Saw Taj Mahal tonight...
 

more addressed to Strato than anyone else, considering his love of music and "phd" in the blues... (my p button is broken, so no caps....)

Anyway, Taj Mahal played at Lafayette Square tonight at the (free) Blues Festival put on by the Jazz Fest people.

My dad invited me to meet him there, as we have a cousin in town right now... didn't even know that it was going on, but when I went to the site and saw that Taj Mahal would be there, I left the house immediately...

I knew nothing about Taj Mahal other than that he had an awesome name, but that was enough for me.

I learned of his background- middle-class kid from New Jersey, etc...

my mom told me more about him, then told me that her generation was the "first generation of grandmothers to wear jeans and mini-skirts"- I don't think I've impregnated anybody lately, so I hope this wasn't one of those "grow up and settle down" hints moms are so famous for giving their sons of my age....


but anyway, Taj was pretty impressive. Seemed to have a really tight, well-composed style, but I still wasn't impressed enough to stay through the whole set...

for my money, Muddy Waters is still the consummate blues man, and he even has a better name, though Taj Mahal is still pretty great (as a name, that is). I'm about to download a Muddy Waters 2-disc live set that I lost somewhere along the way in my progression of cars and houses.... "Mannish Boy." Yeah.

Yeah man... I also picked up a magazine. "Big City Rhythm and Blues." Had a big article on Freddie King. I had never heard of him, but apparently he's a giant of the Texas blues, so I figured you would know him pretty well... can you give me a recommendation on a song or two of his? Would like to check one out.

Thanks Strat...


damn... you listen to 5 seconds of the guy's intro and say to yourself "That guy's from Texas"... there are depths to Texas blues that you just can't find anywhere else... I was thinking of how SRV's "Floodin down in Texas" really just immediately puts you in a "Texas state of mind"- felt the same way about this song... very nice.

that's awesome...my step dad played some of him for me a while ago...great tunes.