Mumtaz Mahal

Performer: Taj Mahal
Engineer: Kavichandran Alexander
Producer: Dr. Dilip Raval; Kavichandran Alexander
Distributor: City Hall

Notes: Full performer name: Vishwa Mohan Bhatt/Taj Mahal/Narasimhan Ravikiran. Personnel includes: Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (guitar); Taj Mahal (vocals); Narasimhan Ravikiran (chitra vina). Full performer name: Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Taj Mahal, N. Ravikiran. This is a (multi-channel) Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio players. Personnel includes: Taj Mahal (vocals, guitar); V.M. Bhatt (mohan vina); N. Ravikiran (chitra vina). Personnel: Taj Mahal (vocals, guitar); N. Ravikiran (chitra vina). Liner Note Author: Kavichandran Alexander. Recording information: Christ the King Chapel, St. Anthony Seminary, Santa Bar (04/1994). Author: Rumi. Photographer: Mike Sexton. Unknown Contributor Roles: N. Ravikiran; Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. Arranger: Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal is joined by Indian master musicians N. Ravikiran and V.M. Bhatt on a selection of tunes that ultimately owe more to obvious blues clich�s than they do to cross-cultural collaboration. Perhaps that's because nearly half of the album's tunes -- including Robert Johnson's "Come on in My Kitchen," "Mary Don't You Weep," and "Johnny Too Bad" -- have long been staples of Taj Mahal's concert catalog. This isn't to say that the set doesn't have any moments of inspired improvisation and nuanced playing; there are a few instances of brilliance. But that seems a terrible waste of the talent gathered, unless the listener is looking for nothing more than an unlikely blues workout. ~ Brian Beatty

Alternative Press (2/97, p.56) - 3 (out of 5) - "...Drawing from classic reggae, Robert Johnson's blues and his own compositions, Mahal sings and plays with authority and enthusiasm..." Down Beat (9/96, p.57) - 4.5 Stars (out of 5) - "...The blend of improvised sounds is colorful, entrancing, exotic, sensual, even poetic....The blues, in accord with Hindustani and Karnatak music, is made miraculously new." JazzTimes (10/95, p.82) - "...a uniquely ethereal folk-blues atmosphere....this music has an infectious lightness of being with a cultural identity that is hard to isolate--which is the underlying message of the meeting. Even overly familiar standard cover tunes...are refreshed and renewed, taken out of their American context..."

From the beginning, singer/guitarist Taj Mahal had an interest in/gift for rural blues, and has since embraced everything from electric and psychedelic-tinged blues to reggae and calypso. A tireless performer, he's recorded in many settings, with his honest and impassioned singing providing the common thread through it all. He was a member of '60s band the Rising Sons (which also included Ry Cooder) before embarking on a successful solo career that spanned several decades.

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