James Taylor brought the house down at the Point on Thursday night, playing encore after encore and receiving a rapturous standing ovation. Now in his 50s, Taylor is still a captivating performer, and although he's primarily associated with gentle ballads, he's quite happy to rock when the occasion demands. He was joined by an excellent four-piece band and a single backing singer.
Taylor is a master songwriter, but he's also a great interpreter; he sings in long, controlled phrases, constantly twisting melodies to find new variations and surprises. A version of Buddy Holly's Everyday was typically inventive - there was a wonderful tension between Holly's sunny lyric and Taylor's darkly uncertain vocals. He teetered on the brink of sentimentality with You've Got a Friend - but it wasn't sentimental, because it was sung in such a plain, matter-of-fact style. Another Carole King song, Up on the Roof, worked particularly well, building from a gentle, romantic opening to an exuberant conclusion.
The best performers don't slavishly reproduce their recordings on stage, and Taylor managed to put new slants on several songs. Mexico is a quiet, unassuming song on record, but live it was fast and humorous, as was How Sweet It Is. The first set closed with the exhilarating slow blues Steam-roller, showing Taylor can still be a churning urn of burning funk when the urge takes him. The concert ended with a singalong solo version of Sweet Baby James. A triumphant performance.