Review Roundup 5/1/26: Taj Mahal and A Different Thread
This week is a bounty week for roots music, as I have not one but two albums to tell you about. The two come from different ends of the vast roots music landscape. The first, A Different Thread, comes from a duo working in the folk traditions of two continents. The other, Taj Mahal & the Phantom Blues Band, is the latest from a genre-defying legend.
Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band- Time
What is there to say about Taj Mahal that hasn't been said before? Best known as a legendary bluesman, he has branched out into so many different genres as to practically be a genre within himself. On his new album Time, Taj Mahal and his longtime collaborators The Phantom Blues Band cross genres throughout the album, and sometimes within the same song, but the unifying thread throughout is Taj Mahal's unique voice.
One song that's getting a lot of attention, and for good reason, is the album's title track, “Time.” It's a previously unreleased track, almost lost to time, by the great Bill Withers. Found and brought to Taj by producer Steve Berkowitz, the song pays appropriate tribute to Withers' genius while having Taj Mahal's signature stamp all over it.
Another highlight of the album is a cover of Bob Marley's classic “Talkin' Blues.” Again, Taj Mahal makes the song his own but connects the thread through a guest vocal by Bob's son Ziggy Marley. Reggae, like so many things, sounds at home with Taj Mahal as the blues.
“Rowdy Blues” is another song that will likely find a regular home in Taj Mahal's concert setlists. A pure Delta blues rolls; it finds Taj Mahal making sure no one forgets his blues roots. The song also features some fine piano work from the great Jon Cleary.
At 84 years old, any new work from Taj Mahal should be treasured, and this album sounds like the work of a man who has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. Thank goodness for that. The roots music world needs Taj Mahal, and Time stands up well alongside his career output. There's only one Taj Mahal and, with albums like Time, one is enough.
A Different Thread- Over Again
The duo of Alicia Best and Robert Jackson, collectively known as A Different Thread, met while busking the streets of Dublin and discovered both musical and personal harmony. The best comes from the Appalachian folk traditions of North Carolina while Jackson is rooted in British folk. Together, it makes for an intriguing mixture of styles that blend to make something unique. Their latest album, Over Again, continues with their trans-continental folk styling with a socially conscious core.
The album's standout single is “Prophet.” A protest against those companies that put greed over climate action and couch their arguments in religious dogma is a timely (and one could, unfortunately, say evergreen) topic that the pair handle deftly. By conflating “prophet” with “profit”, they cleverly find the cracks in both facades and expose them to the world. “It's not me who needs saving / It's the Earth we're living on / Doesn't matter who your god is / after all of us are gone,” sings Best while Jackson harmonizes.
Another topical track is “Columbine.” A call to action to prevent gun violence, it calls back to the first school shooting most of us remember at a time when we thought “this will never be repeated.” But of course, it has been many times over the decades since that tragedy. The song intros with a somber violin that carries throughout while a fingerpicked guitar lick weaves in and out.
But don't think the whole album is somber. The title track is a call to join the pair in finding the best in the ordinary. “Sorrow Brings Me Joy” finds a ray of light in the darkest moments.
Over Again is a good starter for those new to A Different Thread while bringing new nuances for fans of their previous work.
