Blues legend Taj Mahal and Gambian legend-in-the-making Sona Jobarteh graced the stage of the Hart Theater at The Egg on Thursday, March 7 for an immaculate night of globe-spanning music.
Sona Jobarteh is the first female griot kora master, hailing from one of the five principal kora-playing families in West Africa. With a history spanning 1,000 years, Sona continues a legacy handed down for generations, for the first time to a woman who makes her presence known on the stage and in her home of The Gambia. Jobarteh’s humanitarian activism has led to her founding The Gambia Academy, an institution dedicated educational reform for Africans on the continent of Africa.
Pairing her virtuosity on the kora and the guitar with ethereal vocals, Sona and her band blended traditional West African music with blues and pop from the Mother Continent, and in doing so created an original sound that is at times hypnotic. Walking out one at a time – first the percussion and bass, then guitar and finally Jobarteh – the audience was led immediately to engage in a call and response song, “Jarabi,” with an outset intention to engage all for this very full evening of music.
For an hour, Jobarteh demonstrated with precision the kora while her band crafted beats unlike any other. Each song was given an introduction, with meaning and spirituality invoked throughout, making the connection to the music deeper as the performance progressed. Jobarteh is a beacon of light from West Africa, shining farther west than her ancestors could have ever imagined.
Harlem-born Taj Mahal took the stage a short while later, strutting out to center stage in his signature Panama hat, surrounded by at least seven guitars of varying sound and size. Opening with “Wild About My Lovin’,” his vocals were tinged with age and rasp, perfect for a gritty blues love song. “Fishing Blues” and the classic “Corrina” followed, after Taj Mahal noted that he had a lack of radio hits over his career.
“Queen Bee” was dedicated to the guys in the audience, with a suggestion that they play this song for their girl the next chance they get. A hint of the Caribbean could be heard in the steel drums of Robert Greenidge (formerly of Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefers Band) throughout the evening, while the Hawaiian steel guitar of Bobby Ingano on a cover Santo and Johnny’s “Sleepwalk” creating a creole stew of blues from across the hemisphere.
For an encore, Sona Jobarteh and her band were welcomed back to the stage to perform, “Giant Step.” Watch the song below and photos by Conor McMahon.
Taj Mahal Setlist: Wild About My Lovin’, Fishing Blues, Corrina, Bettye and Dupree, Cakewalk into Town, Queen Bee, Slow Drag, Roscoe’s Mule, Lovin’ in my Baby’s Eye, Sleepwalk, Blackjack Davey, Giant Step (with Sona Jobarte and her band)
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