TOPIC: James Taylor/Carole King Concert-Troubadour Reunio

My wife and I went to the James Taylor/Carole King concert in Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday night. What a great night! I have not spent much time recently listening to either artist's music, but it brought back a lot of memories of when I first heard them as a teenager, especially JT. Both JT and CK were in very good form and it was so apparent that everyone on stage was having fun that it was completely infectious to the audience. They had two sets and two encores and sang all of their hits from the early 70's (JT's Fire and Rain, Sweet Baby James, Country Road, etc.; CK's I feel the earth move, Natural Woman, Too Late, etc.) plus they played some tunes I was not as familiar with. I spent most of the night watching JT's guitar playing on the big TVs (he finger-picked the entire concert, which impressed me to no end since I have trouble with strumming a two-minute song without flubbing it. I later learned from reading more on his technique that he uses a finger-picking technique he made up that emulates the way a piano sounds. So I was not just entertained for three hours, but also learned a little about technique and theory at the same time. Fretmentor would be so proud.

We watched the Troubador concert of both of them on Sunday on PBS. It was really fantastic. He has such a great tone on his guitar (and his voice of course). I would have liked to have gone to the show but had a previous engagement.

The Troubador concert is available on DVD and has lots of closeups of his guitar technique!!