Hi Everyone, 

I’m thrilled to be part of the world premiere of renowned conductor/composer/arranger/mash-up artist Steve Hackman’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’," featuring the music of Bob Dylan. I’ll be accompanying a hundred voices of the Mendelssohn Choir and a string quintet on five or six songs, plus doing the lead vocal and finger-picking on “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.” 

I’ve heard the arrangements and they sound great, but there’s some danger and excitement to this gig – it’s an experiment! 

Hope you can come out to Mr. Smalls Jan. 25-Jan. 28 and support something that’s a little bit (a lot?) out of the ordinary. Call 877-4-FLY-TIX or go to ticketfly.com for details. 

Thanks, 

Peter

This summer, I'm teaching several lecture/demonstration classes on The Beatles, including a five-class course called "The Beatles in Their Prime: Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper,"  at the University of Pittsburgh's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, main campus. While this course is open only to Osher students, I'll also be teaching a two-hour course focusing on  "Revolver" (released August 5, 1966) at Cooper-Siegel Library, Fox Chapel, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2 p.m. It was 50 years ago today (more or less) that these three albums first rocked the world, and they still sound catchy, innovative and even profound. Come and glean some new insights into the fascinating details of how this music was made.

This summer, I'm teaching several lecture/demonstration classes on JT past and present, including a five-class course at the University of Pittsburgh's Osher Center. While that course is limited to Osher students, anyone (this means you) can attend two other James Taylor presentations I'm teaching at local libraries.
Here are the details:

Saturday, August 15, noon-2 p.m.
Oakmont Carnegie Library
700 Allegheny River Blvd.
Oakmont, PA  15139
Contact: Stephanie Zimble   412.828.9532  


Friday, September 11,  7-9 p.m.
Shaler North Hills Library
1822 Mt. Royal Blvd.
Glenshaw, PA 15116
412-486-0211

So what do these classes cover? Here's a brief description:
Quiet Fire – The Music of James Taylor
Hear a few notes from his guitar, and you know it’s James Taylor. The writer of “Fire and Rain,” “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” and “Carolina in My Mind” has influenced pop, folk and country music with his unique sense of jazz-tinged chords and syncopated rhythms. Taylor’s back with a brand-new CD, “Before This World.” As with his earlier work, the melodies and harmonies go down easy, but a closer listen reveals nuance, surprise and understated power – qualities that have endeared him not only to fans but to peers including Yo-Yo Ma, Pat Metheny and Mark Knopfler.
Taylor’s socially conscious, sometimes tormented soul has shown itself in songs about drug addiction (“A Junkie’s Lament”) the First Gulf War (“Slap Leather”) and Martin Luther King (“Shed a Little Light”). Other songs draw on his brother’s death (“Enough to Be on Your Way”), his difficult relationship with his father (“Walking Man”) and his family’s seafaring past (“The Frozen Man.”)
Performer, guitar teacher and music journalist Peter King will explore what makes Taylor’s music so original. Through guided listening to Taylor’s recordings as well as to songs played live by the instructor on his guitar, the class will gain a deeper appreciation of the art of Sweet Baby James.

I've given a number of these presentations, and the response has been gratifying. Students come away from the class knowing more about Taylor's life, but -- more important -- able to hear some of his classic material with newly calibrated ears.
Please join me for "Quiet Fire."
 

I gave a presentation on Paul Simon's music Sunday at the Cooper-Siegel Library in Fox Chapel, Pa. Naturally, along with reading a lot about Simon over the last month or so, I've been listening to all his music -- from Tom and Jerry on! If you happen to have missed his last few recordings, you don't know what you're missing! In particular, I like You're the One (2000) and So Beautiful or So What (2010). 
Late in his career, Simon is still doing some of his best work. The music and the lyrics are beautiful and haunting, with a kind of tragicomic perspective on life that is more complex than the usual popular song, The backing tracks can be melodic, as on "Questions For the Angels" or funky, as on "Hurricane Eye," or both, as on "Darling Lorraine." Simon's method of putting down a backing track first and writing the melody and lyrics to suit, which he began in earnest on Graceland, still sounds modern and refreshingly strange.
Check his later music out. He's still crazy-good after all these years!