Artist: James Taylor
Album: American Standard
Label: Fantasy Records
Release Date: 2.28.2020
Well, what can be said about this one? It’s James Taylor….and maybe that’s about enough to whet most music lovers’ appetites. And believe me this is a release that won’t just whet a musical hunger but more than satisfy it too. In some ways Taylor brings an unexpected focus on these songs, 14 well-known, enormously-loved classics from the American songbook, choices that might have terrified many lesser musicians, simultaneously pleasing most of his global legion of fans and working in some surprising twists from his usual baseline.
Taylor’s voice and vocal delivery remain exactly on point, everything we all know and adore. His delightful, harmonic guitar picking slips along perfectly in the mix giving the entire album that special Taylor touch with some light whimsical, jazzy flourishes and a sparse simplicity that truly carries the package along nicely, proving that less really can be more.
Aided by some simply wonderful flashes of clarinet, B3, light percussion and even electric slide, Taylor sounds like he’s happily relaxed down-home with a warm breeze blowing through the palms. The stunning perfection of the (again) sparse but striking harp work that accompanies his fretwork on the “Moon River” track makes it totally outstanding, a cut to savor every time, and it sounds like a song that could have been written either by or for him alone. Other tracks include the likes of “Surrey With The Fringe On Top,” “Pennies From Heaven,” ‘‘God Bless the Child” and “My Blue Heaven.”
No doubt there will be some fans who will feel dismayed by this guy’s venture out of the old 1970s’ comfort zone they identify with Mister Taylor. If so, they really are missing the point here. This is Taylor moving on, forging ahead while also glancing back at the music he grew up with, music that still resonates deeply with his soul and the American consciousness. American Standard is a work of genius, of giant beauty and spiritual generosity. Instantly recognizable as a Grammy contender, it highlights just why and how important this true US music legend is to global music.
By now some may have guessed that I simply love this album. This is great music at its very best, delivered by an absolute master of his craft. In short, this is as good as it gets.
—Iain Patience
James Taylor has magnificently rescue “As Easy As Rolling Off A Log,” a delightful song by M.K.Jerome which Warner Brothers wasted in a 1937 movie and a 1938 cartoon. It lives again!