Jazz Articles about Taj Mahal

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 ...

Taj Mahal: Blue Light Boogie

by Ed Kopp
October 1, 1999

Blue Light Boogie combines songs Taj Mahal recorded for various multi-artist tribute albums along with some cuts lifted from the bluesman’s ‘90s releases on Private Music. The latter are hardly the best selections Taj recorded for his label, they do demonstrate the eclectic talents and considerable soul of one of America’s best blues talents. Blue Light leans a little too heavily on pop-oriented tracks from Mahal’s 1991 CD “Like Never Before." Fortunately, a great country-blues version of the Stones’ “Honky ...

Taj Mahal and the Hula Blues Band: Sacred Island

by Ed Kopp
August 1, 1999

Former resident of the Hawaiian island of Kauai, Taj Majal is one of the most versatile bluesmen around, having tackled country blues, R&B, jazz, gospel, reggae and more on his 37 albums. On Sacred Island, Taj teams up with some veteran Hawaiian musicians to blend blues, traditional Hawaiian music and reggae. This is a fine eclectic release on which Mahal's dobro, harp and vocals blend surprisingly well with Hawaiian slack-key guitars, ukelele, and various reed and wind instruments. The latter ...