CD Review: Taj Mahal & The Hula Blues "Hanapepe Dream" (Tone Cool/Kandu)

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 22:18:48 +0000 (UTC)
Newsgroups: rec.music.reviews
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Taj Mahal & The Hula Blues "Hanapepe Dream" (Tone Cool/Kandu)
Taj Mahal's always been more of a roots musician than a dedicated bluesman.
His early excursions into reggae (1974's "Mo' Roots"), and his earlier work
with Hawaiian music (1998's "Sacred Island") are only a few of the projects
that anticipate this release. This time out he's backed by an acoustic
string band, with plenty of slack-key guitar, for a gumbo of blues, island
sounds and flavors of the gulf coast. What's particularly impressive is how
smoothly Mahal and his band blend reggae ("Blackjack David," and Bob
Marley's "African Herbsman"), country blues (Mississippi John Hurt's "My
Creole Belle"), and folk-rock ("All Along the Watchtower"). At times they
rework the songs to their milieu, but more to the point, Mahal brings all of
this music under his own umbrella, exposing their common roots without
defoliating their individuality.
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