Listen: Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ Revive TajMo Collaboration with ‘Room On The Porch,’ Share Title Track
Photo Credit: David McClister
Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ have unveiled Room On The Porch, a new full-length album that brings the revival of their massively acclaimed TajMo collaboration. In their first offering since 2017’s self-titled collection, which earned a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album, the pathbreaking blues masters pick up where they left off in advancing the music and culture that’s sustained them for all these years. To preview their second act, set to arrive on May 23 via Concord Records, the duo have shared the title track.
TajMo’s second intergenerational meeting of the minds heavily emphasizes co-writes and is co-produced by the artists, leading to a work that evenhandedly builds on their strengths to create a whole greater than the sum of its already spectacular parts. Weaving together the many sonic traditions that the artists have tread in their careers–with strands of blues, folk, soul and more–the album’s roots in human connection and classic Americana narratives bloom to insightful and inspiring offerings like today’s lead single featuring singer-songwriter Ruby Amanfu.
“If you take the African imprint out of Western music for the last 500 years, there’s almost nothing left,” Taj shared in a statement. “As much as it might feel like we’re touching on all these different genres, the way I see it, we’re just connecting with the music of our ancestors and their influence on what’s happening now.”
“That first album turned out so great that part of me wondered if maybe we just got lucky,” Keb’ Mo’ jokes of the long-awaited reunion. “But when we got back into the studio together, I felt that same magic again, and I realized it wasn’t luck at all.”
Room On The Porch is available to pre-order and pre-save now. Listen to the title track below, and read on for the project’s full tracklist.
Room On The Porch — TajMo:
1. Room On The Porch ft. Ruby Amanfu
2. My Darling My Dear
3. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out
4. She Keeps Me Movin’
5. Make Up Your Mind
6. Thicker Than Mud
7. Junkyard Dog
8. Blues’ll Give You Back Your Soul
9. Better Than Ever ft. Wendy Moten
10. Rough Time Blues
