Last week, I was in downtown Los Angeles, for the significantly downsized James Taylor tour, for his appearance at the Grammy Museum’s 200-seat Clive Davis Theater. This particular event represented a sharp contrast to the concert that had immediately preceded it. Our final stop on this summer’s tour had been a spectacular outdoor show for 35,000 adoring fans at Boston’s Fenway Park. However, as special as the evening at Fenway was for the thousands who attended that show, this Grammy Museum performance, in a space that felt slightly larger than a living room, was also truly memorable.
The contrast in the scale of equipment on which I mixed each of these shows could not have been greater. The Fenway show ran on my highly personalized DiGiCo SD5 console through a vast audio system consisting of Clair i-3 enclosures and L-Acoustic K1 and K2 cabinets, augmented by L-Acoustic subs, frontfills and K2 delays. The P.A. at the Clive Davis Theater boasted two flown JBL VRX two-way boxes per side, plus a pair of JBL subwoofers. I mixed this show on the installed Soundcraft VI1 console. Both the FOH and the stage monitor mixes were derived from the 10 instrument and vocal inputs running through the VI1.
Wrapping a Busy Week
The Grammy Museum show was the last scheduled event in a busy week of special events and television appearances for James Taylor. Consequently, I didn’t really have a chance to study the operation of the Soundcraft VI1 console. I am usually a fully hands-on console programmer, but in this particular situation, it made far more sense to rely on the greater expertise possessed by David Trau, the theater’s audio engineer. We were operating on a time-constrained window with load-in scheduled for 3 p.m. followed by doors opening at 7 p.m. As a veteran of Friday traffic in Los Angeles, I left my house an hour early. However, the out-of-towners were not as well prepared. Late arrivals due to freeway congestion compacted the afternoon’s schedule even further.
Trau helped me assemble a sensible structure on the control surface and introduced me to the various processes for calling up head amps, equalizers and effects. David built me a custom page containing all of our inputs and the stereo returns from the three reverbs we were using. Once we were happy with the console layout and the effects content for the FOH mix, we turned to monitor mixes. Again, it made the most sense to allow Trau to employ his facility with the VI1 to rapidly bang out the two mono mixes and the one stereo mix the musicians would require. Guitar tech Jon Prince, keyboard tech Mark Konrad and I gave David the road map for each mix and the process went quickly and easily.
The Stage Setup
James Taylor uses an in-ear monitor in his left ear and has a monitor wedge placed on the stage right side of his mic stand. Keyboardist Larry Goldings is a recent convert to in-ears, and he would be using those units for the performance. Stage inputs were quite minimal. We had a house-provided Baldwin baby grand piano in which I installed my Earthworks PM40T piano mic system. Larry would also send a stereo organ signal using a Korg CX3 keyboard running through a Ventilator II Leslie simulator. Other keyboard sounds originated from a Yamaha Motif. A vocal mic and a spare for James, plus two handheld wireless mics for the interview portion of the show, completed the input list.
At the Fenway show, James appeared with the 11-person ensemble that had been delighting crowds throughout the 2015 tour. Happily, James had chosen to perform this show at the Grammy Museum in the format of the “One Man Band” tours of 2006/2007, accompanied only by Goldings. The “One Man Band” format gives fans a very focused insight into James Taylor, the singer/songwriter, guitarist and raconteur. This format also showcases James Taylor’s talents as a brilliant dialog writer and skilled comedic actor who revels in telling his stories with a dry, studied delivery that causes one to hang on each word with rapt attention. For those who are curious and may wish to see “One Man Band” in its entirety, I highly recommend watching the show DVD that was recorded in 2007.
It’s Showtime!
The night at the Clive Davis Theater would provide attendees with a similar unique and revealing look into the life and personality of James Taylor. The first hour of the show was filled with questions and answers. Seating in plush armchairs on stage left, Bob Santelli from the Grammy Museum interviewed James one-on-one for the first 40 minutes. Bob asked many penetrating questions that were followed by both detailed disclosures and riveting anecdotes from James. Characteristically, these answers were sometimes hilarious, and always incredibly astute. Each answer was given with the complete honesty, frankness and obvious intelligence that so deeply bonds James to those who have the privilege to engage him in conversation.
James Taylor’s perspective of the music business and his descriptions of his personal evolution within the industry are extremely enlightening. His points are made with clarity that displays a deep understanding of the business in which he has enjoyed immense success. This question-and-answer segment spanned the period time that began when James acquired his first guitar at age 12 through the most recent creative process that produced Mr. Taylor’s #1 album, Before This World. He went into great detail about his early years playing in a band with his older brother, Alex, and then described the move to New York, where met Danny Kortchmar. Although their band, The Flying Machine, was not a success, his friendship with “Kootch” was the cornerstone of Mr. Taylor’s later triumphs.
James is equally at ease discussing his music, his past difficulties with substance abuse or his personal political views. This question and answer period touched on a great variety of topics before Santelli opened the floor to the audience. James was particularly detailed in his response to a question about his finger picking style. His answer included a discussion of his left hand finger placement for the way he plays D, A and E chords. James is a self-taught guitarist, and in his first days with the instrument, he chose a unique way to finger those three chords.
My observation on the very first day I went to work for James 11 years ago was that he plays these chords “backwards.” For any guitarists who are interested in seeing exactly how he does this, James has created several guitar lessons videos available at jamestaylor.com. Once viewed, I am certain you will each understand how he accomplishes his characteristic hammer-ons, pull-offs and walking bass lines that define the highly individualized and instantly recognizable JT guitar playing technique.
By the time James picked up his guitar and Larry sat down at the keyboards, the audience was already hypnotized. James and Larry performed a short set consisting of “Something In The Way She Moves,” “Copperline,” “Secret Of Life,” “Sweet Baby James” and “Fire and Rain.” Rather characteristically, James graciously added the song “Line ‘em Up” to the set when the audience clamored for an encore.
It was such a pleasure mixing this show in this acoustically optimized and intimate environment. The scaled-down arrangements were perfect for this venue. Everyone could hear every note, every word and every nuance coming from the stage. I always strive to create the illusion that there is no sound system in the room, and on this night, that effort was a complete success. I believe each person in the audience felt that James had just come to visit and gave a concert in of his or her home.
A Few Thanks
After such a magical evening, I would be remiss if I did not give special thanks to the staff of the Grammy Museum for making us feel so welcome in their theater. In particular, I would like to single out production manager Eric Stock and the audio crew (David Trau and Michael Ghost) for making this show a complete success. We couldn’t have done it without you guys!
P.S., as I write this column, I have been informed that the James Taylor family has been nominated for three 2016 TEC Awards for Creative Achievement. James and his co-producer, Dave O’Donnell, have been nominated for the album Before This World and the single “Stretch Of The Highway” (from Before This World). Clair Global, monitor engineer Rachel Adkins and FOH engineer David Morgan (Hey! That’s me!) have been nominated for excellence in Tour Production. Many thanks to the TEC Foundation and the nominating panel for honoring us with this recognition. Safe Travels!
