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Rock Around the World

There was a full moon over El A this particular night, portending an enlightening experience for me at The Roxy. I got a Heineken real quick and then cut through the crowd to stage left by a spot that gave me a relatively unobstructed view of James TaylorÕs fingering on the Hammond B-3 Registers, plus IÕd be right under one of the PAÕs...enough to get the gist of what was happening musically, while preserving my hearing.

So IÕm into two sips of beer and the JTQ rips into an obscure Muddy Waters song, written by Willie Dixon, called "You Need Love"...This kind of shook me, because three or four nights prior at The Universal Amphitheater, Foreigner did a similar segue inside a reprise of one of their smash hits. The spirit of Willie Dixon casts a long, tall shadow over the Music Business...WorldWide.

James Taylor is a B-3 broker and seems to push Film stock, since most of his material is derived from Motion Pictures and Television productions:
"The Theme From Dirty Harry", material from "West Side Story" done up like Deep PurpleÕs John Lord, "Starsky and Hutch" and "Mission Impossible" are just a few of the musical themes Taylor puts a Leslie spin on.

Taylor also does some original music like "Blow Up", which is sounding like Dee LiteÕs "Rhythm Is The Groove" and "In The Hand Of The Inevitable", which was the kicker for me...I think at one point during that song, the band did a choreographed joke on the Saxman, John Willmott, who found himself playing alone, band personnel ducked down low and comped down to nothing...

With all this extra air, I found myself encouraging the reedmouth to Blow. ItÕs supersaxual to hear a horn in a venue like the Roxy pushed up against the din of a crowd...like mustard on a SabrettÕs. Then the drummer, Neil Robinson, got some right on the cack, lights coming back up, along with the levels, and then Gary Crockett caught the train in the bottom end of things, with time for the fireman, Graham Day, to come to the rescue with some tasty guitar-Strat licks. As the levels got to peak, James Taylor and Dominic Glover (trumpet) broke in to the groove and then the whole band as a unit was blowinÕ.

There is something very supernatural about the Hammond B-3 when itÕs hooked up to a Leslie Cabinet...The only other thing heavier is the pipe organs you hear in some churches...If you ever get the chance, thereÕs this cat that plays in this church across the street from Planet Hollywood, NYC. That cat can blow...his postludes are phenomenal. I think his name is Paul Liljefstrand...heÕs pretty heavy.

So I digressed a little...James Taylor is the beginning of what I hope will be a resurgence in interest in the B-3/Leslie thing...Jimmy Smith is out there doing it, so is Skip Van Winkle--who has got the best Footwork on the B-3, and thereÕs Mike Finnegan...and Rick Ulsky...Keith Emerson...

When it came time for an encore, James invited all the ladies in the house that wished to come up and dance on the bandstand to do so. One of the ladies got up on JamesÕ B-3 and got so caught up in to the groove that IÕm not really sure if she realized sheÕd been giving James a snap shot of paradise. Life on the road has its moments. Dig It.

Emery Columna
La Crescenta, CA

 

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