JT and Co. Back to Roots!

Saturday, August 23rd 2008

"Sweet Baby James", "Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon", "One Man Dog", or "Gorilla". If you consider yourself a bit of a rock music fan, though not an avid singer/songwriter fan maybe, you must have heard at least one of these classic tracks.

As the core of the singer/songwriter boom in 1970's as well as an exceptional talent who weaves out heartbreaks and woes of everyday people's lives in his own unique way James Taylor continues to create tons of classic tunes, including "Carolina in My Mind", "Fire And Rain", "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" etc that made him a pivotal musical figure in Japan who influenced the likes of Tadashi Kosaka, Haruomi Hosono and other top Japanese artists.

With his inexhaustible creativity and fresh sensibility JT seems to know no end of his musical path. Last year he closed a contract with Hear Music owned by Starbucks as if to take the footsteps of other geniuses Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell. As the third artist of the label he released a new live CD (＋DVD) titled "One Man Band", which features live footages from the concert at Colonial Theatre in Massachusettes, USA. "Something in the Way" and the aforementioned classic songs were performed by just 2 members i.e. JT on vocals and guitars and Larry Goldings on keyboards. The singer is quoted to have said the show "looks back on the entire 40 years of my career", which is sure to move his fans to tears!

His 24th (!) album "Covers" due for release soon is literally JT covering his favourite songs with love, as if to trace back to his own roots.

Temptations' "It's Growing", Bo Diddley's "(I'm a) Road Runner", Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog", Hound Dog Taylor's "Sadie", an undying standard tune "On Broadway", Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues", Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" and many other Soul/R&B/Blues/Hillbilly Rock n'Roll tunes are arranged at the hands of JT and they make you feel like you are having a glimpse at the artist his youth...!

Country masterpieces are also featured in the album: Jimmy Webb's songwriting shines with the masterly vocals of Glen Campbell on "Wichita Lineman", "Why Baby Why" is well known for the performances by Pat Boone and George Jones, John Anderson's "Seminole Wind" and also "Some Days You Gotta Dance" are all in here!

And don't forget to mention "Suzanne" by Leonard Cohen...!

Last but not least, on the album JT is backed up by "Band of Legends", which consists of an amazing list of artists...!! Luis Conte（per）, Michael Landau（g）, Jeff Babko（p）, Lou Marini（ts), Jimmy Johnson（g）, Walt Fowler（tp）, Steve Gadd（ds）, Larry Goldings（key）, Andrea Zonn（fiddle）, Kate Markowitz（vo, bells）, Arnold McCuller（vo）, and David Lasley（vo） are all there to support JT perform at his best !!

Autumn is indeed the time of year for listening to James Taylor・・・!
The Japanese edition will be out on October 1st!!!

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