery will be informed via an email that will link to a special video treat from James.
Participants are selected entirely at random by computer. You may enter the lottery for each of the four shows. For more information, visit JamesTaylor.com/Carnegie and make sure to read the lottery FAQ.
James Taylor at Carnegie Hall
April 12 - James Taylor: A Gala Celebrating 120 Years of Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage 7 pm
Carnegie Hall excitedly anticipates this special 120th Anniversary Gala with James Taylor and guests, including Bette Midler, Steve Martin, Sting, Barbara Cook, Dianne Reeves, members of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and more. Taylor hosts this exclusive one-night-only event that celebrates all 12 decades by highlighting many of the extraordinary events that have taken place on the legendary Carnegie Hall stage.
Please note: this concert is a benefit for the music education programs of Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute. Premium benefit ticket prices apply. For more information about purchasing Gala Benefit Tickets that include admission to an exclusive party, go here. Both Gala Benefit and Premium Tickets include a tax-deductible donation to Carnegie Hall.
April 20 - James Taylor: Roots Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage 8 pm
Joined by special guests, James will spotlight the variety of influences that have shaped his music, from bluegrass and blues to Celtic music and church hymns.
May 6 - James Taylor: Guitar Conversations Zankel Hall 9:30 pm
James invites a few of his guitar heroes to join him for this not-to-be-missed night of conversation and performance devoted to popular music's instrument of choice.
May 9 - James Taylor: Quintessential James Taylor and his Band Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage 8 pm
James and his legendary band perform their greatest hits.
Click here to create your lottery account.
JamesTaylor.com is excited to announce seven newly confirmed tour dates for James, accompanied by members of his legendary band "on the road". And starting this Monday, the JamesTaylor.com Store has your presale tickets!
On April 22, James and band will appear at the Cynthia Woods Pavilion in Houston, TX. More dates in the US will be announced in the coming weeks.
Then in July, James and band will travel to the UK for six additional tour dates. Specific details for each of these shows are listed on the Schedule page.
Ticket presales for all seven shows will take place in the Store this Monday, January 24. Each show's presale time is listed on the Schedule page.
Great Seats for Great Causes
A special selection of VIP Charity Seats are also available for this show to benefit the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other national and local charities through Tickets-for-Charity®! To learn more, please visit TicketsForCharity.com.
From Huffingtonpost.com
When my mother used to get teary over Bing Crosby or Perry Como songs, I didn't get it. Why get so emotional? My friends and I didn't do that when we listened to the music we liked.
Well, guess what? Fast forward about 45 years, to the recent 2010 Kennedy Center Awards show. The honorees included Paul McCartney, and as James Taylor and Mavis Staples belted out "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be" in tribute, there wasn't a dry eye in the house, among those there in person or those watching from home. We baby boomers softened like Play Doh in a child's hands.
The same emotions showed last year in the James Taylor-Carole King Troubadour Reunion Tour. The 58 concerts stretched across the U.S. and to Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Everywhere, huge crowds couldn't contain their gratitude. And the artists seemed to feel the same, bowing again and again, smiling at the audience, the band (their original musicians) and each other. (The bald James Taylor acknowledged the evening's nostalgia when he bowed on stage and gestured as though tossing back his long hippie hair.) At the end of the evening, as the two sat onstage alone, singing "Close Your Eyes" and leaning on each other, the words "I still love you" summed up the sentiment in the hushed arena.
I was fortunate to attend the last performance in the tour, in Southern California, where I watched graying and balding fans, many in t-shirts stretched over muffin-top middles, dance from the stands, sing along and wipe their eyes. After two and a half hours and two curtain calls, they still stood there, not wanting to leave.
Nothing else binds people of an era like the music of their youth, the anthems that transported them to adulthood and forever evoke a time when anything seemed possible. The songs never stop recalling the optimism that has dimmed with the unstoppable passage of time. For Baby Boomers, the realizations are especially stark, because we weren't going to get old.
We felt special, privileged by our numbers and the rosy view from our prosperous childhoods. We grew up in a time of plenty, riding in our parents' gas-greedy sedans, but also a time of fear, a time of fallout shelters and practice drills for nuclear attack. I still have the metal "dog tag" that my classmates and I wore around the clock in the year of the Cuban missile crisis. We vowed to make the world more peaceful, safer and less cruel. We would put our faith not in what money could buy, but in the goodness of human nature. Anything was possible.
When the brokenhearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be.
When the night is cloudy, there is still a light that shines on me, shine on until tomorrow, let it be.
We protested war and corporate greed. We planted organic gardens and opposed mass production. We believed in the strength of the individual and the power of numbers.
