Taj Mahal may not be the most authentic, the most technically proficient, or the most emotionally cathartic practitioner of the blues today, but he certainly is one of the most enjoyable and entertaining performers around. He's a quiet, soft-spoken man who enjoys fishing and building model airplanes and being a vegetarian. And his records are a solid joy to listen to.
The songs he plays are mostly blues standards—"Statesboro Blues," "E Z Rider," "Dust My Broom"—and it is a measure of his amazing musicianship that he is able to make them come off absolutely fresh and vital. His band is superb. Jesse Edwin Davis, the lead guitar player, is easily one of the best blues guitarists
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around. (Incidentally, he's an American Indian; you blues purists out there toy with
that for awhile!) His sound is pure and fluid and the lines he plays are wonderfully natural and unlabored, Gary Gillmore and Chuck Blackwell, base and drums, are both ex-country musicians and are also excellent.
It's no surprise that Taj's second album is called The Natch'l Blues, because the music seems to be an extension of the band's life-style. I have seen Gary Gillmore peel an orange with the same infinite care that the band puts into their music. When someone asked him a question he seemed to put an imaginary bookmark in the orange, answer the question slowly and carefully, and then go back into the orange.
The key to the music is given in the liner notes to the first album: "You gotta get it right there in the first few bars." The first few bars really do have a way of hooking you, and before you realize it, you're involved with the song, jumping around and grooving with the music. What makes it all so easy is that Taj Mahal is an extremely engaging vocalist whose appeal is direct and immediate; he's one of the few people you can actually hear smiling.
Of the two albums he's put out, the first is probably the better by a nose. The band personnel changes a bit from cut to cut, with Davis the only consistent member of each group, but it hardly shows. The second album is slightly marred by an attempt at "You Don't Miss Your Water," a song that isn't too well suited to Taj's voice. The use of brass on this cut and the next is tastefully handled, but for no other reasons than personal taste I prefer the cuts with the band, all of which are excellent. Do yourself a favor and pick up on Taj Mahal, if you haven't already. (RS 33)
EDMUND O. WARD
This modern treasure's career has always been marked by his scholarly love for and natural drive to make blues-based Americana music, and those things are in full effect on his first album. R&B, folk-blues and Caribbean inflections all come together among originals and covers, making for a highly enjoyable and engaging modern blues listen.
