MUSIC REVIEW : Taj Mahal Still Basically as Solid as Certain Marble Building

The one consistent thing about veteran singer-guitarist Taj Mahal has been his flair for the unpredictable.

On his albums, he has roamed all over the musical countryside, flitting from style to style, sometimes assimilating elements of many, other times zeroing in on just one (usually blues).

Likewise, when performing, he has always moved freely from working solo--as he did Wednesday at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano--to operating with a band, occasionally even with an orchestra. And none of these formats was necessarily a tip-off to the type of music he would choose to play on stage.

Curiously, despite this drive to mix things up, his shows in recent years have been dogged by his inclination to dip too heavily into his bag of moldy-but-goodies--a problem that surfaced Wednesday, along with his tendency to lock into a groove, once he has settled on one, and to stay there. And stay there. And stay there.

Neither drawback totally sabotaged the proceedings. Mahal offered more than enough to compensate, from the rich character of his soulful, gritty singing, to some unorthodox but stunning guitar playing, to his breezy, unassuming manner. If only he had opted for a larger helping of new material and leaner versions of the songs he did play.

The early moments hinted that there would be a larger proportion of fresh tunes: Seated at the piano, Mahal eased into a slow blues pattern that did not sound too familiar. The lyric--”Black Monday, when the Dow Jones comes falling down . . .”--cemented the impression that the song has not been part of his repertoire for 20 years.

A few songs later, though--having switched to an electric hollow-body guitar that he played most of the evening--Mahal performed a tune that is 20 years old: “The Celebrated Walking Blues.” And the vintage of most of what followed was closer to that of “Walking Blues” than of the stock market saga.

“Walking Blues,” furthermore, was almost incredibly long. Mahal explored every possibility of just about every number, both vocally and instrumentally. Sometimes, it seemed, he explored possibilities that weren’t there. If you think a full band is required to engage in some bloated, pointless jams, you weren’t at Mahal’s show Wednesday.