There are few acts from whom we’ve enjoyed hearing more in the past decades than 1) the great Taj Mahal and 2) The Phantom Blues Band, a group with which Mahal is very familiar, having in fact assembled them as his own band in 1993. After making three records and a concert DVD with Taj–including two Grammy Award winners in Señor Blues and Shoutin’ in Key–along with various of its members also being featured on one or two other albums from Taj’s catalog, The Phantom Blues Band continued on and have recorded some pretty terrific albums of their own since their last offering with Taj in the early 2000s, occasionally reuniting with Taj during those years to record a single or two for other projects.
It may have taken two decades for Taj and the band to record another full album together, but this latest pairing of Mahal with the Phantom Blues Band–Time (on Taj’s own Resonatin’ Records label in conjunction with Thirty Tigers)–seems to pick right back up where these old friends left off and is every bit as entertaining as what we heard from them back around the turn of the millennium.
In the album’s liner notes, Ruthie Foster observes: “This band doesn’t ‘back’ anybody. They lift you up, carry you, and dare you to rise higher.” Indeed, even with Taj Mahal now recognized among the musical wonders of the world, it’s clear that the musicians around him are very much his equals when the tape is rolling, with each allowed ample room to stretch out and add their own special touches, only helping to make Mahal sound that much better.
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