TajMo – July 24th – Denver Botanic Gardens

Photos by Tim Dwenger

After a bit of a deluge put a damper on Monday evening’s TajMo concert, Tuesday looked much more promising until a big thunderstorm came swooping down toward the Botanic Gardens.  Fortunately, after the staff made an attempt to clear out the bowl (which only really ended up allowing the more daring souls to grab better seats as VIPs headed for shelter), the storm put on a nice light show but stayed to the south and the show went on pretty much as planned.

Alicia Michilli took the stage about a half hour late, and unfortunately that cut into her time as this girl was a joy to listen to. Standing up there alone, opening for a pair of legends, Michilli dazzled the audience with both her guitar playing and her incredibly powerful vocals.  While some in the crowd may have known her from her stint on Season 10 of America’s Got Talent, she was new to me and I can’t wait to catch her again.

Fortunately for me, Alicia was part of the TajMo band so I didn’t have to wait more than a couple of minutes before she was back on stage as Keb Mo’ was introducing “Senor Blues himself, Mr. Taj Mahal.”  As Taj took the stage shaking a pair of Maracas, the band dropped into the veteran bluesman’s take on the 1950’s tune “Senor Blues” allowing Taj to front the band for the first number.  From there Keb and Taj traded leads and collaborated on each other’s tunes as they flashed huge smiles back and forth during tunes like Mo’s “Perpetual Blues Machine” and “Diving Duck Blues,” a tune featured on both Taj’s 1968 debut and the TajMo record released last year.

As the band varied tempos on tunes like “Every Morning,” “Corrina,” and “Cakewalk,” the dancer’s up front kept their feet moving and their heads bobbing along. It was an infectious, party like vibe in The Gardens that was already making for a memorable summer evening when Taj dropped the two classic blues gems, “She Caught The Caty” and “Leaving Trunk,” late in the set to everyone’s delight.

While Keb’ Mo is a legend in his own right, he was all about paying respect to the man next to him on the stage as the band returned for the island tinged rave-up of an encore “Soul.” TajMo have played three shows in two years at The Gardens and I think most of us were hoping they’ll be back next year as we made our way out into the evening.