Blues candle still burns

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Without resting too much on his laurels, Mahal is currently getting back to some basics with his Phantom Blues Band, a seven-strong ensemble that uses Darrell Leonard and Joe Sublett's brass to blow across an airtight rhythm section and then locate the authentic heart of America's black folk music.

Wearing one of his trademark hats and a shirt so loud that sunglasses were advisable, Taj steamed through instrumentals and old standards with a degree of swing that put a sophisticated seal on the generic groove.

The audience, a blokeish and beery crowd, stomped along to the familiar sounds of Mahal's growl. EZ Rider and Percy Mayfield's up-tempo Stranger In My Home Town opened the book on cheating blues, while Hank Ballard's driving song The Hoochi Coochi Coo found Mahal dancing and throwing shapes like a man possessed.

It wasn't all a case of repeating the new live album, Shoutin' In Key, since Taj, his National guitar, cowbells and harmonica were also employed as he revisited his huge back catalogue during the second half, travelling down south to find the roots of a big gutbucket noise that evidently remains an obsession. In between tunes he delivered little snippets of fact and fiction to add shade to the evening.

For those who still burn the blues candle Taj Mahal remains one of the wonders of the world.

Taj Mahal