Not only is Lyle Lovett's band large but so is the singer-songwriter-guitarist's generosity and versatility as a performer as witnessed on Friday night during a marathon two-and-a-half hour concert at Massey Hall.

The 52-year-old tall-haired Texan gladly shared the spotlight with his incredibly talented 13-member Large Band, including bluegrass veteran Stuart Duncan on fiddle, as he easily moved from jazz to blues to country to rockabilly to bluegrass to gospel while telling many stores in between songs in his perfectly timed deadpan delivery.

It's clear the charming and quirky Lovett, a frequent actor in the films of the late, great Robert Altman, likes to talk as much as he likes to play and song music.

He often peppered individual band members with hilarious questions, engaging the audience along the way.

"It is a privilege to play in Massey Hall - one of the greatest halls in the world," said Lovett, sharply dressed in a smart grey suit and striped tie.

Touring in support of his three-week-old new album, Natural Forces, which features both originals and covers, Lovett opened the set with Vince Bell's Sun and Moon and Stars from the latest record, accompanied initially only by fiddle, bass and cello, before the rest of the band joined on the followup song, also from the new disc, Eric Taylor's Whooping Crane.

But it was the appearance of Lovett's three male backup singers, including the wonderfully named Sweet Pea Atkinson, on Farmer Brown/Chicken Reel, also from Natural Forces, that really kicked the energy up a major notch as they all sang the hilarious chorus, "I'm going to choke my chicken until the sun goes down," while performing choreographed dance moves and making chicken noises.

Equally mesmerizing, but for completely different reasons, were the partially spoken-word two songs, the Natural Forces tune, It's Rock And Roll, and Here I Am, the latter from Lovett's 20-year-old first record with his Large Band.

Still, some of the most indelible moments of the show came from such powerful gospel workouts as I Will Rise Up/Ain't No More Cane and Church.

Lovett can also make comedic songs work like Penguins, Cute as A Bug, and That's Right (You're Not From Texas) without them becoming novelties.

Is there anything this guy - who was married for a brief time in the early '90s to actress Julia Roberts - can't do?

He's been with his current girlfriend April Kimble for a decade now and the results of their mutual food obsession can be heard on the very funny Natural Forces song, Pantry, as in, "keep it in your pantry," which Lovett performed bluegrass-style gathered around a microphone with Duncan, mandolin player Keith Sewell and bassist Viktor Krauss.

Also good were Lovett's covers of Tommy Eiskes' Bohemia, and Townes Van Zandt's Loretta, both from Natural Forces, and older songs Up In Indiana and If I Had A Boat.