Dave Read

James Taylor One Man Band at Tanglewood

Friday, August 24, 2007 performance reviewed by Ronald K. Baker

The unseasonably cool weather lurking in the Berkshires for a week or so gave way to the warmth of a typical summer day as the overflow crowd gathered for Lenox’s favorite son, James Taylor and his keyboardist accompanist, Larry Goldings. As concert time neared many on the lawn and near the shed were seen covering themselves with insect repellent. Indeed there was a hatch of tiny flies with clear wings falling like rain out of the early evening sky. Their numbers seemed endless. They were more of a nuisance than a threat. They didn’t bite. Happily they seemed to go away as the music started.

Taylor received a warm welcome which tapered off rapidly as he took to the stage. He donned his familiar acoustic guitar from which every note emanated in sparkling clarity. “Something In the Way She Moves” was fairly close to the original version, both pensive and passionate, as the artist’s signature sound of fluid finger picking joined with seemingly effortless vocals. Taylor described the concert as “the rare blessing of a ‘home game.’”

Goldings joined in on the second selection, “Never Die Young,” and made quick use of the string bass synthe attached to the grand piano with an evocative pedal point sustenuto which swelled voluminously toward the end of the piece. Then he accompanied Taylor on a jazz composition, “I Was an Old Man,” wherein Goldings got to stretch out with a groovy solo played masterfully. The two proceeded to read each other’s mail for the rest of the concert. They were indeed as close as one could imagine to the concert’s “One Man Band” title belying the relative newness of this approach on both their parts.

With lengthy introductions in conversational manner, James Taylor showed his consummate ease and grace on stage. But he was put on notice early that Tanglewood, with its legions on the lawn, perhaps lacked some of the intimacy he’d presumed. Some in the crowd boisterously hollered that they couldn’t hear him. He seemed quite taken aback and vowed immediate action. He began to enunciate more clearly as sound technicians doubtless scrambled to ratchet up the system. As the first set came to a close it seemed curious that there had only been six musical selections. There were too many stories, anecdotes, and accompanying photos projected up on the big video screens. This had some patrons shifting nervously on blankets and in chairs as they waited anxiously for the next song.

Seeing and hearing Taylor’s much touted drum machine elicited a new sympathy for the Luddites of old. This infernal machine was almost eerie to behold with its mechanized arms hitting actual drums while huge wooden barrels rolled along in place. But that was not the technical coup de grace of the evening. After 16 members of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus appeared on screen singing background parts along with the live music, Taylor’s entire band joined in, courtesy of audio and video recording, for the immensely popular “Mexico” piece. The artist himself described this synergy as an elaborate “Karaoke” exercise. And they pulled it off flawlessly. No mean feat given the vicissitudes of live performance and the constraints of canned stuff.

As far as memorable moments, there were regrettably too few. Certainly one can understand his need to vary his presentation to some degree to keep it fresh. But shouldn’t the songs go pretty much the way we’ve come to love them? It’s unfortunate to hear the classic favorites sound more like someone doing a tribute to James Taylor than his own world class versions. In his effort at variation he comes perilously close to becoming a caricature of himself on over stylized occasions.

To quote lines from his song, “That’s Why I’m Here,” we “pay good money to hear Fire and Rain again and again and again.” Hey James, please don’t forget that’s why we’re here too. Dance with the gal that brung ya.

Somewhere in the process of six plus encores JT found a way to let it all hang out. Before all was said and done, gimmicks and all notwithstanding, we got what we came for. I may have missed Haight Ashbury ’68, and Woodstock, but I saw James Taylor at Tanglewood the summer of ’07. Sweet Baby James.

Review of Bad Dates at Shakespeare and Co., starring Elizabeth Aspenleider

Feb. 1, 2009 performance reviewed by Ed McDonnell

Elizabeth Aspenleider as Texan Haley Walker

Elizabeth Aspenleider displays a prodigious gift for comedy and a genuine likability as she takes us on a breakneck tour of Haley Walker’s world in Bad Dates, a one-woman show at Shakespeare and Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre in Lenox, MA, running through March 8th.

Canadian-born Aspenleider, a fourteen-year veteran of the company, is consisently engaging and increasingly powerful as she hilariously raises a teenage daughter, runs a high-end restaurant, revels in her shoe collection, seeks a decent mate, and more – in no order whatsoever. Theresa Rebeck’s script is sharp and streamlined.

