Nothing becomes a legend better than continuing to give legendary performances. And respected bluesman Taj Mahal’s new Maestro, which celebrates his 40th year as a recording artist, qualifies.
It’s just gravy that he’s joined on the disc by Ben Harper, Los Lobos, Jack Johnson, Ziggy Marley, Angelique Kidjo, Toumani Diabatre, and the New Orleans Social Club, ’cause Mahal provides all the necessary grease himself. His mastery of Delta and Chicago blues and the music’s African and Caribbean roots guides the disc. In that respect it recalls his sprawling, career defining initial albums: Taj Mahal and The Natch’l Blues from 1968, and Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home from ’69.
The musical high points are “I Can Make You Happy” and “Strong Man Holler.” Both are new Mahal tunes. The first conjures the spirit of Howlin’ Wolf, with Mahal injecting even more growl into his gravel road singing. And the New Orleans Social Club, which includes ex-Meters’ guitarist Leo Nocentelli and bassist George Porter, play against funky type by digging into a raw Chicago blues under the leadership of Warren Haynes, who produced the track.
“Strong Man Holler” is a dark and powerful blues, with Bill Rich’s bared-teeth bass driving the tune’s dramatic minor-key arrangement as Billy Branch’s harmonica howls along with Mahal’s voice.
The Social Club aren’t the only musicians who perform outside their box on Maestro. Los Lobos offer a surprising turn, powering the reggae-influenced “Never Let You Go.” And Harper left his lap guitars at home for his session with the 66-year-old veteran, simply singing and producing the exuberant “Dust Me Down.”
Also on the set list is “Zanzibar,” a freewheeling African exploration with singer Kidjo and kora master Diabate. Mahal’s thumb-and-middle-finger picking style meshes seamlessly with Diabate’s chiming lines. Not surprisingly Marley and his band provide the track’s strongest Jamaican beat, for “Black Man. Brown Man.”
Los Lobos return later for one of the disc’s two moan-and-shout covers, Big Joe Turner’s “TV Mama.” The other is a spirited take on Slim Harpo’s “Scratch My Back,” a tune that’s a flashback to another of Mahal’s early career breakthroughs. The old Excello Records swamp blues number was also covered by the Rolling Stones, who included Mahal in their historic December 1968 Rock and Roll Circus, where he performed a raucous version of his popular tune “Leaving Trunk”.
Although Mahal’s had a long, rich career, his determination to experiment with various ethnic musics – African, Jamaican, calypso, zydeco – has made it difficult for many conservative blues fans to come to grips with his approach. But as Mahal - who studied ethnomusicology at the University of Massachusetts as he was developing the material for his first albums - might explain, experiments with rumbas, calypso, and other Afro-Caribbean styles are part of the blues tradition, found in historic recordings by such revered bluesmen as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.