Taj Mahal - Senor Blues (1997)

One of the most prominent figures in late 20th century blues,
singer/multi-instrumentalist Taj Mahal played an enormous role in
revitalizing and preserving traditional acoustic blues. Not content to stay
within that realm, Mahal soon broadened his approach, taking a
musicologist's interest in a multitude of folk and roots music from around
the world - reggae and other Caribbean folk, jazz, gospel, R&B, zydeco,
various West African styles, Latin, even Hawaiian. The African-derived
heritage of most of those forms allowed Mahal to explore his own ethnicity
from a global perspective and to present the blues as part of a wider
musical context.

Yet while he dabbled in many different genres, he never strayed too far
from his laid-back country blues foundation. Blues purists naturally didn't
have much use for Mahal's music, and according to some of his other
detractors, his multi-ethnic fusions sometimes came off as indulgent, or
overly self-conscious and academic. Still, Mahal's concept was vindicated
in the '90s, when a cadre of young bluesmen began to follow his lead - both
acoustic revivalists (Keb' Mo', Guy Davis) and eclectic bohemians (Corey
Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart).

"Senor Blues" is one of Taj Mahal's best latter-day albums, a
rollicking journey through classic blues styles performed with
contemporary energy and flair. There's everything from country-blues
to jazzy uptown blues on "Senor Blues", and Taj hits all of areas in
between, including R&B and soul. Stylistically, it's similar to most
of his albums, but he's rarely been as effortlessly fun and
infectious as he is here.