One way in which she takes us with her is to acknowledge and involve the audience directly. She looks to them for input on her shoe choices and for identification as she wends her way aloud through adventures with men past and present. She jokes and worries to us from the private warmth of her bedroom (the only set for the two acts is the bedroom). She returns to it exhaused and updates us. She shares her elation (not all the dates are bad) and her wry revulsion (an evening with “the cholesterol guy”).

The shoe lore alone is remarkable. If Aspenlieder’s decision to include us were only a gimmick, it still might be effective. But so deftly does she position and establish us as her comrades, and herself as a lighthearted “plugger”, that when an awful betrayal comes, by then we are right beside for that too; in a moment, the depth of Haley’s character suddenly is plain, and with her we feel the wrenching pain she suffers.

There will be a twist in the story which further enhances the fascinating picture of Haley. Note: at a certain juncture, most everything has been humerous. At the end of the first act there is an apparently fleeting shift in tone, an unsettling moment. This play is extremely fun, but illustrates something serious. Haley faces the fragmented world of her time, as do millions of others. Her individual mind and approach, formulated for the moment’s challenge over years of moments grim or joyful or baffling, are revealed as she seeks goodness or finds grave danger.

They are there in glimpses of the poignantly, completely human Haley: in high-speed agonizing over one outfit after another; in a brave declaration that “I’m in charge;” in a wistful reflection of sitting in a car feeling “potentially safe;” and, perhaps most importantly, when she remembers “needing to believe in HELP… ” This show can help one’s soul, in a couple of ways. Somehow it is suitable for late winter.

Adrianne Krstansky, new to Shakespeare and Co., directs Bad Dates, which will be presented in the new Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre through March 8, 2009 – show times are 2PM and 7PM.

Costumer Jennifer Tremblay and set designer Susan Zeeman Rogers have both done wonderful work.

A Christmas Carol at Berkshire Theatre Festival

December 13, 2008 performance reviewed by Frances Benn Hall.

Once again that little gem of a theatre, the Berkshire Theatre Festival’s Unicorn has proven the ideal setting for Charles Dickens‘ beloved A Christmas Carol. Promising to become a yearly event, with the 4th production already scheduled for 2009, the delightful play tells us the same story, but in a pattern ever new.

They just cling while a voice above them booms, “Are there no prisons? Are there no work-houses?”

The adaptation is still that of Eric Hill. And Hill brings us that curmudgeon Scrooge, so believable down to his last whisker, but Hill (who this year co-directs with E. Gray Simons III) is the only character who repeats his role from previous productions. And Hill, creative actor that he is, each year brings new shadings to the role that he inhabits with such authority and audience delight.

Carl Sprague’s magnificent grey London sets are the same, with a difference, since each performance over the years brings in changing patterns of the actors performing within them. In this 3rd year production the narrative role of Dickens himself seems to move more within the play as Ralph Petillo in the role weaves himself into the action, in a fine performance.

There are 40 roles in this big cast play. They are played by 26 actors, obviously with many doublings. One of the great delights is how all of them, so fittingly costumed by Jessica Risser-Milne in Victoriana garb (down to their very boots) or fantastic “Scrooge nightmare characters” are exactly on the mark.

And as every year, one of the delights is “the children” coming from schools all over Berkshire county, from the 4th grade to high school students, some the latter who appear convincingly in adult roles. It is impossible to list them all, but the especially designed program does so along with a marvelous group (numbered) photo in which all appear. Tiny Tim is #1 (Cameron Castonguay), who in the play handles his crutch bravely and delivers the last words to the audience as he, and Dickens, urge “God bless us, everyone.”

For me, the most moving moment in the play is always the same. Two ragged children cling helplessly to the Ghost of Christmas present. They are nameless, yet their plight is not. They are “ignorance” and “want” (played here by Marco Crescentini and Theresa Russell). They do not speak. They just cling while a voice above them booms, “Are there no prisons? Are there no work-houses?”

This scene never fails to move me to tears (and I always know it’s coming and steel myself for it). This year with our world in economic free-fall, I found the moment exceptionally moving.

So much of this play comes in the small moments, of which the intimacy of the theatre lets one become part. The way poor put-upon Bob Crachit (Andrew Belcher) winds his chilled legs about the legs of his stool. The way Abigail Ziaja slipped the bit of oh-so-right cockney into Mrs. Crachit’s speech. The wonderful character groupings as Scrooge transported to Christmas Future sees with what glee his worldly goods are disposed of by the needy. The graceful movement of the first ghost (Brandy Caldwell) and the hearty gusto of the second.

