Review of Taj Mahal Live At Ronnie Scott`s

Introduction

While originally influenced by folk and country-blues traditions, Taj Mahal has been making wildly eclectic music for almost 40 years. Music that, because it doesn`t fit easily into any particular category, has proved difficult for labels to promote successfully. However, that doesn`t mean that it isn`t worthy of an audience. On the contrary, Taj Mahal`s melange of blues, country, reggae, jazz, soul, gospel, R&B and zydeco - to name but a few - is immensely rewarding.

This DVD presents 50 minutes of a Taj Mahal concert at Ronnie Scott`s club in London from 1988 and places as much emphasis on R&B and funk as it does the blues.

Video

Video is presented in a Full Frame 1.33:1 transfer and is not particularly good. From a production point of view it looks more like a fan bootleg than a commercial venture. The image has a de-saturated VHS feel to it and there is a significant amount of grain visible. Camera angles are fairly amateurish and cuts to the audience flatter neither the audience nor the venue.

Well, perhaps I`m being harsh (not about the audience, mind you) - the video isn`t great but I`ve seen worse and, in it`s somewhat clumsy way, it does a good job of capturing Taj Mahal`s energy and infection enthusiasm. I`ll give it 6 for effort.

Audio

The only sound option is DD 5.1 and this is reasonable. Little use is made of the rears other than to add a little ambience. Most of the action occurs at the front of the soundstage and this is fine. Taj`s vocals are warm and clear and his guitar playing comes across eloquently. However, there are two problems.

Firstly, there is a distinct lack of bass which makes the sound a little dry.

More seriously, on this date, Taj was obviously struck down by a bad case of late-Eighties synthitis. On most tracks, Taj is accompanied by a full band including Wayne Henderson (he of The Crusaders) on keyboards, and the sound is swamped by inappropriate synth washes. Sometimes the synth use is just gratuitous - I`m parping because I can - however the synths are also used as a replacement for a horn section and this is almost worse, with perfectly decent arrangements being murdered for lack of a horn or two. There is an irony here because the perpetrator - Wayne Henderson - is one of the best trombonists in the business.

Taj Mahal`s performance is consistently good, despite the fact that he is occasionally overpowered by the synthetic backing. The best track is Robert Johnson`s "Come On In My Kitchen" with Taj accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. Also, thoroughly enjoyable is the bubbly "Local, Local Girl" with a reggae/Caribbean vibe.

Features

The disk menu cites three extra features. I found two and only consider one to justify the term.

The missing feature is an audio commentary. Sure enough there are two DD 5.1 tracks but both seem identical to me. There is an occasional interview segment between tracks but this is present on both audio tracks and certainly doesn`t count as a commentary. I don`t know what`s going on here.

The extra feature that isn`t is the "Animated Jukebox". This is just a way of selecting individual songs and only succeeds in getting between the viewer and the music.

That leaves the "Review". The name is somewhat misleading. This is simply an interview with noted music journalist Charles Shaar Murray. It`s interesting but somewhat sycophantic.

Conclusion

Overall, this DVD is a bit of a curate`s egg. Technically, it isn`t particularly impressive and, musically, it covers a phase that is unlikely to be any fan`s favourite. Had it been caught on video, the 1996 date "An Evening of Acoustic Music" would make for a superb DVD.

Fans should investigate this DVD, but I doubt if there is anything here for casual listeners.