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James Taylor Marathon at Tanglewood

Knee High On the Fourth of July

By: - Jul 02, 2011

Taylor Taylor Taylor

Last night James Taylor joined the Pops conducted by John Williams in the shed at Tanglewood. It was the second of four performances, before a sold out crowd of 18,000, representing an abundance of riches from the Berkshire base troubadour regarded as a national treasure. Tonight, Saturday, he takes a breather yielding the Shed to another Tanglewood franchise, Garrison Keillor.

On Sunday and Monday he will be back in the Shed for a holiday gala with two more sold out shows. It is now no surprise that he will be joined by Country music stars Vince Gill and Amy Grant. During their first year of marriage the couple released the hit album “Let’s Make Sure We Kiss Goodby.”

That’s a heck of a lot of JT. Other arts organizations expect that the horde that has arrived for Taylor, on at least one or two of their nights during the Holiday weekend, will opt for the many other attractions including world class theatre, dance and museums.

One requires Seven League Boots and the outreach of an octopus to cover all that is going on. By jump starting the season with a marathon of Taylor appearances that translates into millions for the regional economy.

Last weekend, despite terrible weather, some 6,300 attended the Solid Sound Festival at Mass MoCA in its second season sponsored by Wilco. It was brilliant to have it occur before JT as Wilco fans were able to find hotels in and near North Adams. Last summer the event occurred in August and it was tough to find accommodations in high season with so much going on.

In an unusually early start Tanglewood booked head to head with Mass MoCA and Wilco. Last Saturday night it hosted Earth Wind and Fire with strong sales but no sell out. Having these events early in the shoulder season is a great strategy that puts a lot of money into the local economy. The Wilco event also provides the rare opportunity to attract large numbers of visitors to Northern Berkshire County. It is usual to get a smaller slice of cultural tourism dollars.

By now the season opening programming of Tanglewood has been set in stone: Taylor, Pops, Keillor and during the week Mark Morris. There can be a sense of déjà vu all over again. Or, as they say, samosamo.

It is important to tweak the formula and avoid repetition. While it is evident that this now established lineup sells tickets Tangelwood also has an aesthetic responsibility to its audiences. This is not just about the bottom line.

In that sense, on Tuesday evening, one of two appearances in Ozawa Hall by the Morris company we found the program fresher and more varied than has been the case for the past few years. One can OD on Morris. But this time the evening included a world premiere of his version of Stravinsky’s fairy tale “Renard” which was written in 1917 and first produced by Diaghilev as a ballet in 1922. It proved to be an instant classic and sure audience favorite. Also, having Yo-Yo Ma perform a Bach solo for “Falling Down Stairs” was just spectacular.

It is the kind of magic that one expects from the world renowned Tanglewood Music Festival. It has struggled to keep its chin up for the past several seasons given the health issues and chronic cancellations of the now departed Music Director, James Levine. It has meant several seasons of patched together programs with substitute conductors. Critics better equipped than I have speculated on the long term destabilizing impact on the morale and playing of the orchestra.

The norm is that it may take a long time, perhaps years, before the BSO finds a new Music Director.

So all the excitement of early season success, and three sell outs of 18,000 each by Taylor in the Shed, may just be smoke and mirrors as the rest of the season unfolds. There are other big ticket pop events Steely Dan and a Monday night by Train but such mega events come with less favorable terms for the house than Taylor’s enormously generous contracts. For the BSO Taylor really means it when he sings “You’ve Got a Friend.” Right now he is one of the primary elements keeping Tanglewood afloat while navigating the troubled waters that resulted from the instability caused by the drawn out Levine affair.  

On Thursday night Taylor was laid back and low key crooning in shirtsleeves for a delighted audience in the intimate Ozawa Hall. In an evening billed as James Taylor and Friends he appeared with his usual touring group: Larry Goldings, keyboards, Kate Markowitz, vocals, Arnold McCuller, vocals, Caroline Taylor, vocals, Chad Wackerman, percussion, Owen Young, cello, and Andrea Zonn, vocals and fiddle. These musicians also joined him during his set with the Pops. In Ozawa Hall other friends included the Tanglewood Festival Chorus conducted by John Oliver.

The Ozawa Hall performance included a mix of Taylor’s and other standards: “Secret of Life” “You’ve Got a Friend” George Harrison’s “Something in the Way She Moves” Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times Come Again No More” “Belfast to Boston” ‘Islands in the Sun” by Harry Belafonte and Lord Burgess, “Shower the People You Love”  “Fire and Rain” and “You Can Close Your Eyes.”

Last night the audience listened attentively during the first half of the program as John Williams conducted his own compositions opening with “Jubilee 350” written for the anniversary of the City of Boston. There was an Irish inflection to a suite from “Far and Away.” Then selections from music for the film “Catch Me If You Can.” It included a jazz trio of Dan Higgins, alto sax, J. William Hudgins, vibes, and Mike Valerio, bass. It concluded with two barn burner selections from his score for the film “Superman.”

What John? No “Star Wars?” Incredible.

After intermission the crowd went nuts when JT ambled on stage. The roar echoed through the shed and bounced back out on the lawn. There was a blazing light show as cameras and cell phones were thrust into the cool night air.

Taylor appeared reserved and dignified, low key and understated to a fault dressed in a dark blue business suit with black shirt and creamy, mint tinged, silk, monochrome tie.

As he settled in a young lady yelled “I love you.” Pausing introspectively Taylor responded “I love you too” while acknowledging the strangeness of that statement before a vast audience. This encouraged the young lady to up the ante. “Marry me James” she pleaded. Never missing a beat Taylor replied “We’ll have to discuss this later.”

It was a signifier of the fast and easy stagecraft and ability with seeming modesty and shyness to reach out and embrace an audience. He does indeed feel less like a performer and more like a friend. While the patter eases us and draws us closer it is that remarkable signature voice and deeply felt stunning lyrics that has, with a kind of second wind, ensured a secure niche as one of the greatest artists and performers of his generation.

So when he sings that Carole King standard “You’ve Got a Friend” we really feel that he means it. And that it is intended for each and every one of us individually. We identify with the intensity of loss in “Fire and Rain” or the longing conveyed by “Carolina on My Mind.”

The one interesting new song was “Never Never Land” from Peter Pan by Jule Styne. He had a cheat sheet for the lyrics set to an arrangement by Williams. Having always loved the music of Peter Pan it was for me a thrilling moment. Let’s hope one day he will add the anthem, indeed the motto of my miscreant life, “I Won’t Grow Up.”

For an encore he performed “Sweet Baby Jane.” By then we were racing to the parking lot and a fast escape from those famous Lenox traffic jams that can last for hours.

We will do other things today and tomorrow. This afternoon, Berkshire Theatre Festival for Moonchildren, and on Sunday the 98th birthday of our friend Ricki Rudd. She jumped out of an airplane to celebrate her 90th.  What an amazing woman. Happy Birthday from all of us.

Then on Monday the 4th we’ll be back in the Shed for more JT and his special guests Gill and Grant. What a great start to another fabulous season in the Berkshires.