Customer Reviews

Evening of Acoustic Music

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From the heartfelt Crossing and Come on in my Kitchen to Big Leg Mama, this album traverses alot of emotions and really packs a great blues punch. I have enjoyed this album alot and it is a great live recording, definitely worth your purchase. Taj mahal is an extremely versatile and talented artist and this live recording strongly reflects both of those characteristics.

At first listen, the guitar can be a little annoying, but once you get into the mood of the CD, it's phenomenal. I've never seen Taj, but would love too, this CD is why. I find one of the most enjoyable ways to listen to is on a clear night with your window open while you drift off to sleep. At the point the songs take an aural quality that is hard to desrcibe--just great though!

This one's not BRAND new, but very recent & apparently only being discovered by a wide audience. LIVE Taj is a phenomena to be witnessed - ask anybody that's been on one of the Blues Cruises with him. Its tough to gauge his disks at first glance, because some contain different versions of the same songs. In his case, they're all good. This one's an acoustic gem. He does his interpretation of a Langston Hughes poem & teaches a German audience how to keep blues time. I won't waste your time with anything but something I can RAVE about. An original that exudes BLUES. One of my favorites & I have a LOT of blues disks.

I haven't heard everything Taj Mahal has recorded, but I've heard a lot of it, and this is the best CD of his I know of BY FAR. It's absolutely awesome. The electric guitar sound he gets here just blows you away. His version of STAGGER LEE is a direct throwback to Mississippi John Hurt and it is stunning. DUST MY BROOM is as good as any of the many versions Elmore James recorded of his famous song. COME ON IN MY KITCHEN is haunting and brilliant, in a different way, as Robert Johnson's original version. No matter how many times you listen to this music it continues to give pleasure. If you love the blues, this is a must-have CD.

"An Evening of Acoustic Music" is reminescent of "A Giant Step" from the late 60's. If you loved that album (as I did) you'll probably enjoy this one too. As the Dirty Linen review points out, the cuts with Howard Johnson playing tuba are weaker than those where Taj flies solo; "Big Kneed Gal," especially, is sloppy. Despite that, the CD, as a whole, makes you feel really good. And a large part of its charm is that it hasn't been cleaned up too much in a studio. This is not a slick recording--it has a very direct, authentic quality, a kind of immediacy rare in the music world today. Its definitely not background music. Because its easy to listen to, you'll put it on while you're doing something else--only to find you're no longer doing anything but listening. Taj Mahal is just so charistmatic here he engages all of your attention.

Highly recommended for Taj Mahal fans, blues fans, live music fans, etc. This is a beautifully produced album of an inspiring performance with intimate moments between Taj and the crowd and a great song selection, along with a guest appearance from Tuba and flute (actually whistle) player Howard Johnson. Taj plays the guitar, piano, and banjo throughout the album. There are some complaints that this isn't a truly "acoustic" album because he is using a chorus pedal on what I believe to be an acoustic resonator guitar (not sure about the resonator part, it could just be a regular acoustic) and an electric piano. The name of the album is "An Evening of Acoustic Music." To me this doesn't make any promises that it is going to be purist, full blown acoustic music throughout, coupled with the fact that it's an awesome performance, makes these complaints kind of silly.
I actually owned this shortly after it came out after hearing it at a friends house in 1998, and the CD cracked a few years later. I missed it so much that I eventually replaced it!
While I agree with some of the critiques written about this album, for the most part, this is a fantastic live show that Taj Mahal fans will especially love, but you don't need to be in order to love it.
The songs with tuba accompaniment and tuba solos (perhaps the best tuba solos I've heard next to the Vandals, which is incredible mostly because of the speed at which they're executed) are perhaps the highlight of the album. Stagger Lee is one of the best versions of the thousands of covers of this legendary song.
This is a great album to put on in the background of a laid back get together as well as one to enjoy and listen to all the way through - the live recording really translates well.
A must for any Taj Mahal fan.

Blues on steroids. If you like blues guitar, this is the cd to have, and the playing meshes perfectly with his near perfect vocal interpretations. He had a good night, probably the best of his career.

The "Acoustic" in the title is a bit of a misnomer. Taj plays an electric piano on a couple of cuts (which is fine) and his guitar sounds like it's miked through an amp with the "chorus" effect turned up to 11 (which I could have done without).

Some reviewers have panned the songs where he's accompanied by Howard Johnson (not the hotel guy) on tuba, calling them "sloppy", however, in my opinion, these are the highlight of the CD. In particular, "Cake Walk Into Town" stands out- This is a song that should be prescribed for people that are chronically depressed, as it never fails to put a smile on my face.

The CD lags a bit on "Ain't Gwine Whistle Dixie Anymo" (live or in the studio, this is a song that is always an endurance test to me to see if I can get through it) and the part where he coaches the audience on clapping in time, which I've never heard any audience do. This is one of those things that are much more fun in person that hearing on a CD, and could have been left off.

I also urge all fans of Taj and Ry Cooder to check out Austin, TX group "Bad Livers", especially "Hogs on the Highway" - Banjo & Tuba at it's finest!