Pairing of two blues legends proves ‘seamless’

A collaboration between Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’— who last month released an album as TajMo — seems like a no-brainer.

Both come from the combined worlds of folk, Americana, blues and soul; plus, the 75-year-old Mahal is a clear forebear and mentor to Mo’, who is a decade his junior.

Still, when the two convened to bring TajMo and its self-titled album to life, Mo’ wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I didn’t know what working in the studio with (Mahal) would be like,” the 65-year-old said by phone from his home in Nashville, Tennessee. “So I started very carefully, making sure I didn’t cross any lines.”

He soon discovered a mutual professional trust. “When I say the record made itself, it really made itself. It’s not just an ego collaboration between the two of us, just to see what we can do together.”

“Once that was established, it became very easy to work — and the whole record became pretty seamless to put together,” Mo’ said.

It also helped that Mahal — born Henry Fredericks in Harlem, New York — was the one championing the project, which began two or three years ago, as Mo’ recalled, when both were in Atlanta performing in a Gregg Allman tribute.

“Taj asked me about doing some recording together,” Mo’ said, “so I said, ‘Yeah,’ and we just made a plan. It was a lot of traveling, a lot of working in between tours, but we got it done and it was just fun. It was almost like the album made itself. We worked our (tails) off, but neither of us noticed it.”

Neither musician is a stranger to collaboration.

During a recording career that spans nearly 50 years, the self-taught Mahal, a two-time Grammy winner, has shared stages and recording studios with a Who’s Who that includes Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, Buddy Guy, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Etta James, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and many others.

For his part, Mo’ —born Kevin Moore in Los Angeles — broke into the recording world co-writing with violinist Papa John Creech of the Jefferson Starship and at one time or another has worked with Jackson Browne, Albert Collins, Bonnie Raitt, Big Joe Turner and others. He has been a regular at Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festivals and was also featured in Martin Scorsese’s miniseries “The Blues” (2003).

Those experiences paid off, Mo’ said, during the making of “TajMo.”

“When I say the record made itself, it really made itself,” Mo’ said. “It’s not just an ego collaboration between the two of us, just to see what we can do together. It has blues, a hard-core blues thing in it, and a worldmusic, pop-culture vibe to it — what we both kind of stand for.

“If you’ve followed Taj’s career, he’s always been that kind of artist, really broad musically,” he continued. “And I’ve tried to pattern myself after him.”

In addition to the new album, the duo will tour together into the fall, including a stop Sept. 9 at the Fraze Pavilion in Kettering, in suburban Dayton.

Asked whether the musicians plan to collaborate on more albums, Mo’ said: “This is it — we’re just going to do this,” though he quickly added, “unless it gets out of hand and people want it so much, we have to do it again.”

The project originated as a one-time deal for a reason, he said.

“I think, if we tried to do it again, it would be insincere. We did what we set out to do and had nothing in mind beyond that, and I feel happy about that.”