WOMAD

Taj Mahal Trio

From United States

It’s a curious thing to adopt the name of a building for your own, so it’s a good job that Henry Saint Clair Fredericks chose a structure that’s shrouded in mystery and the exotic. Just imagine if the New York-born bluesman had plumped for the Manhattan Municipal Building instead. Accordingly, there’s always been a slight air of mystery and the exotic surrounding Taj Mahal, a man with something of the free-spirited adventurer about him. Having emerged out of the 1960s blues revival (when he was co-founder, with Ry Cooder, of the group Rising Sons), in the intervening years he’s never been at home to the purist blues fan, instead choosing to infuse his guitar work with gospel, reggae, Hawaiian and especially African flavours. Playing this weekend in his long-established trio format, his globetrotting escapades have included collaborations with a bunch of musical A-listers, including Ali Farka Touré, VM Bhatt and, on the wonderful Kulanjan album, our old friend and Malian kora legend Toumani Diabaté. “I have songs in my head from so many languages and people,” he asserts. “I know my sound is in the middle of this whole.”