Photos by Ebet Roberts
Deva Mahal released more than her debut CD at a packed club on the Lower East Side, she unleashed the full force of her talent, and blew the house away. Daddy Taj Mahal named his baby diva well.
Mahal took the stage confessing she’d had a nightmare that the place would be empty. The woman couldn’t have been more wrong; tucked away near the eastern edges of the Lower East Side, on the borderline of “in” and “in trouble,” NuBlu was packed to the rafters (and the club has them) with a crowd who arrived mostly Deva-lovers, and a few others who left Deva-lovers. Mahal started off her set with an acapella “Superman,” accompanied only by one muted cymbal, showcasing her ability to communicate a song. She started off softly, but didn’t stay lamblike long.
Clearly happy to be there and ecstatic to be playing, Mahal engaged the audience and her bandmates regularly, singing to individuals both onstage and off. On “Run Deep,” she really got the crowd singing along, then said “C’mon, make some noise! I want to hear you scream!” And scream we did.
The newest member of the band, bassist Kyle Miles, appeared more reserved, but drummer and musical director Adam Jackson, guitarist Yasser Tejeda and keyboardist Allan Markley were clearly loving the party. Mahal put knees to the floor, hands to the heavens and balls to the wall. With gospel, blues, soul and good old rock ‘n’ roll a-plenty, Deva Mahal kept it going, well… all night long.
—Suzanne Cadgène
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