Taj Mahal and Keb Mo have been fellow travelers on the road that leads from American blues, back to Africa, and home again. So it’s natural that they would team up for an album and a tour. Their just-released album Room on the Porch is something of a return to roots, a set of ten down-home tracks ranging from funky, gut-bucket blues (“Junkyard Dog”) to soulful swing (“She Keeps Me Movin”) to love songs that tug at the heartstrings (“My Darling My Dear) and the title track with its sing-along invitation to find common ground in a time of deep divisions.
Live onstage at the Tree House Brewing Company’s Summer Stage in Deerfield, Massachusetts, these legends of Americana fronted a grooving, six-piece band fully in command of their varied repertoires. They had this sold-out crowd in the palm of their hands from the first notes. With Taj seated and Keb standing tall, they presented something of a father-and-son vibe, switching among various acoustic and resonator guitars, harmonica and banjo as the concert shifted moods in an easy flow that at times felt like we were all on the porch for a jam with the masters.
Most of the set came from the new album, but not all of it. At one point, the band left the stage, and Taj and Keb pulled out their resonator guitars and engaged in a free-flowing blues conversation interweaving classic lines like, “Sun’s gonna shine in my backdoor someday.” It felt as though they were drawing on their deep knowledge of repertoire, but also making it up as they went along.
Later, Taj delivered a reworked take on “Going up to the Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue,” a song that took this reviewer back to high school days in the early ‘70s when I first fell sway to his loving growl and relentless bass-picking guitar thumb. Late in the set, the ensemble played “Queen Bee,” the lead track from the album Kulanjan (1999), Taj’s landmark collaboration with Malian musicians, notably the late kora maestro Toumani Diabaté. I covered that recording session in Athens, Georgia, for NPR and Guitar Player Magazine, and I vividly recall Wassoulou singer Ramata Diakité (also late) inviting me into the sound booth while she improvised vocals on “Queen Bee.” The song’s phrasing was unfamiliar to her, and she asked me to cue her when to sing. Hearing the TajMo band launch into the songs took me right back to that unforgettable session.
The band’s muscular live take on “Junkyard Blues” also put me in mind of the African connections to American music, with call-and-response vocals, and the deepest, coolest, funkiest interlocking groove of the night. Another standout with strong contemporary resonance was “Love is Thicker than Blood,” a gospel-tinged homage to the very notion of community. Special mention goes to vocalist, violinist, and balafon player Anne Harris, who added warmth and spirit to the vocal mix, and at one point, playfully traded fiddle riffs with Taj on guitar.
The principals didn’t do a lot of talking during the show, but when it came time to play “Room on the Porch,” Taj riffed on the subject of free speech. “It used to be you kept your feelings to yourself. But not today. Today, you speak your mind!” he howled. As the crowd joined to sing along with the chorus, there was a palpable feeling of solidarity, a welcome coming together guided by two shamans of American music whose work transcends time and place.
The TajMo tour continues, with tour dates through mid-August.
Here are some images from a memorable New England summer evening.
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