Yet, today, the country is engaged in not one war but two, and the gulf between the have's and have not's has never been wider. Over the years, we've seen our share of James Taylor's "fire and rain": terrorism, recession, assassination, hatred and bigotry. Many of our hopes and aspirations are badly tarnished, some abandoned, others scaled way back.
But we have elected our first African-American president. The cold war is over, the Berlin Wall down, and we haven't tested a nuclear weapon in almost 20 years. Progress has been made in harnessing alternative power and in developing fuel-efficient cars. Social media has confirmed our belief in the power of numbers.
Although we haven't created the world we envisioned, we have made a difference, which is all any generation can do. It turns out that we weren't unlike our fellow human beings of any age. We won some and lost some.
Leaving the Anaheim arena that night last summer, what I read in the watery eyes around me was the realization that indeed "the sun is surely sinking down and the moon is slowly rising." The words hit home now in a way they couldn't when we were young. The lyrics didn't lie to us back then; we just heard them differently. And the songs never let us forget that we once felt invincible and we once meant to do more.
Taylor and Special Guests Barbara Cook, Steve Martin, Bette Midler, and Sting
Honor Twelve Decades of Extraordinary Music and Events at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall launches its 120th anniversary year celebration on Tuesday, April 12 at 7 pm with a one-night-only gala event hosted by renowned singer/songwriter James Taylor in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. This festive evening pays tribute to Carnegie Hall’s illustrious history, highlighting many of the extraordinary musical and cultural events that have taken place on the Hall’s legendary stages over the past twelve decades. Featured special guests include: Barbara Cook, Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Sting, and members of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus among others. This concert is one of four Carnegie Hall Perspectives performances presented by Taylor this spring.
The James Taylor gala event—benefiting Carnegie Hall’s artistic and education programs—is chaired by Clarissa and Edgar Bronfman, Jr. Honorary chair for the gala is Caroline Kennedy. Honorary Artist Committee members for the evening include Carnegie Hall trustees Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, and Audra McDonald, as well as Calista Flockhart, Harrison Ford, Jay-Z, Kelly Preston, Tavis Smiley, Regina Spektor, and John Travolta. Additional gala leaders include: Vice-Chairs Emily Blavatnik, Tory Burch, Lyor Cohen, David Foster, Leslie and Tom Maheras, Aviv Nevo, and Anonymous. Bank of America is the James Taylor Gala Corporate Sponsor and Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.
Gala Benefit tickets priced at $2,500 and $5,000 include premier concert seating and an exclusive after-party dinner at The Museum of Modern Art. Gala benefit tickets priced at $1,000 include the concert and a pre-concert cocktail reception at 6:00 p.m. in Carnegie Hall’s Rohatyn Room. All gala benefit tickets are available online at carnegiehall.org/jamestaylorgala or by calling 212-903-9679. A limited number of premium tickets, priced at $200, $300, and $500, will be available only at the Carnegie Hall Box Office (57th Street and Seventh Avenue) or by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, beginning this Friday, January 7. Both Gala Benefit and premium tickets include a tax-deductible donation to Carnegie Hall.
Full Series Information—Perspectives: James Taylor at Carnegie Hall
In spring 2011, singer/songwriter James Taylor presents a highly personal four-event Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall, a residency that will celebrate the songs that have made him an American icon, revealing his true breadth as a musician and his evolution as an artist. Following his gala performance on April 12, a program titled James Taylor: Roots on Wednesday, April 20 in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage explores Taylor’s early musical influences, including bluegrass, blues, Celtic music, and Church of England hymns. On Friday May 6 in Zankel Hall, Taylor offers an evening devoted to popular music’s instrument of choice with James Taylor: Guitar Conversations, delving into the versatility of the guitar, performing alongside all-stars of the genre. His Perspectives series concludes on Monday, May 9 when he is joined in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage by his legendary band for Quintessential James Taylor and His Band, a performance of his greatest hits.
Shortly after James Taylor’s 1970 Carnegie Hall debut at age 22, Time magazine observed that his artistry reached “a level both of intimacy and controlled emotion rarely achieved in purely pop music.” The connection he made to listeners was indelible, and his hits—“Fire and Rain,” “Sweet Baby James,” “Carolina In My Mind,” to name just a few—became a soundtrack to the American experience. Over the course of his long career, Taylor has earned 40 gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards; five Grammy Awards; and the 1998 Century Award, Billboard magazine’s highest accolade. He has been inducted into both the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has sold some 40 million albums. Taylor’s warm baritone is among the most recognized voices in popular music and his guitar playing has established its own standard. His music embodies the art of songwriting in its most fundamental form, with his songs having had a profound influence on both songwriters and music lovers of all generations and from all walks of life. As a recording and touring artist, he has set a high bar to which countless musicians continue to aspire.
