Coinciding with the June 16 release of the Before This World CD, the James Taylor organization scheduled a series of television and radio performances to showcase many of the new songs. Before This World is the first collection of all new material written and performed by James Taylor since the release of October Road in 2002. The level of anticipation was very high and the pre-release reviews had all been extremely positive. We were prepared for a very busy and exciting week in New York that would include appearances on the Today Show, The Tonight Show, Live! With Kelly and Michael, Late Night with Seth Meyers and a live Sirius/XM concert broadcast from the Apollo Theater.
A Whirlwind Week
The whirlwind media week began with Saturday and Sunday rehearsals at S.I.R. Studios in Manhattan. We would load out of the studio there in time to make a 1 a.m. load in at the Today Show. Following the Today show performance, we would head uptown to the venerable Apollo Theater where we would have a setup day for Tuesday’s live broadcast on Sirius/XM. Wednesday morning after the Sirius/XM event required a 6 a.m. lobby call for a performance on Live! With Kelly and Michael. As soon as that show wrapped for the morning, we would be off to Rockefeller Center for the appearance with Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show. The schedule would ease up a bit on Thursday, as Late Night with Seth Meyers was the only commitment.
This publicity blitz was going to be rough on my sleep pattern, and the densely packed agenda would require careful planning and precise communication to pull off smoothly. About two weeks prior to these events, our production team provided me with the audio contact information for each of the four television shows. To avoid misinformation or confusion, I wanted to be the first voice each of these people heard. Upon introducing myself, I let each person know that we would be playing live with no tracks. On the three NBC shows, James would be bringing his full band. In addition to Mr. Taylor and his acoustic guitar, that complement includes Steve Gadd on drums, Luis Conte on percussion, Jimmy Johnson on bass, Mike Landau on guitar, Larry Goldings on keyboards, Lou Marini on sax, Walt Fowler on trumpet and additional keys, Andrea Zonn on violin and vocals, Kate Markowitz on vocals and Arnold McCuller on vocals.
It’s a large group, and the complete number of stage inputs from the instrument and voices is 63. The first thing I wanted to ascertain was whether the stages and the FOH and monitor systems could accommodate all 11 musicians playing live.
My initial email to the shows was the complete tour input list for the big band. Not all the inputs would be used for the songs that had been chosen for performance, but it’s good to start with the worst case to allow for possible changes. It’s far more polite to eventually cut inputs than to try to add more in a last minute panic.
For the Today Show, I was speaking with Matt Rifino, the broadcast mixer. Matt is great guy and an excellent audio engineer. He and I had worked together when Lionel Richie was on Today a couple of years ago, and I was confident that we were in good hands. He was very welcoming and assured me that the Today Show audio department would have no problem dealing with our large band for the three songs that had been chosen for this performance. After this preliminary discussion, I let him know that the next communication he would receive would be the complete tour documentation package compiled by our monitor engineer, Rachel Adkins.
Detailed Documentation
This document contains a detailed stage plot that shows the locations of the musicians as well as monitor speaker placement, stage input box locations and the various AC power drop sites. There is a comprehensive equipment list that includes consoles, outboard gear, monitor speaker systems, all necessary wireless transmitters and receivers, all mics and stands, all DIs, all input boxes and all cabling. There is exact patching information for the various color-coded stage input boxes. And, finally, there is exhaustive patching information for the stage and FOH input racks and for the monitor and FOH consoles. Once again, providing the complete touring information makes it easy for our hosts to adapt our show to their in-house gear, and starting from this worst-case specification gives us the opportunity to cut down. Rachel is extremely meticulous and thorough in her documentation, and I had complete confidence that the information we transmitted to NBC would be both useful and accurate.
Upon receiving that information package, Matt Rifino connected Rachel and the monitor engineer for the Today Show and further communication revealed that the show uses an Avid Profile for their monitor console. Rachel was able to provide them with a cut down monitor equipment spec and a modified VENUE show file. Rachel and I then collaborated on creating an input list specific to the three songs James had chosen for the Today Show. Matt Rifino and I then worked together on all necessary mic substitutions chosen from the Today Show inventory. I let Matt know that the only mic we planned on providing was our custom Earthworks SR40V vocal mic for James. With a week to go before our appearance, all parties involved were on the same page and all questions had been answered to everyone’s satisfaction.
Rachel and I then repeated this complete communication process with Dan Horton, the Tonight Show monitor engineer, and Alex Raytses, the Late Night monitor engineer. We were extremely pleased to discover that the Avid VENUE Profile would be in use as the monitor desk for both these shows too. This allowed Rachel to create a modified show file for each show based on the song to be performed. Having the show file in hand well in advance gave each of the three monitor engineers at the NBC shows the opportunity to modify the file to adapt to their specific output patches and show-specific gear. We found everyone at NBC to be extremely friendly and helpful throughout this communication period and we approached these shows with the utmost confidence that our needs would be fulfilled and that James and the band would have an excellent experience.
The appearance on Live! With Kelly and Michael was a bit less complicated. James had chosen to perform the song “Montana” from the new CD. For this song, he had decided to include only Larry Goldings on grand piano and our three singers in the band. When I contacted Brian Turner from Live!, he informed me that he mixed the broadcast, the FOH sound for the audience and the stage monitors all on one Avid VENUE D-Show console. He also let me know that he only had two channels of in-ear mixes and the rest of the group would be using floor wedges. James and Jon Prince, his guitar tech, would get the two ear mixes and Larry and the singers would be using floor wedges.
At 6:30 a.m., I brought along JT’s vocal mics and installed my Earthworks PM40 mic system in the provided grand piano. We used three Shure handheld wireless mics that Brian provided from the Live! inventory. Rachel had given us a chart for building monitor mixes for each of the performers and we made it all work pretty flawlessly given the early hour. During the brief rehearsal time we were allotted, Jon Prince shuttled between the stage and the control room with monitor requests while Brian and I worked on refining the air mix.
James, the musicians, management and the television personnel were all extremely pleased with the four appearances in New York during the press week. On Today, James performed “Today, Today, Today” from the new CD and “Shed A Little Light” and “Smilin’ Face” from his older material. He sang “Stretch Of The Highway” from Before This World on the Tonight Show, “Angels Of Fenway” on Late Night and “Montana” on Live! All three of these tracks are also from the new CD. Rachel and I were extremely grateful for the helpfulness, cooperation and expertise displayed by all the audio engineers and technicians with whom we were privileged to work. Each of them made a very difficult schedule go very smoothly and the results couldn’t have been better. Thank you to all!
The live-to-air Sirius/XM broadcast from the Apollo also went very well, according to all reports. My old friend John Harris handled the mixing duties, and I had full confidence that James and the band would be given the best treatment possible by this extremely talented engineer. On the show day, John and I had time to go over the set list and discuss solos, featured instruments and unique moments in each of the songs that were being performed. Inside the building, James, the band and the audience had a great time. I was very pleased that John successfully translated the energy in the room over the satellite airwaves.
By the time the week ended, we all received the best news possible regarding the newly released CD. Before This World became James Taylor’s first #1 album on the Billboard charts in his long and illustrious career. Way to go, Boss!
Safe travels.
