CartAUG 3-6 | BLUES MEETS EARLY SWING
Aug 03 - Aug 06, 2023
Miner Auditorium
Two-time GRAMMY-winning blues icon Taj Mahal is the closest thing we have to an American griot. His music embraces the raw energy of field hollers, the rent-party gumption of early jazz, the urbane grooves of rhythm and blues, the church-derived cadences of soul music and the rhythms of West Africa, via New Orleans and the Caribbean.
His Summer Sessions concerts are the world premiere performances of material from his forthcoming album Savoy — a jazz-inflected tribute to the music of his childhood and the legendary Harlem ballroom of the 30s,40s, and 50s, featuring his singular interpretations of Great American Songbook classics including “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” “Summertime,” and “Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You.” The project has special meaning for Mahal — his parents met at the Savoy during an Ella Fitzgerald concert and the music of that era was the soundtrack of his early life. In his words, “I heard (the songs on Savoy) as a kid when all of those people who made those musics were alive and speaking to us through the records.”
Since his first release 50 years ago with the Rising Sons, which he founded with Ry Cooder, Taj has been a cultural force, bringing blues culture to new generations. Equal parts preservationist and visionary, Taj Mahal wields his expressive growl of a voice to conjure an era when social gatherings without live music were simply unthinkable.
The blues icon returns with a tribute to the legendary Harlem swing music ballroom of the 30s and 40s.
That sublime mix of traditional Delta blues, front-porch finger-picking tunes and funky soul that Taj Mahal can whip together like just about no one else out there.
San Francisco Chronicle
That sublime mix of traditional Delta blues, front-porch finger-picking tunes and funky soul that Taj Mahal can whip together like just about no one else out there.
San Francisco Chronicle
Personnel
Taj Mahal vocals, banjo, dobro, & guitar
Kester Smith drums
Bill Rich bass
Bobby Igano lap steel & electric guitar
He’s a musical archaeologist who does more than preserve history. He makes it contemporary.
The New York Times
Personnel
Taj Mahal vocals, banjo, dobro, & guitar
Kester Smith drums
Bill Rich bass
Bobby Igano lap steel & electric guitar
He’s a musical archaeologist who does more than preserve history. He makes it contemporary.
The New York Times
Watch & Listen
Taj Mahal
Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You
Taj Mahal
She Caught The Katy And Left Me A Mule To Ride
Taj Mahal
Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You
Taj Mahal
She Caught The Katy And Left Me A Mule To Ride