Customer Reviews

Hanapepe Dream

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

 

 

Taj Mahal has never done an album so good-natured and accessible as Hanapepe Dream. It's a perfect summer record, full of high spirit and sunny attitude -- not to mention, of course, the sort of splendid, inspired musicianship Taj and Hula Blues bring to the party.

Sometimes pigeon-holed as a bluesman, Taj is actually far more than that, more an old-fashioned songster in a modern context, picking up a variety of roots styles and incorporating them into a coherent art. Even so, I was surprised to see Taj take on the centuries-old ballad "Blackjack Davy" (aka "Gypsy Davy," "Raggle Taggle Gypsies," et al.), but not so surprised to hear how well he reimagines it. He fuses part of the ballad text with the floating "who's gonna shoe your pretty little foot" verses, setting it to gently rocking r&b sounds. It is sheer delight. The 108-year-old African-American murder ballad "Stagger Lee" is unkillable, of course, but Taj's reading sounds so fresh that you'd swear he'd come upon the song for the first time only last week. "Livin' on Easy," a traditional Hawaiian tune with charmingly goofy, playful lyrics ("She has the personality/ To suit my geneology"), is the perfect summer song. Taj expertly captures the breezy romantic wistfulness of "My Creole Belle," ordinarily associated with Mississippi John Hurt.

It's all here -- folk ballads, calypso, Hawaiian slack key, r&b, blues, reggae, vintage pop, Dylan -- and it's all Taj Mahal music. What a great artist. What a wonderful album.

Has Taj Mahal lost it? One might think so after a superficial listen to his latest outing. Closer attending renders a different conclusion.

It's all about the vibe, here--one that, apparently, not everyone can get on board with. How can you have the blues on Hawaii? Or in the Caribbean? Simple. Not everyone is a plantation owner or scuba-diving tourist guide. Read V. S. Naipaul's great book, The Middle Passage, and find out what it means to be a "client culture."

Yes, there's a kind of inanity in much of the lyrics (although a good portion of them are traditional). Yes, this is miles from Mississippi John Hurt (although it contains one of his tunes), let alone Cory Bell or even Muddy Waters.

But you know what? Taj Mahal still works his magic here: The trademark vocal gruffness, esp. manifesting itself at the end of "Blackjack Davey" (easy to see where Captain Beefheart got his basic approach from), the raw edge of his electro-acoustic guitar (which has pretty much replaced his National Steel guitar), the loosy-goosy ensemble playing--all of which is perfectly suited to the island-blues vibe he's evoking here.

I, for one, celebrate this nifty transformation of the blues into an island key. And if you've got big ears, I think you will too.

This cd gives the blues, but not in the way intended. This is a disappointing cd from a musician who has produced many great works. The music draws from Hawaiian music, but not enough. What comes out is a water down version mixed with a dash of R&B.
The band is not much better in concert. I recently saw them at the Fillmore in SF. They appear to be very good musician, but there is no spark. All the energy was coming from Taj. He had three ukulele players, and this could have been a great opportunity to show mainlanders what a great ukulele musician can do with four strings. But, these musician only played rhythm and mostly the three chords all ukulele students learn in the first lesson, G, F and A. My son and I, the next night, went to a concert of hawaiian music which was excellent by Amy Gillion, Willie K and Makana.
I advise getting Taj Mahal with the Phantom Band or earlier material. If you want hawaiian music visit the international music section at Amazon.com and try some of the musician listed above, or others such as Ohta-San, Sistah Robi, Iz, or many of the excellent slack key guitarist.

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.

We were in Kauai for Christmas 2001 and they have kiosks which sell mostly Hawaiian music (slack key, etc) I spotted a Taj Mahal alblum on display and the clerk told me he lived on the island. I had not heard from Taj since the late 60's in San Francisco and was pleased to see he was still around. The clerk demo'ed a German release of this alblum and his Sacred Island alblum. I was blown away. It was the sound track for our two week vacation. My 86 year old father was with us and he loved it too. Sadly, he passed away shortly after our return. I still listen to these two often and remember our time there. Last Monday Taj was at Humphrey's in San Diego and we saw him there. After the show when only a dozen or so people were remaining, he came out and chatted with us. He is so pleasant and unpretentious and talented.

I've played it through three times and am going to junk it.
It's [bad] - incredibly repetitive lyrics.
Whatever happened to the real Taj Mahal?
This is the last time I ever pay any attention to a magazine music reviewer. I would definitely like to have my money back.