James Taylor Hits The 'October Road' With Yamaha
BUENA PARK, CA (August 29, 2003) As the quintessential American singer/songwriter, James Taylor has achieved lasting popularity with an understated acoustic style, a series of hit albums and singles, and highly successful tours. After a string of Australian and European dates, Taylor hit the road in North America on May 15 in support of his latest release, October Road, with a "dream" band that included not only musical legends, but also a number of Yamaha instruments and artists.
As part of the extraordinarily talented Fowler Brothers, trumpeter/synthesist Walt Fowler and his brothers have collectively appeared on over 500 releases, and have played on or orchestrated at least 100 major motion pictures. Walt has played, recorded and toured with a virtual "who's who," including Diana Ross, Frank Zappa, James Brown, Roberta Flack, The Doors and the Manhattan Transfer. His recent film projects as player and co-orchestrator include The Italian Job, Pirates of the Caribbean, Agent Cody Banks, Twister, and the Austin Powers series. "This is my second major tour with James," explains Fowler, who plays a Yamaha Xeno trumpet and Yamaha YFH631G flugelhorn, while doubling and supplementing harmonies with a Yamaha Motif 7. "What's nice about working with James is that I can come up with a lot of my own keyboard parts, and can stretch musically. "We initially got the Motif for rehearsals," he explains, "and have been using it on stage ever since. Mark Konrad, our head band tech, discovered the 'Favorites' feature. We really like the ability to store the songs and sounds that we want to use, and to be able to add and compare easily."
Considered by many to be one of today's premiere jazz organists, pianists and composers, Larry Goldings has performed as a sideman with John Scofield, Maceo Parker, Michael Brecker, and most recently, Taylor, playing piano on the October Road release. "I've been playing with James a little over a year," Goldings explains. "His producer (Russ Titleman) brought me in for two tunes on October Road; he had me in mind when he heard James play through two cuts, since they were Jazz-oriented. Shortly after that, I was asked to go on the road, and it's been very exciting. This is a 'dream band.' Even though there's a certain amount of rigidness since this is technically 'pop' music James is very open to any ideas that we (musicians) may have. Goldings plays a Yamaha C3 grand piano. "With a pop group, your performance is very exposed, there's a lot of dynamic," he explains. "The feel of this piano is really great. It allows me to get the air and warmth that I need, but still manage to get a lot of brightness. It really cuts through in my monitor, even with the top completely closed to prevent mic bleeding. "I also like messing around with the Motif," he adds. "There's some good reedy organ sounds on there, and some really great electric guitar sounds. The physical modeling the plucking, and strumming make them quite authentic."
As one of the most sought-after studio and recorded drummers in the world, Steve Gadd is regarded as the most influential drummer in contemporary music, having worked with Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Barbera Streisand, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon and Chick Corea. "I'm very happy to be associated with Yamahawe go back almost 30 years," he notes. "I'm playing my signature kit, which has a Maple bass drum, Birch [Custom] toms, Maple Custom hardware and a signature snare, all of which I chose based on the Maple and Recording Custom kits. What I respect the most is that they have a great R&D department, and they keep pushing the envelope. Plus, they really listen to us [artists]. I've had this kit over ten years, and it really holds up on the road. "Playing with James is amazing," he adds. "After Carlos [Vega] died, they kept shifting drummers in the band. James spoke with me about touring several times, but I wasn't able to do the whole leg. However, after this last album, I was able to do the tour, and musically, it's been fantastic." For more information, write: Yamaha Corporation of America, Pro Audio & Combo Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011 or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com. Related Links: JamesTaylor.com C3 Xeno Trumpet YFH631G Steve Gadd Signature Drums
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