And there is lovely music, solos by children, music to which spirits move or ghosts appear. It is all interwoven in a way one scarcely has time to note. For instance, as one child begins a solo “Silent Night” the staging has been gradually encircled by tiny groups of mothers, each with child or children, who join in. And the words “Mother and Child” in the song are magnified.

As one can see, there is so much to delight in this Christmas Carol that a brief review can only partially contain it, so I urge you go. Take the children. It is a grand way to spend a couple of hours during the holidays.

Playing in the Unicorn Theatre Dec. 11-14, Dec. 17-22, and Dec. 26-30 at 7pm.
There will be 2pm matinee performances on Dec. 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, and 28.
A 10am matinee will be held on Dec. 15, 18, and 22. There will be no performances on Dec. 24 and 25.

Children $20, adults $36-$39.

James Taylor’s One Man Band DVD concert Pittsfield, MA, July 19, 2007

Article by Dave Read

What’s in a name? Hints, contradictions, teases… James Taylor’s “One Man Band” Show is but a handy approximation, while Pittsfield’s Colonial Theatre is so opulent “Imperial” would be a more-fitting moniker. Now, the two will forever be linked because Taylor rented the Colonial and brought in Sydney Pollack and Don Mischer to produce a DVD around two nights of sold-out concerts July 19 and 20, 2007.

We’ll surmise that Taylor aims with his current tour name to convey the image of a street musician wielding an ungainly musical contraption, such as he could’ve seen during his “magical” year in London while recording his first album for Apple Records there in 1968.

He told the audience at the Colonial how he came to the attention of producer Peter Asher and then became the first artist signed by Paul McCartney and George Harrison to record on the Beatles new record label – and of having plenty of time on the street while the Beatles were involved in “marathon recording sessions” for their White Album.

After opening the show with “Something in The Way She Moves,” Taylor said it was “not the first, but the first presentable” song that he wrote (while a teenager, going steady with neighbor Phoebe Sheldon). “Songwriting is what I do,” was one of the straightest things he said all night.

But this show is evidence of another vocation, monologist. He has a real gift for that as he interspersed a full concert set of 20 songs with a narrative that spanned the half-dozen decades of his life. Some of the narrative has a more serious feel to it, although couched with humor, as when he talks about his father and mother; more is sweet, poignant – like how he came to write “Sweet Baby James.” Then there are the stories of the songs that aren’t family-related, which are out and out stand-up comedy material.

“Line ‘Em Up” for example, a song born of President Nixon’s resignation and the mass Moonie marriage in Madison Square Garden, which he introduces to hilarious effect, the narrative illustrated by a slideshow projected onto a large wood-framed screen.

And this is where his declared vocation is manifest, in the ability to transform public events and characters into songs that not only satisfy his own need for expression but also entertain and stimulate an audience.

Today, of course, the wiley street musician is a cat with an Apple laptop from which can emanate not just the sounds of the busker, but the blues of the Hammond organ, or even the soaring harmonies of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus!

All of which were present in this show: Taylor is accompanied by Larry Goldings on piano, keyboards, and harmonium and, from his laptop computer, Taylor projects onto the screen recordings of sixteen members of the T.F.C. (including his wife Kim) accompanying him on “My Traveling Star” and “Shower the People.”

Then there’s the musical contraption, rolled out from the wings for two numbers tonight, a big, boxy Rube Goldberg-like drum machine. Taylor said that the idea to put together a “stripped-down version” of his show came to him about a year and a half ago, but we had an inkling something like it was coming after his 2002 Tanglewood performance with the Boston Pops, where he debuted songs from “October Road” accompanied by Goldings and guitarist John Pizzarelli.

The boldest number tonight was the rap song Taylor sang through a bullhorn to the irresistible rhythm of the drum machine; sure, it was funny, but it was good and affecting too, and we’d like more. Just as a whole ‘nuther side of James Taylor emerges when he straps on the electric guitar to wail and strut on “Steamroller,” the drum machine (and bullhorn) seem to give access to yet another aspect of this marvelously gifted and generous performer.

James Taylor – Tanglewood – August 21, 2006

August 21, 2006 performance, reviewed by Dave Conlin Read
(Originally published on NewBerkshire.com)

James Taylor at Tanglewood Aug. 21, 2006

This is the fifth time we’ve seen James Taylor in concert, all at Tanglewood since 2001, and we’re learning that besides delivering an entertaining and satisfying musical experience, he always offers a big slice of himself and there’s always some other memorable element.

