Taj Mahal has released many kinds of albums in his six-decade career: folk, jump, country, blues of all stripes, sounds from Africa and the Caribbean, R&B, soul, collaborations with musicians from across the globe, and even children's records.
Savoy moves in another direction still. Recorded in collaboration with producer, pianist, and longtime friend
John Simon, this set offers blues-kissed reads of 14 tunes from the Great American Songbook. The album title is an homage to the iconic Harlem ballroom at 596 Lenox Ave.
Mahal's parents met there in 1938 seeing
Ella Fitzgerald front the
Chick Webb Orchestra.
Simon and
Mahal had discussed the project for decades, but August 2022 was when the planets aligned. They cut the set live with a core band and guests.
Mahal's band includes guitarist
Danny Caron, bassist
Ruth Davies,
Simon on piano, drummer
Leon Joyce, Jr., and a vocal chorus with
Carla Holbrook,
Leesa Humphrey, and
Charlotte McKinnon. Interestingly,
Caron and
Davies served in
Charles Brown's band, and
Joyce drummed with
Ramsey Lewis for many years.
"Stompin' at the Savoy" starts with spoken word;
Mahal delivers a reenactment of his parents' meeting. As he commences singing and scatting the lyrics, backing singers underscore with oohs, aahs, and call-and-response. "I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So" is one of three
Duke Ellington numbers here. The languid horn section plays a blues progression with added warmth and grace from
Kristen Strom's swinging flute. The arrangement of
George Gershwin's "Summertime" is delivered allegretto, with blue, finger-popping swing from lush horns. "Mood Indigo" benefits from co-producer
Manny Moreira's accumulated years of big band and Broadway experience. His layered brass colorations add dimension. "Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me" offers languid, late-night horns (except in the bridge when they deliberately evoke gospel), and
Simon's tasteful comping adds drama. The fluid blues guitar break from
Caron has elegance and bite. "Sweet Georgia Brown" is meaty and sprightly as
Mahal's grainy singing and scatting contrasts beautifully with
Evan Price's "Parisian hot jazz" violin.
Maria Muldaur -- one of the great interpreters of vintage blues, jazz, R&B, and country -- joins
Mahal on the fun, sultry "Baby It's Cold Outside," with excellent violin, trombone, and piano solos. "Caldonia,"
Louis Jordan's striding jump boogie, offers pumping piano, swinging guitar, and smoking sax and trombone solos behind
Mahal's good-time vocal. His harmonica joins
Strom's tenor sax to elevate in
Benny Golson's dynamic "Killer Joe," before "One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)" closes the set.
Mahal references several classic versions and arrangements in shifting tempos, but he ultimately only sounds like himself.
Savoy embodies the abundant joy of its predecessor,
Get On Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, but the album offers added nuance, color, dynamics, and musical sophistication. It seemingly accomplishes the impossible by taking these (overly) familiar standards and breathing new life into them while simultaneously honoring their legacies as well as that of the historic Harlem ballroom. ~ Thom Jurek
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