What do James Taylor and Los Lobos have in common besides Lexington concerts?

James Taylor/Bonnie Raitt

7:30 p.m. Feb 27 at Rupp Arena, 430 W. Vine. $69.50-$103.50. 859-233-3535, 800-745-3000. rupparena.com, jamestaylor.com, bonnieraitt.com.

Los Lobos

7 p.m. Feb. 28 at Manchester Music Hall, 899 Manchester St. $30-$65. 859-537-7321. manchestermusichall.com, loslobos.org.

What, you might ask, bridges the music – not to mention the generations it represents – of two major artists heading to Lexington next week? The answer might come as a surprise.

Both James Taylor, who returns to Rupp Arena on Feb. 27 with one-time record label mate Bonnie Raitt on the bill, and Los Lobos, the acclaimed Latin-rooted East Los Angeles rock troupe that plays Manchester Music Hall the following night, were guest performers for “Joni 75,” a two-night all star tribute last fall honoring the 75th birthday of iconic singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell.

Though neither Taylor or Los Lobos have new recordings in the works, both are featured prominently on “Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration,” a CD chronicle of the performances scheduled for release on March 8. A DVD video of the shows is set to follow later next month.

Taylor, of course, is a contemporary of Mitchell. As such, their careers have regularly crossed through the decades. His reading of the often-covered “River” for “Joni 75” is a gentle, reflective assertion of the folk directions within Mitchell’s music that culminated on 1971’s astounding “Blue” album. But far more revealing is his reading of “Woodstock,” which, in a nod to Mitchell’s original version, is performed almost as a séance, a ghostly affirmation of a youth culture from another era passing from view.

Los Lobos performs with a somewhat revised lineup. Mainstay members David Hidalgo, Louis Perez and Steve Berlin team with vocalist Marisol “La Marisoul” Hernandez, dancer Xochi Flores (whose amplified footwork fuels a distinctive percussive drive) and Mexican son jarocho artist Cesar Castro.

The band celebrates two lesser known nuggets from Mitchell’s career – “Dreamland,” a dance happy meditation from 1978’s jazz-savvy “Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter” album, and “Nothing Can Be Done,” a more streamlined pop delicacy pulled from 1991’s “Night Ride Home.”

The Lobos-led “Dreamland” will serve as the kick off tune to the “Joni 75” recording while Taylor’s “Woodstock” sits near the finish line, just before an all-star finale of “Big Yellow Taxi” closes the album.

The Lobos configuration may not reflect the full band lineup at work. Still, it stands as an impressive display of adaptability. Longtime Lobos keyboardist and saxophonist Berlin discusses the band’s current doings in a full preview story on the Manchester Music Hall show. You can read that in Sunday’s Living section.

Another prime example of the adaptable and collaborative Los Lobos spirit was showcased in the band’s most recent regional performance, a 2016 appearance at the PNC Pavilion in Cincinnati as part of Tedeschi Trucks Band’s annual Wheels of Soul Tour. There, numerous TTB members sat in during the Lobos set. Guitarist/vocalist Susan Tedeschi sang on “Burn It Down” (just as she did on the song’s original version from the 2010 Lobos album “Tin Can Trust”), the TTB’s trio of support vocalists assisted on a serene cover of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” and its horn section pumped up the groove during the set-closing “Mas Y Mas.”

The TTB connection, by the way, bring us to our next item.

For Kofi

On Feb. 15, the fourth and newest studio album by Tedeschi Trucks Band, “Signs,” dropped. The same day, the orchestral-sized rock and soul ensemble’s longtime keyboardist and flautist, Kofi Burbridge died following extended complications from heart surgery. He was 57.

Burbridge got to know Lexington audiences well during a decade’s worth of local shows by The Derek Trucks Band, the group that predated TTB’s formation in 2010. On “Signs,” his presence is especially profound. The record, a more subdued and relaxed Southern soul statement that highlights the glowing though somewhat world-weary timbre of vocalist Susan Tedeschi, was already intended as a memorial for several mentoring figures to the group that passed away in recent years, the most prominent being the mentoring bandleader Col. Bruce Hampton.

To appreciate Burbridge’s contribution to such a massive ensemble sound, skip to the midway point of “Signs” and let the summery requiem of “Strengthen What Remains” sink in. Here, Burbridge’s piano, flute and especially string arrangements underscore Tedeschi’s sagely singing. That, in turn, blends into his stately piano runs that open and close “Still Your Mind” as well as swirl discreetly under the band’s more prominent guitar and percussion drive.

TTB opened a Feb. 16 concert at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. by honoring Burbridge with a cover of the 1966 Four Tops hit “Loving You is Sweeter Than Ever.”

This story was originally published February 20, 2019 at 8:02 AM.