8 SOUND WAVES STEEPED IN -- AND SETTING DOWN -- ROOTS.

Byline: ROB DEWALT

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Taj Mahal, the debut album from the artist of the same name. Born Henry St. Clair Fredericks to a gospel singer/educator and a West Indian jazz arranger in 1942 Harlem, Taj Mahal has contributed more to popular American roots music than simply an impressive song catalog.

Shortly after moving to Berkeley, California, in 1965, Taj Mahal began playing harmonica, guitar, and piano and singing in an ensemble called The Rising Sons. Along with original band mate Ry Cooder and others, The Sons gravitated toward a loose interpretation of the Delta blues flavored with folk and hints of the newly arrived British-pop explosion. Amid racial tensions and a burgeoning counterculture scene, The Rising Sons helped introduce folk-inflected blues to a broader multiracial audience at a time when the Civil Rights Act was still in its infancy.

The short-lived group's recorded catalog is limited to just one single and a 22-song collection, which was finally issued by Legacy/Columbia in 1992. The band's larger gift to the world -- Cooder's and Taj Mahal's lasting influence on American-roots music -- is what it will most be remembered for. And more than 40 years later, Taj Majal continues to push the boundaries of the blues, blending world rhythms, jazz, and contemporary styles into his compositions. At a time in American politics when race is once again on everyone's mind, it seems fitting that Taj Mahal is still on the road, bringing his limitless musical gospel to an audience that continues to come to terms with its own tumultuous past. If there is healing left to do, his music is good medicine, indeed. At 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 13, Thirsty Ear presents Taj Mahal and longtime trio mates Bill Rich (bass) and Kester Smith (drums) at the Santa Fe Brewing Company, 27 Fire Place, 424-3333. Advance tickets, $32, are available at the Lensic box office, 211 W. San Francisco St., 988-1234; tickets at the door are $36.

New Orleans-raised singer-songwriter Chris Smither's career is cut from cloth similar to Taj Mahal's. Although they both began playing in the '60s and have an affinity for reinterpreting the blues with instrumental ingenuity, Smither's stylistic approach is vastly different. His songs are dressed in smooth, finger-picked guitar, toe taps, and a gritty, deep-ended lullaby voice that Johnny Cash and Eddie Vedder would be proud to call their own. Raised on country blues, acoustic folk, and the melting-pot music of his Crescent City youth, Smither makes the combination of styles seem easy -- but it's far from outdated. At 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 11, Outside In Productions presents Smither and married Canadian acoustic singer-songwriters The Laws as part of this summer's Santa Fe Bandstand music series on the Plaza. And it's free!

Birth announcement: Tuesday, Aug. 12, marks the opening of the Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino at Pojoaque Pueblo. Besides having a new place to double down and split with your hard-earned cashola, the resort sports two new bar-lounges with live entertainment and a larger venue for national acts. Opening-night festivities include an 8 p.m. performance by guitarist Wayne Wesley Johnson at the Turquoise Trail Bar & Grill and an 8 p.m. show titled Live From Las Vegas: Latin la Vida in the Blue Tower Lounge. There is no cover for either show. I would tell you to go to the casino's Web site (buffalothunderresort.com) for more live-music details, but as of press time, the entertainment schedule only mentioned a Sept. 5 performance at the resort's Tewa Grand Ballroom by Motown legend Gladys Knight. Former Soul Deacons front man Brother E. Clayton West helps book shows for the resort, and he promises me that a short-term schedule will be available soon. I promise to keep you informed as details emerge. -- Rob DeWalt.

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