The splendid and varied album “TajMo” bears witness to the discographic partnership between two outstanding artistic personalities: Taj Mahal (stage name of Henry St. Clair Fredericks, born in 1942 in New York City) and Keb’ Mo’ (stage name of Kevin Moore, born in 1951 in Los Angeles).
Mahal is an expert musician whose career began in the 1960s, enamoured with Caribbean-influenced blues, jazz, gospel, rhythm & blues, in addition to being a fine researcher of traditional musical forms (as in the unforgettable experience alongside Ry Cooder in The Rising Sons).
Keb’ Mo’, on the other hand, is the author of albums of crystalline beauty, filled with blues and played with such elegance that they attracted the attention of specialized critics as well as earning the musician many awards in the blues context.
TajMo includes tracks penned by the two artists (such as the captivating opener “Don’t Leave Me Here” or the variegated “Soul”) as well as songs written by others, such as (for example) the relentless “Shake Me In Your Arms” by Billy Nichols (with an electric guitar solo by Joe Walsh), the closing track “Waiting On The World To Change” by John Mayer (featuring choruses by Bonnie Raitt), “Squeeze Box” by Pete Townshend (originally on The Who’s 1975 album “The Who By Numbers”) and the acoustic “Diving Duck Blues” by John Estes.