At 80, Taj Mahal is more than an elder statesman for the blues. Like his namesake is to India, he is a national treasure. With the old-timey Savoy, Mahal revisits his youth while continuing his lifelong habit of never being pigeonholed in a particular style.
After a run with Ry Cooder in an underrated band called “Rising Sons” in the mid-1960s, Mahal gained notoriety with a self-titled album and then The Natch’l Blues in 1968 and many releases thereafter. Mahal, who was born as Henry St. Claire Fredericks Jr. in New York, had a foray into Hollywood in 1972, doing the soundtrack to the movie Sounder, and started exploring backwaters of American roots and world music, paving the way for the likes of former bandmate Cooder, Eric Bibb, Corey Harris, Guy Davis and Luther Dickinson. More recently, he collaborated with Keb’ Mo’ to record TajMo in 2017. His long overdue reunion with Cooder last year on Get on Board, a tribute to Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, was an instant classic. Mahal has been nominated for 11 Grammy Awards and won four.
On Savoy, Mahal celebrates the big-band style embraced by Mahal’s own parents commonly heard at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem (as Mahal explains in the clip below). It’s a great collection including classics like “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” “Caledonia,” “Sweet Georgia Brown,” “Summertime” and “Lady Be Good,” on which Mahal shows off his chops singing scat. There are echoes of the Harlem Rennaissance throughout this album. You should listen to this album, and, if you haven’t already seen Mahal live, get to one of his shows. I’ll be catching him in June at Wolf Trap along with North Mississippi Allstars and Los Lobos (I saw Mahal on a double bill with Los Lobos about ten years ago, and it was a great show, with Mahal and the band from East LA working together on multiple encores).
Joining Mahal on Savoy are Danny Caron on Guitar, Ruth Davies on Bass, producer John Simon on piano, Leon Joyce, Jr. on drums, with backup vocals from Carla Holbrook, Leesa Humphrey, Charlotte McKinnon, Sandy Cressman, Sandy Griffith, and Leah Tysse.
About the author: Bill Wilcox is a roots music enthusiast recently relocated from the Washington, DC area to Philadelphia, PA and back again.