Stage Talk with Rick Koster
Where every show has something to say.
Keb’ Mo’ and his timeless blues
What if Simon hadn’t worked with Garfunkel until they were on Social Security? Would “Homeward Bound” have been a reference to a senior center?
What if “When I’m 64” was a reference to how old Lennon and McCartney were when they first met?
Sometimes, though, a delightful creative partnership happens in those Golden Years — as is the case with “Room on the Porch,” the warm and magnificent acoustic blues collaboration between Keb’ Mo’ and Taj Mahal. Nominated for Best Traditional Blues Album in Sunday’s Grammy Awards, the recording is everything fans anticipated when news broke that these two country blues giants were getting together.
It’s no surprise the recording is superior. Both artists are renowned not just for their love of foundational blues and superb instrumental and composition skills thereof, but also for real-life kindness, sincerity and beneficence.
Garde fans are happily familiar with these attributes through Keb’ Mo’s numerous appearances here over the years — concerts that were celebratory advocacies for an art form that is not remotely archival but, in part through his passion, vital and ongoing.
Keb’ Mo’ returns with his full band to the Garde at 7 p.m. on March 1. While Taj Mahal won’t be there — other than in spirit — expect a choice recitation of tunes from “Room on the Porch” as well as a fine sampling from across Keb’s career.