“Hello, friend. Grab yourself a chair, sit yourself down…” An invitation from two blues masters you can’t resist.
The last time they teamed up, the venerable blues artist Taj Mahal and the relative whippersnapper Keb’ Mo’ were awarded a Grammy for their album “TajMo”. Eight years later and it’s likely that the pair will be in the running for more awards with their latest collaboration, “Room On The Porch”, a superb set of songs which are rooted in the blues but which are given a sunny-side-up vibe.
Mahal is a true veteran, playing the blues since the 1960s, but also an early incorporator of African and Caribbean music years before World Music became a thing. Mo’, some ten years younger, came to prominence in 1994 when his first album was released. Interestingly, Mahal’s first album featured a picture of him sitting with his guitar outside a fenced-off Los Angeles house, the porch visible but out of reach. Here, Mahal and Mo’ are on the porch, finally getting some recognition.
For the most part, the songs here slide down as easily as one of Neil Young’s infamous honeyslides. The title track opens the album with Mahal and Mo’ swapping words alongside Ruby Amanfu on a delightfully laid-back song replete with sliding guitars and country fiddle. Essentially, it’s a welcome to the porch song, an invitation to join in, share your thoughts, enjoy some food and invite your friends. Quite joyous. The pair delve deeper into blues grooves on tracks such as ‘Blues’ll Give You Back Your Soul’, a superb deep dive from Mahal, alongside a magisterial reading of ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out’ while ‘She Keeps Me Moving’ finds the pair reclaiming the soul of southern rock from the likes of the Allman Brothers.
While there’s a nod to more recent Black music on the urban blues of ‘Junkyard Dog’ which has elements of rap and funk, the duo fill the album with songs such as the sensuous ‘Better Than Ever’ and the rippling ‘My Darling My Dear’ and they close the disc with a return to their roots on ‘Rough Time Blues’. Here, they hark back to the rural blues, the pair swapping vocals over their bluesy guitar pickings. More of this would have been welcome as the album might have benefitted from some grit, but overall, “Room On The Porch” is perfectly delivered, and it finds these two veterans at the top of their game, just two old folks at home.
