Bonnie Raitt "keeps the blues alive" on her hometown stage in L.A.

September 11, 2009, at the Greek Theatre

By Erica Phillips
Published: September 14th, 2009 | 6:05pm

“This isn’t a museum piece,” Bonnie Raitt hollered over the audience’s cheers, “it’s a living thing!” And she was damn right. Just two months shy of her sixtieth birthday, Raitt and her touring partner, the legendary Taj Mahal, pulled off a three-act blues extravaganza that no one packed into Griffith Park’s mountainside Greek Theatre could have possibly mistaken for “old.”

Raitt owned the stage — packed as it was with male contemporaries, her energy and tall-shouldered, foot-stomping, guitar-wielding bottleneck prowess made it clear where every eye was focused. “Being the only female on this tour,” she laughed, “is a totally rejuvenating experience.”

Taking their cue, the backup band sidled off stage as Raitt pulled a stool to the center mic, smiled knowingly, and crooned “I Can’t Make You Love Me” to a swaying audience. The culminating piano solo, tapped out by the one lingering band member, Minneapolis blues man Ricky Peterson, extended the moment delicately and powerfully. Let’s just say tears were most certainly shed.

The tour, dubbed the BonTaj Roulet (in reference to a New Orleans Cajun phrase meaning “Let the good times roll!”), was 40 years in the making according to both Raitt and Mahal. During her first year in college at Radcliffe, Raitt got hooked on the blues; she left school to pursue music and ended up singing back-up for some of her idols — among them Mississippi Fred McDowell and Howlin’ Wolf.

Raitt returned to her hometown of Los Angeles the following year and started recording; then it was only a matter of time before she picked up the phone and asked Taj Mahal to join her in the studio to work on her third album, 1973’s Takin’ My Time (Warner Brothers). Though Raitt barely knew Mahal, the gutsy 23-year-old made her move, and the two have promised to play together ever since. This year’s reunion tour made good on that promise.

“He’s just a honey bear, that’s who he is,” Raitt said as she smiled at Mahal during one of their raucous blues duets. “Alright, little red mama,” he sang back as the duo killed another 12-bar classic. The standing crowd stomped and bopped on the next number, “She Caught the Katy.” When Mahal sturdily intoned, “I’m crazy about her, that hard-headed woman of mine,” middle-aged couples kissed, hands clapped, and everyone agreed.

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Bonnie Raitt official site
Warner Brothers Records