ALBUM REVIEW: Taj Mahal Mesmerizes Live at The Church in Tulsa

It’s like hearing the voice of God. He commands your attention, a mix of the stern Old Testament God laying down the law and the New Testament one inviting sinners to gather round and learn something while they get cleansed. And instead of a scepter in his hand, he’s got a banjo, or a guitar, or a uke, or any of the 20-something instruments he’s proficient on.

When Taj Mahal says gather around me, it’s as much a command as an invitation. But if you’re that close to Mahal already, you don’t have much of a choice. His aura will draw you in and the music will bind you to him. On this latest live recording from The Church in Tulsa, Leon Russell’s former studio and office for his Shelter Records label, Mahal and his sextet lay down a 10-track set that maps out a rambling journey through Mahal’s lengthy and wondrous catalog.

Taj Mahal (photo by Phil Clarkin)

From the kickoff to Swingin’ Live at The Church in Tulsa, that command/invitation to the audience to gather ’round, Mahal, now 81, keeps the crowd spellbound with his music, his voice sounding like he’s gargled with hot tar, a few gravel chunks mixed in. Mahal alone would be enough to hold your attention, but with the addition of his band — bassist Bill Rich, drummer Kester Smith, and guitarist/Hawaiian lap steel player Bobby Ingano — and special guests of dobroist Rob Ickes and guitarist and vocalist Trey Hensley, there’s no escape. Ickes and Hensley are no newbies to the Taj Mahal pantheon, having enlisted him to sing the lead track on their 2019 duo release, World Full of Blues (ND review).

The music on Swingin’ Live gets started with “Betty and Dupree,” a song Mahal recorded with The Hula Blues Band on 1998’s Sacred Island. Written and recorded in 1958 by R&B legend Chuck Willis (“C. C. Rider,” “What Am I Living For”), who was dubbed King of the Stroll for his laid-back beat, it tells the true story of Frank Dupre (sometimes spelled Dupree or DuPre), who robbed a jewelry store to get a diamond ring for his girl Betty, killing a Pinkerton agent on the way out. Dupre became the last man hanged by the state of Georgia in 1922, before the electric chair was introduced. Mahal slows Willis’ original syncopated lope down to a slow-drag blues, warbling with a well-broken-in baritone with some cracks and wrinkles that just make it more sound even more comfortable.

“Queen Bee” is an old Mahal staple, first appearing on 1977’s Evolution (The Most Recent) and then again on 1997’s Senor Blues. Mahal takes his own “rock-me-to-my-soul” exhortations seriously, sounding like he’s locked into a higher power, coming out of his trance only to call out “Mr. Ickes” for a fiery solo before getting back to communing with his soul keeper.

“Sittin’ on Top of the World” features Ickes as a slack key stand-in as Mahal growls his way through a laid-back version of a song handed down from The Mississippi Sheiks in the ’30s filtered through Bob Wills, Howlin’ Wolf, The Dead, and Cream over the years. Mahal and company mange to get a pinch of flavoring from most of those, while adding their own whammy to the mix.

Hensley takes over on vocals for “Lovin’ in My Baby’s Eyes,” his warm baritone flecked with traces of Clarence Carter, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, and a country-flavored James Taylor. Mahal is obviously enjoying himself on this one, grunting a satisfied “Um-humm!” at the end of the cut and seen exchanging big grins with Hensley in the video.

It makes you sorry you missed it live, but grateful that Mahal had the grace to preserve it for his current and future fans to lay eyes and ears on.

The Taj Mahal Sextet’s Swingin’ Live at The Church in Tulsa is out March 8 on Lightning Rod Records.