The James Taylor Quartet Get Hung Up On You At Ronnie Scott’s

This was the second show of the night for the James Taylor Quartet or JTQ at the legendary Ronnie Scott’s club in Soho, where they played four shows in two nights as part of the bands current tour. Promoting the band’s latest album Hung Up On You, the first album by the band to feature James Taylor on lead vocals as well as Hammond organ.

I’d not been to Ronnie’s since they refurbished the club making it far swankier than it used to be, I was shown to my perch by the bar so I could luxuriate in the sound of The James Taylor Quartet.

James Taylor Quartet @ Ronnie Scott's

James Taylor Quartet @ Ronnie Scott's (Robert Crowley)

They opened with the very upbeat My My My that has a great rollicking Rolling Stones kind of vibe, allowing Mark Cox to give us a great louche Keith Richards style solo, every bit as bold as the song’s lyrics are. James’s Hammond really went Ray Manzarek style psychedelic on She Dreams In Crimson with some delicious backing vocals from Yvonne Yanney that had a distinctly gospel edge.

They really started to swing but with a distinctly 70’s vibe for Feet On The Ground, Andrew McKinney‘s bass runs wove around Pat Illingworth’s drums to draw us all in. One of the most full-on Jimmy Smith style workouts was Funky Miracle that had most of Ronnie’s dancing in their seats. They added a fusion edge on No Way that allowed Mark Cox to play a long florid very John McLaughlin style guitar solo, that James Taylor added all sorts of delicate flourishes too.

James made sure we all knew the next song was going to be the title track of Hung Up On You as he welcomed Yvonne Yanney back on stage, to play tambourine and sing the super evocative backing vocals, on this full on funky love song. James made clear how much he owes to his wife before they played My Wife that was the sweetest song of the set, with delicate organ flourishes and sublimely restrained guitar.

James then got all of Ronnie Scott’s to sing happy birthday to JTQ super fan Jean whose 99^th birthday it was, what a way to celebrate it was, not sure the next tune The Exorcism was the most appropriate birthday song though, the band vamped it up on the first song of the evening not on the latest album, James played a great Brian Auger style solo followed by Pat Illingworth’s drum solo that was rather concise compared to the solos Elvin Jones took when I saw him playing at Ronnie’s a few years ago. Andrew McKinney then stepped forwards for his bass solo that kept things good and funky, before Mark Cox brought it all together with a proper guitar freakout.

James then explained that this evening’s show was part of Ronnie Scott’s keyboard festival, among whose other attractions include Booker T who is of course a huge influence on the JTQ they went into Booker T’s immortal classic Green Onions that got a good few people up and dancing, it was impossible not to groove along with them.

Yvonne then took lead vocals on Break In The Road, James seemed to enjoy less pressure, providing slightly hammed up backing vocals. The second half of the song was a duet full of lust and love and James getting everyone to clap along to his tambourine beat.

They then paid another tribute to Booker T & The MG’s with a super-hot version of Time Is Tight that had a super deep bass groove that made it impossible to sit still too. James encouraged everyone to join in on 8 Counts For Rita with every repetition of the count the band got funkier and louder it was a brilliant show stopper. James then promised they were going to go punk as he introduced Perche Non Vai Da Lui from Hung Up On You and it had a great spiky urgency, before they closed by getting everyone up and dancing to the bands classic re-interpretation of Theme From Starsky & Hutch that went down a total storm.

They came back for an encore of All Wrapped Up a song almost machine tooled to be a set closer or encore song, with each of the band having one more instrumental break each and a great sing along with the band leaving to a standing ovation.

Live review of The James Taylor Quartet at Ronnie Scott’s, London on 30th October 2024 by Simon Phillips.

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