The Source Staff

They don’t make cars or blues heroes like this anymore.Taj Mahal has been playing his brand of blues music for 40 years now
and you might be inclined to think he's slowed down a stride or two
during that time. But after a 20 minute chat, the 66-year-old legendary
musician seems as quick as ever and endlessly excited about his
upcoming tour.

Taj is stopping off in Bend as part of a tour (along
with his trio) supporting his new album, Maestro, which is slated to
hit the shelves on September 30, just two days after his show at the
Tower Theatre. The album is a 12-track, wide-reaching collaborative
project meant to celebrate Taj's 40 years laying down music. A
collection of collaborations from an aging blues man might, on the
surface, sound trite - the late-career collaboration-heavy disc is
almost a right of passage - but thankfully, Taj has come through with a
record not only impressive because of who plays on the cuts (Los Lobos,
Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Ziggy Marley, Phantom Blues Band) but because
they are genuinely good songs. And Taj seems to know they're good.

It’s big, it’s three-days, it’s local and hey, it’s free…Bend Roots ’08.I like to think of fall as "locals time" here in Bend. The tourist flow
lessens and remains slow until the snow starts falling and that means
it's time for the people who actually live here to get out on the town.
And our music scene follows the same model - the big-bill amphitheater
shows are done for the year and the other out-of-town tours will soon
slow as well. So, thus, it's time for the local artists to get their
time in the spotlight.

In only its third year, the Bend Roots Revival
has solidified itself as the quintessential who's-who gathering of
Bend's musical community - well, at least the acts that fall somewhere
near the definition of "roots music"…sorry punk and metal bands. This
weekend brings three days of music to the Westside for what Bend Roots
director (and captain of local jamsters The Mostest) calls a "block
party." And it pretty much is a block party - and it's also one of the
best parties, block, birthday or otherwise, of the entire year if
you're a local music fan.