Keb' Mo' & Taj Mahal - Room On The Porch 2025

Исполнитель: Keb' Mo' & Taj Mahal
Альбом: Room On The Porch
Жанр: Blues
Год: 2025
Страна: USA
Лейбл: Concord Records
Формат: FLAC (tracks)
Official DR value: DR8
Разрядность: 24bit / 48kHz Stereo
Размер: 537 MB
Инфо: bandcamp
Залито на: XFile (3% восстановление)

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Eight years after their excellent, Grammy-winning collaboration TajMo, legends Taj Mahal, 82, and Keb' Mo', 73, are back with a collection of mostly originals that displays both their bone-deep experience and a vitalized energy. Give credit where it's due: "They say jazz will give you back your mind / Reggae give you back your body … But the blues, the blues will give you back your soul," Taj Mahal sings on his "Blues'll Give you Back Your Soul"—an almost vaudeville spin on the blues with knock-'em-dead sax. The idyllic, countrified title track feels bright as a new penny, as Taj Mahal growls and guest Ruby Amanfu joins in with her wild-honey rasp; Delta blues wiz Keb' Mo' lays down shiny guitar while Jenee Fleenor adds rich fiddle. Room on the Porch was largely written and recorded from scratch over just two weeks. That wasn't necessarily Keb' Mo's preference, though. "Taj writes from a very spontaneous place, but I'm all about preparation, so this was a brand new way of working for me," Keb' Mo' has said. "It was honestly a little frightening ..." But the songs have a limber looseness and sound as if you are getting them at peak ripeness rather than over-practiced. Feel-good "Make Up Your Mind" leans into Taj Mahal's world music style—island vibrancy with belly-laugh bass. "Better Than Ever" taps into both men's specialties, weaving in spiky guitar lines, world-beat percussion and fiery harmonica. It's a bit of bait and switch, with the second verse starting deep down in the blues: "Lost my job down at the station/ My train fell off the track." Then the chorus blasts in with musical and lyrical levity. "My life with you is better than ever," they sing, with support from Wendy Moten. "Thicker Than Mud" is a country rocker. Snappy "She Keeps Me Movin'" finds the men in an extra-playful mood for their vocal phrasing, as a soulful choir glides in and out. "My Darling My Dear"—co-written with the bluesmen's sons Ahmen Mahal and K. Roosevelt—hits an interesting stride where Taj Mahal's vocal delivery is just a step behind Keb' Mo', almost like an echo. There are also stellar covers. A jazzy take on Jimmy Cox's fleet "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" finds the artists finishing each other's lines as if in conversation. "When I get back on my feet again," Keb' Mo' starts. "Tell me what you're gonna do!" Taj Mahal crows. The latter cuts loose and lets his voice drift upward on a bare-bones cover of Jontavious Willis' "Rough Time Blues" that, with its eye-watering guitar, maintains the country blues spirit of the original. And the two sound like they're having great fun on a snarling version of "Junkyard Dog" by Nashville songwriter Maia Sharp.

Трэклист:

01. Room On The Porch
02. My Darling My Dear
03. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
04. She Keeps Me Movin’
05. Make Up Your Mind
06. Thicker Than Mud
07. Junkyard Dog
08. Blues’ll Give You Back Your Soul
09. Better Than Ever
10. Rough Time Blues

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