James Taylor to perform at The Nearness of You Concert in New York

James Taylor is one of the acts set to perform at The Nearness of You Concert, an all-star benefit concert supporting cancer research at Columbia University Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The event honors the memory of Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Michael Brecker, who died in 2007. He played sax on Taylor’s 1972 track “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight,” described on Instagram as “one of the most memorable collaborations in James’s catalog.”

The concert will be held Feb. 9 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room in New York, hosted by comedian Susie Essman. The lineup also includes trumpeter Chris Botti, singer/songwriter Lisa Fischer, inaugural poet Richard Blanco and special guests.

This is the fifth Nearness of You Concert that’s been held. Previous shows have raised over $5 million for cancer research and featured artists like Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Christopher Cross and others.

Tickets for the concert are on sale now.

In December Taylor revealed his plans to tour in 2026, noting in a social media video that he would be out west in California and Nevada in April, and then hit the East Coast in June. So far the only confirmed U.S. shows are his annual July 3 and 4 concerts at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Taylor also has dates in the U.K. and Europe in July. A complete schedule can be found at JamesTaylor.com.

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