Taj Mahal Meets The Culture Musical Club Of Zanzibar - Mkutano (2005)

Taj Mahal is an adventurer with taste. The veteran American bluesman has long been fascinated by African styles and explored the connection with the blues through his recordings with Toumani Diabate - Kulanjan (1999) or a live collaboration with Tinariwen. Now he has moved from Mali to Zanzibar to team up with the island's most famous orchestra and remind them that there is great music in East Africa. The Culture Musical Club is an intriguing, rhythmic and majestic acoustic band. They combine violins with hand drums and the oud, an Arabic lute, with a zither-like qanun in songs influenced by Arabic, Asian, and African styles. This is a world away from the powerful blues Taj Mahal Trio, and at first both sides cautiously get to know each other's music: the atmospheric sounds of gently howling violins sound in the club, and the guest plays banjo with an Arabic accent on their strong songs. Then the two sides come together, and by the time Taj Mahal performs "Catfish Blues," and the legendary Bikidude, who is now in her 90s, performs "Done Changed My Way of Living," or the club takes on Mahal's witty "M'banjo," the result is something more than music tourism.