Having been caught in the 2002 traffic jam that resulted in the JT rule, we made sure to be on the Tanglewood grounds way before seven, getting there with time enough to stroll around and amid his audience, as if anticipating the role they’d play in today’s show. Audience participation (and the concomitant Shed usher capitulation) may be the element that distinguishes this show.

As the Shed filled and fans settled in, the buzz of anticipation became more and more apparent until it reminded us of the sound heard near the base of a great waterfall. About quarter past seven, a roar of applause followed Taylor’s unannounced stroll up to the center stage mic: “That went we well,” he said before opening the show with a lovely solo rendition of “Something in the way she moves.”

And then a zany fan bolted from her seat just across the aisle from us, zipped right up to Taylor and thrust her program and a pen at him. He leaned over and wrote on it; an admonition and directions to the nearby Austen Riggs Center would have been in order, but we could see that he just signed his name as she gleefully waved it about strutting back to her seat, garnering nary a nod from any usher.

Taylor reclaimed the spotlight a moment later, describing the setting sun over “the beautiful audience” and announcing the next song “October Road,” as his band assembled, noting the irony of singing a song about going home, whilst there already. Next came a fresh rendition of “The Water is Wide,” his low intoned vocal accented to great effect by Andrea Zonn’s sweet, high fiddle licks.

Ms. Zonn and drummer Steve Gadd then threw down an awesome Celtic duet that just about blew the roof off the joint. Not only does Taylor exude talent, but he attracts it to. Other exemplary moments during the 21-song concert would include singer Arnold McCuller’s achingly-beautiful solo on “Shower the People,” and Michael Landau’s searing yet restrained guitar on “Handy Man.”

The musicianship is always of the highest order; Taylor appears to take good care of himself and he’s always in good voice, whether singing, chanting, humming, vamping, crooning, speaking from the heart, or just shooting the breeze. He’s more than a competent guitarist, too, and when in seated folk mode his playing can seem like a duet with his singing rather than merely accompaniment.

Halfway through the first set, Taylor told the audience to “forget all that crap,” referring to the various prohibitions promulgated on the Tanglewood ticket, going on to say that his band “complains bitterly” about not getting their picture taken. The way he introduces and shares the spotlight with them is nice, spreading individual introductions throughout the show.

Having – fittingly – made a friend at the show, we’d like now to turn the balance of this report over to her:
(via e-mail from Maureen Kelly of Watertown, MA) First of all and most important, James himself was as always, true and real and humorous throughout. I think the scars of life have helped shape his heart and that makes him a joy to listen to….so on that count -I love that in this part of his life, it is faith and God that drives who he is…and I am pleased that, true to himself, he shares that with the audience….he sings from the heart…and really the heart is the deepest place of grace and happiness in life…I love that about his music… that alone let’s me say that I enjoyed the evening.

I loved just sitting and watching him, whatever he was singing….his background vocalists..especially Kate and Arnold are simply spectacular…. although this version of ‘Shower the People’ didn’t allow the best of Arnold’s voice to come out clearly and powerfully as it has in the past… the pieces chosen were all JT classics… a bit overpopulating both sets…one or two new pieces…something called ‘October’ – were so loud I never got it.

On the technical side, I think the setup was really bad….maybe I was sitting in the wrong place….certainly close enough to see the front of the stage very well…but the acoustics were such that they were SOOOO loud I couldn’t hear much in the way of James’ small talk or the lyrics at times… unfortunately ‘loudness’ seems to be a staple at concerts like this – when a lower volume would be fine.

The lighting was irritating, annoying and such that I wanted to scream “kill that lighting dammnit!” I think it actually interfered with everything else going on…..rather than being a support……….it called attention to itself….bad design I guess… These are rare comments from me – but these things really jumped out at me that night.

At times I felt almost as if I were sitting there alone – I didn’t feel any excitement or passion in the audience….I mean it took almost mid-way into the 2nd set for some few folks to get up and boogie….that dancin’ in the aisles is a feature of JT concerts…but it didn’t happen Monday…I danced, and enjoyed myself!!! I did feel that the pieces we’ve all grown to love, overpopulated both sets… maybe that accounted for what seemed to me to be a rather listless audience…. I’ve been to 3 o4 other JT concerts and people were up and dancin’ in the aisles…after the first 15 minutes.

