James Taylor

One of the world's great troubadours was in Toronto this week.James Taylor just turned 60 a few months ago and he's never sounded better.Tuesday night, he delighted a jammed (and soaked) Molson Amphitheatre crowd with a two-and-a-half hour marathon of most of his greatest hits, and those of others as well."I never knew I'd be singing this song every night for the rest of my life," he joked, in advance of singing Carole King's "You've Got a Friend."  It's not a bad song," Taylor continued. "Could be worse. Could be 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down Boy.' "Fifty minutes into his show, the torrential downpour (mixed with ominous forked lightning) abated, which came as welcomed news to those sitting in the uncovered seats at the back.And Taylor continued to wow his audience with a mix of popular ballads ("You Are My Only One," "Sweet Baby James" about his nephew, "Carolina," "Shower The People") plus brassy and bluesey up-tempo numbers ("Whenever I See Your Smiling Face," "Midnight Hour," "Knock on Wood," and a barn-burner edition of "How Sweet it is To Be Loved By You".)Taylor is the antithesis of today's modern performer. No costume changes, he wears a simple open neck shirt & khaki pants.The performance succeeds not thanks to wild pyrotechnics and special effects, but rather because of his remarkably clear voice, and superb supporting cast of singers and musicians.If there was one sour note to the show, it came after two encores. Much of the crowd assumed the up tempo encores would lead to Taylor performing alone in the end, which he did.But they were left a tad disappointed when his final number turned out to be Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" which he did beautifully. But it wasn't "Fire and Rain" which many members of the audience were shouting for, and no doubt anticipating.  One more sour note, completely out of the artist's hands:  Ontario Place and The Amphitheatre are without question the most inaccessible big venues in this province.Transit serves this venue extremely poorly and by the time we arrived, there was literally one parking lot attendant trying to accommodate hundreds of vehicles into the parking lots. It takes 45 minutes to get into the venue, then another 45 to get out.In a city that fancies itself as world class, that's pathetic.