Quantifying Taj Mahal’s musical significance is impossible, but people try anyway.
Composer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, multi-Grammy award-winner, multi-Blues Music Award winner, Blues Hall of Fame member and Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement award recipient—Taj Mahal is one of the most prominent and influential figures in late 20th century blues and roots music.
Using traditional country blues as a starting base, Mahal perfumes the pot by mixing a spicy concoction of Afro-centric roots music, a blues gumbo kissed by reggae, Latin, Rn’B, Cajun, Caribbean rhythms, gospel, West African folk, jazz, calypso, and Hawaiian slack key. A duo album, Get On Board, with Ry Cooder won the 2023 Grammy for “Best Traditional Blues Album.”
Taj Mahal, born Henry St. Claire Fredericks on May 17, 1942, in Harlem, New York, is an iconic American blues musician. Known for his skillful blend of blues with elements of world music, Taj Mahal has significantly influenced contemporary music with his eclectic style, incorporating Caribbean, African, and Pacific influences.
Growing up in a musical family, he was exposed to a diverse array of sounds and instruments, which shaped his distinctive approach to the blues. Taj Mahal’s career took off in the late 1960s. Now, he has a career spanning over five decades. Taj Mahal has earned multiple Grammy Awards and widespread recognition for his contributions to music. His work continues to inspire and resonate with audiences worldwide, solidifying his legacy as a pioneering figure in the music industry.
The quintet is made up of internationally renowned bassist Bill Rich and steel drummer Robert Greenidge (Jimmy Buffet’s Coral Reefer Band), revered percussionist Tony Durham and Hawaiian-based guitarist and lap steel master Bobby Ingano. The five-match musical virtuosity with downhome grit unlike anyone else: a blend of sophistication and humble familiarity that is equally at home on a shotgun-shack porch or a Carnegie Hall stage.
According to Taj, the collaboration extends far beyond the Taj Mahal Quintet themselves. “Music is like theater to a lot of people—they’re watching it,” he says. “Well, you can watch it, but you’re supposed to participate. The audience is just as much a part of the music as the musicians are.”
Come out to The Center for the Arts on July 21, 2024 and become a part of the music with Taj Mahal Quintet.
