Taj Mahal
Until you've heard Taj Mahal play, you've not heard all the different directions that blues music can take. Born Henry St. Clair Fredericks in New York City in 1942, Taj Mahal moved to Springfield, Massachusetts at an early age. His father was a jazz pianist and composer, and his family always emphasized the importance of music. Though he took piano lessons for a short time, Taj Mahal was self-taught on the dozen instruments he now plays. After attending the University of Massachusetts, where he studied agriculture and animal husbandry, he formed a band that played area clubs and renamed himself Taj Mahal. In 1964 he moved to Los Angeles and formed a band with Ry Cooder called The Rising Sons, opening for the likes of Otis Redding and The Temptations. The thriving LA blues scene also afforded him the opportunity to hear greats such as Muddy Waters and Bessie Jones. Taj Mahal parted ways with Cooder and began making solo albums in the late 1960s, such as the excellent double LP set Giant Step/ De Ole Folks At Home - a blues/roots sound that gained wide recognition. During the 1970s he began to experiment with blues that was infused with jazz, reggae, gospel, and calypso. His recording slowed down during the 1980s when he moved to Hawaii, but starting in 1990 he released a series of albums under the Private label, culminating in Señor Blues 1997 which won him a Grammy. Also in the 1990s Taj Mahal teamed up with world music artists to record albums that incorporated Indian classical, Hawaiian, and Malian musical traditions. Taj Mahal now has his own independent record label, Kandu Records, which works to help young musicians get their work out. In 2006 Taj Mahal was designated the official Blues Artist of the state of Massachusetts.
