By Scott McLennan

A long-shelved session reveals a master blending blues with global grooves and undimmed vitality.

Time, Taj Mahal & The Phantom Blues Band

Mysteries, myths, and legends are intrinsic to the history of the blues and those who champion the music, so we may never know why such a powerfully good album, recorded by Taj Mahal & The Phantom Blues Band in 2010, is just now finding its way into the world. Regardless, the appropriately titled Time is worth the wait.

Across 10 tracks, Mahal and his band color this batch of blues with reggae, soul, R&B, Caribbean, and Latin influences. The anchor is Mahal’s voice; the veteran performer’s singing comes across with the force of an unvarnished folk music instrument, one that infuses honesty and humanity into whatever style of song the band performs.

True to form for Mahal, optimism and resilience are omnipresent on this record, even when Time delivers hard truths and tales of heartbreak.

Time starts in a playful, upbeat mode with “Life of Love” and “Wild About My Lovin’.” The former is a street party writ large, with a slinky groove and smoky horn lines. On the latter, Mahal is on the prowl for a more intimate kind of party, but this is a gentle stroll that wafts along like a warm breeze.

The album’s title track is the standout number in this set. Producer Steve Berkowitz is credited with unearthing this unrecorded and almost lost Bill Withers song. Berkowitz brought it to Mahal, and they conferred with Withers on recording it. Gone now for six years, Withers would likely have appreciated this beautifully soulful rendition of his meditation on enduring loss and letdowns. Guitarist Johnny Lee Schell weaves lovely lines around Mahal’s earnest and earthy vocals, as Phantom Blues Band guests Jon Cleary and Mick Weaver, on piano and organ respectively, flesh out this agilely dramatic arrangement.

“Talkin’ Blues,” a Carleton Barrett number originally recorded by Bob Marley, is another stellar track on Time. Marley’s son Ziggy, a reggae star in his own right, teams with Mahal on this performance of the freedom-seeking incantation. The Phantom Blues Band builds on the song’s reggae foundation, making its yearning feel even more expansive.

On “Ask Me ‘Bout Nothing (But the Blues),” Mahal reminds us how genuine his connection to the blues remains. He sounds authentically haunted on this lament, and the band delivers with equal emotional punch.

His bona fides intact, Mahal is free to leaven this record with some wild romps, including the screwball “It’s Your Voodoo Working” and the Latin heater “You Put the Whammy on Me.”

On the wry “Crazy About a Jukebox,” Mahal pays tribute to the many masters of song who influenced him. In fact, you could say he creates his own version of a jukebox on Time, rounding out this freewheeling record with the soul-burner “Sweet Lorene” and the New Orleans stylings of “Rowdy Blues.” Taj Mahal, who grew up in Springfield, MA, and turns 84 this month, will return to the area with the Phantom Blues Band on July 15 at the Academy of Music in Northampton.

Scott McLennan covered music for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette from 1993 to 2008. He then contributed music reviews and features to The Boston Globe, Providence Journal, Portland Press Herald, and WGBH, as well as to The Arts Fuse. He also operated the NE Metal blog to provide in-depth coverage of the region’s heavy metal scene.