Jazz Articles about Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal Trio at Higher Ground

by Doug Collette
July 4, 2009

The Taj Mahal Trio Higher Ground South Burlington, Vermont June 18, 2009

Given the pre-show buzz in the ballroom, it is quite likely Taj Mahal had the Higher Ground crowd in the palm of his hand before he even ambled onstage on June 18th. He didn't take their loyalty for granted, however, or just go through the motions--he only made it look that easy.

More a stylist than an innovator, Taj Mahal has nevertheless ...

Taj Mahal: Maestro

by Woodrow Wilkins
November 15, 2008

With a forty-year track record of recording the blues, Taj Mahal has earned the label of maestro. Now, he celebrates four decades with an album that uses that word as its theme.Born Henry St. Clair Fredricks in 1942, Mahal has mixed a variety of cultural influences in making his music. Although primarily a vocalist, he also plays a variety of instruments, including guitar, banjo and harmonica. The two-time Grammy winner has performed with or opened for Otis Redding, ...

Taj Mahal: Maestro

by Doug Collette
October 2, 2008

Maestro is the perfect title for this Taj Mahal album. No matter who the star cameo is on a given track--and there is a famous name on almost every one--it's quite clear that the source of direction (not to mention the original inspiration) comes from Mahal himself. Not surprisingly, the best moments arise in his role as a bandleader.

His own Phantom Blues Band accompanies him on a salty take on “Scratch My Back," the steady ...

Goin' Up the North Country: Taj Mahal in Vermont

by Doug Collette
March 26, 2006

The Taj Mahal Trio Flynn Center for The Performing Arts Burlington, Vermont March 8, 2006

The perfectly unassuming way Taj Mahal came on stage March 8th and began to play without formal introduction set an understated tone for this evening at the Flynn Center. The low-key approach may have undercut the potency of the bluesman's music too, but that may be more of a comment on the times than the show itself.

Mavis ...

Jimmy Smith: Dot Com Blues

by Chris M. Slawecki
January 11, 2001

He's known as one of the founding jazz fathers of Hammond B-3 organ funk, but Jimmy Smith has always played the blues. Born in December 1928 in a suburb west of Philadelphia, Smith has been performing since he was 12, at that time in a song and dance act with his father. After a stint in the navy, Smith took advantage of the GI Bill to study bass, piano and music theory upon his service discharge. During this period Smith ...

Taj Mahal and Toumani Diabate: Kulanjan

by Ronan Abayawickrema
June 1, 2000

Like the 1997 release Sacred Island, Kulanjan sees Taj Mahal blending the blues with ethnic folk music. While the earlier album explored the music of Hawaii, however, here Taj and the Malian kora player Toumani Diabate seek to reveal the connections between the blues and the music of Western Mali.

And these connections are apparent from the opening cut, a new version of Taj's “Queen Bee". Diabate's kora - plucked, according to the excellent sleeve notes, using a technique similar ...

Bob Stewart: Then & Now

by Glenn Astarita
March 1, 2000

Bob Stewart is one of a select few who have catapulted the tuba into more of a prominent role within jazz and modern music circles. With that, Stewart enlists a mighty impressive cast of jazz musicians along with the legendary folk-blues singer/songwriter, Taj Mahal on Then & Now.

Stewart handles the bottom end without the utilization or perhaps, requirements of a bassist as he drives the band forward on “Hambone” which is a New Orleans style R&B/Funk number featuring brassy ...