The Band:
Steve Gadd (drums)
Larry Goldings (piano)
Jimmy Johnson (bass)
Michael Landau (guitar)

Singers:
Kate Markowitz
Andrea Zonn (also on violin)
David Lasley
Arnold McCuller

Setlist:
Something in the Way She Moves
October Road
The Water is Wide
Andrea and Steve Irish jig duet
Sweet Baby James
Copperline
Family Man
Handyman
Fire and Rain
Mexico

Caroline I See You
Why Baby Why? (George Jones)
Oh, What a Beautiful Morning
Chili Dog
Up On the Roof
Smiling Face
Carolina in My Mind
Shower the People
How Sweet It Is

You’ve Got a Friend
Steamroller
Secret of Life

the JT rule: After the traffic-snarling record audience of 24,470 for Taylor’s appearance with the Boston Pops on July 17, 2002, the BSO agreed with local officials to cap future ticket sales at 18,000.

Reviews of James Taylor concerts at Tanglewood and the Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield:

Video clips of James Taylor and Yo Yo MA on Good Morning America’s live broadcast from the Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, Sept. 15, 2008

James Taylor – Tanglewood – July 4, 2005

July 4, 2005 performance, reviewed by Dave Conlin Read

(Originally published on NewBerkshire.com)

James Taylor made it all new again on the Fourth of July, casting a spell from the stage of the Koussevitsky Music Shed that carried the faithful legion back to where they’d first had love, or loss, or longing, or lonliness, made known to them alone in a room listening to a record.

James Taylor fans on Tanglewood lawn

While those emotions are at the core of Taylor’s catalogue of beloved songs, the whole point of crafting songs around them, and setting them to music, is to create another space where you can just get on with it.

And this Taylor did – big time – in a show that began with him casually walking onto the stage shortly after 7, unannounced, to sing the national anthem. A startlingly simple gesture that virtually cast a net over the capacity crowd that had been streaming onto the Tanglewood grounds throughout a perfectly splendid July afternoon.

In an instant, the picnics were put aside, frisbees fell on the lawn, the excited chatter stopped as everyone stood and sang along.

Then our host said, “Play Ball!” and the party was on, with the entrance of his teriffic band: Steve Gadd (drums), Jimmy Johnson (bass), Michael Landau (guitar), Luis Conte (percussion), Larry Goldings (keyboards), Walt Fowler and Lou Marini (horns), Andrea Zonn (fiddle & backing vocals), and Arnold McCuller and Kate Markowitz on backing vocals.

This is a cohort of happy campers, each of whom is an ace musician, and all of whom seem to be as happy to be at a James Taylor concert as anyone in the audience is.

Each was given a generous introduction at an appropriate segment in the 2½ hour show, usually timed to coincide with a song that showcased their playing.

In a show of highlights, one we especially enjoyed and which was a complete surprise, was a Celtic fiddle number by Zonn with bodhrain-sounding accompaniment by Gadd and Conte. It was so good that if you weren’t looking, you could’ve thought you were at a Chieftains concert.

To note the artful structure of the show – how the 2 dozen song setlist was arranged, the Celtic rave-up was preceded by poignant, harmonized, rendition of “The Water is Wide” and followed immediately by a funny anecdote about a friend of Taylor’s who saw Riverdance on a busted t.v. that showed only the upper torsos of the dancers.

Of course, you had to be there to get the joke, which was made when Taylor mimed the upper torso part of Celtic step-dancing. And that was just one of many bits of physical comedy; others were his bad-ass low-down guitar jams with Landau, pogo-stick bouncing, and during the knockout “Steamroller,” he went through such contortions that he looked like a mad Robin Williams imitation of himself!

Taylor likes to disparage himself by saying of his new material that it sounds the same as all the older stuff; does it? If it does it’s because he got a handle on something quite a while ago, something that worked, and he’s been working it – and working on it – ever since. And when he shares it with an audience, he’s got another attribute that sets him apart from his peers – a mastery of stagecraft that makes every performance a unique and especially memorable event.

He has been awarded all the prizes available to a popular artist: six Grammy Awards, more than 40 gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards, an honorary doctorate of music at the Berklee College of Music, the 1998 Billboard Lifetime Achievement Award, and induction in 2000 into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.

Now we’d like to propose that a new one be inaugurated in recognition of that element of a James Taylor concert that makes it nonpariel – his stagecraft. We’ve never seen a musician who is as entertaining between songs as Taylor is. (The only one who came close was the late Dave Van Ronk.)