For this week's New York
Night Train show list go
here. For information about the venues go
here. Click the names in bold to learn more about the
artists.
Wednesday
May 24, 2006
Taj Mahal
Trio - Blue Note $35/$45
If you’re
not one-hundred percent open-minded, the key to listening to Taj
Mahal is the cliche “if you don’t like
the weather, wait a few minutes.” If you are one of the rare
few, you can sit back and enjoy the ride.
Taj formed
the blues rock/folk pop Rising Sons with Ry Cooder in the Los Angeles
mid-1960s folk scene and made a breif appearnce on Captain Beefheart's
Safe as Milk before going off on his own in 1967. In the
beginning, his specialty was playing with the raw essence from the
circa 1930 Mississippi masterpieces – from the light fun of
the jug bands to the dark loneliness of the rural troubadours. I
recently heard his revision of “Walkin’ Blues,”
1968’s “Celebrated Walkin’ Blues,” for the
first time in some time – and it was intense as ever. Oddly
he decided to take on this nugget at almost the exact same time
as R.L Burnside on his first album, and oldtimers Johnny Shines
and Lightinin’ Hopkins. Mahal’s version, following the
long “Walkin’ Blues” thread from Son House to
Robert Johnson in Mississippi to Chicago within one song, never
once finds a contemporary electric blues feel, but makes it unique
by adding pentatonic mandolin scales, his powerful howl, and one-of-a-kind
sensibility. On the other hand, one listen to his electricified
slide-driven arrangement of Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro
Blues” shows you exactly who pointed the way for the Allman
Brothers stellar 1971 Live at the Fillmore East version. Despite
tough tracks like these, his acoustic instrumental style tends to
favor lighter John Hurt-style fingerpicking - particularly on his
best known track of the era Henry Thomas' "Fishin' Blues"
or on his "Frankie and Albert" - definitely informed by
hurts version of "Frankie and Johnny." He fused this Hurt
style with pop on songs like "Giant Step" greatly anticipated
the mandolin-based folk pop of "Maggie May" and other
songs from Rod Stewart's ferst few records. The Memphis bent in
some of the tunes is best illustrated by how he blows every other
band in The Rolling Stones' Great Rock and Roll Circus away
with his heavy soulful take on Sam and Dave's "Ain't That a
Lot of Love".
Taj Mahal has
been on quite a journey since the holy blues-based trinity of his
first three albums – not only exploring earlier American popular
and folk genres of the past: rags, cakewalks, and Dixieland, but
has also branching out into world music. On that note, it’s
also important to point out that 1971’s Happy Just to
Be Like I Am and 1973’s Roots found Mahal ahead
of the rest of his contemporaries in making a Caribbean-themed album.
He’s since not only made serious stabs at Hawaiian, Indian,
and West African music, but returns to blues every now and again.
His trio promises to take you on a condensed version of this journey
around the world and through time. You have until Sunday to climb
aboard.
MEDIA
Taj Mahal has
put dozens of MP3s from all of his albums here.
ALSO:
Angie Eng, Jason Kao Hwang & Yuko Fujiyama – ISSUE Project
Room $10
Anthony Burr & Jennifer Reeves – Tonic 8PM $10
Frog Eyes, Sunset Rubdown, Bedroom Walls - Mercury Lounge
$12 (sold out)
Laurie Anderson - Joe's Pub $25
Roger Eno with Plumbline – Tonic 10PM $10
Steel Pulse – Irving Plaza $27.50/$30
Stephanie Stone – The Stone 8PM $10
Sylvie Courvoisier – The Stone 10PM $10
The Books - World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery FREE
The Walkmen, Mazarin, Nethers - Webster Hall $20
Tigers & Monkeys, Beat the Devil, The Modern Hour, The Vandelles,
Saphin - Sin-e $8
Unsane, Blackfire Revelation - Knitting Factory Main Space $10/$12
Go
to NYNT's Live Archive here
©
New York Night Train , 2006
|