In final year, B.E. Taylor Christmas concerts come full circle

Rehearsals for this year’s “Feel the Love: Celebrating a B.E. Taylor Christmas” concerts are bittersweet, says B.C. Taylor, a drummer and son of the well-loved singer who died in 2016.

The longtime tradition comes to an end this year, with the final series of five B.E. Taylor Christmas concerts, including dates Dec. 16 and 17 in Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh.

“I feel like, after this year, I’ve done what I wanted to do,” Taylor says. “I think people took the show for granted in a way, because it was always there year after year, so they said, ‘We won’t go this year, we’ll go next year.’ I wanted to give everyone a chance to see the Christmas show one last time.

“People have the option to come and have their closure, if indeed they need some,” he says.

Joining Taylor for the performances will be longtime collaborators like Rick Witkowski, Hermie Granati, Jeff Jimerson and Jamie Peck, along with other guests such as Taylor’s cousin, Baily Taylor, who recently moved to Nashville to pursue her singing career.

All the ‘lasts’

“They’re all sad, and so am I, but they’re supportive of the reasons I’m doing this,” he says. “There are so many emotional experiences, thinking about all the ‘lasts’ that are happening. You just have to sit for a second and take it in.”

One reason to bring the tradition to a close is logistical — Taylor also has been based in Nashville for the past four years. Lately, he’s been touring with country singer-songwriter Tyler Filmore, who performs simply as Filmore.

He spoke to the Tribune- Review recently from Orlando, Fla., at the end of a Bahamas cruise on which he played with Filmore.

An Aliquippa native, B.E. Taylor died from complications of a brain tumor on Aug. 7, 2016 in Wheeling, W.Va., where he was a longtime resident.

The elder Taylor had a varied musical career in both popular and Christian music, in addition to his output of holiday songs. His Christmas concerts covered his often jazz-influenced takes on popular and sacred music of the season.

The concerts took a hiatus the year B.E. Taylor died, but returned in 2017.

Come full circle

“We thought about doing the shows that year, but it was just too much for my mom and my family,” B.C. Taylor says.

“My sister did the first year (2017) in Wheeling, then that was enough for her. She got her closure through that, but there were a few things I still wanted to do before we stopped.

“I can’t give all my secrets away, but there will be some special elements — all the songs we loved and some new presentations, because that’s the way Dad would have done it,” he says. “It’s such a cool full circle.

“No one is ever trying to replace Dad, least of all me,” he says. “He was such a humble but charismatic man. Doing this show, you realize how unbelievably talented he was.

“He’s the best man I’ve known in my life, if you take away all the talent and just leave what he was as a man,” Taylor says. “That’s the best kind of benchmark I could set for myself.”

In addition to the Heinz Hall dates, “Feel the Love” will be performed Dec. 14 in the Scottish Rite Cathedral, New Castle; Dec. 21 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana; and Dec. 23 in the Capitol Theatre, Wheeling.

For information on those concerts, visit feeltheloveof christmas.com.