Results for "Taj Mahal"

Taj Mahal

Born: May 17, 1942

Taj Mahal - guitar, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist Taj Mahal has spent more than 40 years exploring the roots and branches of the blues. Grounded in the acoustic pre-war blues sound but drawn to the eclectic sounds of world music, he revitalized a dying tradition and prepared the way for a new generation of blues men and women. While many African Americans shunned older musical styles during the 1960s, Mahal immersed himself in the roots of his past. "I was interested in the music because I felt something [got] lost in that transition of blacks trying to assimilate into society." He had no intention of repeating what had come before, however, and drew deeply from the wells of the ethnic music of Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. Taj Mahal was born Henry Saint Claire Fredericks in New York City in 1942

Get on Board: The Songs Of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee

Label: Nonesuch Records
Released: 2022

Take Five With Renée Manning

by AAJ Staff
July 22, 2022

Meet Renée Manning Widely celebrated vocalist/composer, Renée Manning, has been educating students ages 2 to 100 years for the past 35 years. During her 10 years as instructor and Vocal Chair at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, she has been awarded several grants including Met Life grants for her choral work with Prospect Hill Senior Center, ...

Summer 2022

by Doug Collette
July 16, 2022

Blues Deluxe is a regular column comprised of pithy takes on recent blues and roots-music releases of note, spotlighting titles in those genres that might otherwise go unnoticed under the cultural radar. The Phantom Blues Band Blues For Breakfast Little Village Foundation 2022 The hyperbole of Bill Bentley's ...

Sass Jordan & Dana Fuchs: Two Chanteuses' Blues

by Doug Collette
June 11, 2022

When performed with style, grace and depth of feeling, singing the blues is a wonder to behold. But when such virtues are replaced by histrionics, affectation and musical self-indulgence, the performers and the performances fall flat. In building their respective careers of no little renown, Sass Jordan and Dana Fuchs have both proven they can deliver ...

Ry Cooder: Music Can Bring People Together

by Nenad Georgievski
April 21, 2022

The world of music is better because Ry Cooder is in it. He is now among a small handful of artists writing the book on how to keep pushing musical boundaries past the age of senior citizenship, continuing to take chances and exploring. His whole career has been incredibly varied and characterized by exploration, sitting on ...

Tuesday Night Jams at the Owl: A 25 Year Legacy in Seattle

by Paul Rauch
June 4, 2021

Traditionally, the jam session in jazz has provided an outlet for artistic growth and musical connections, for younger musicians to play with more established artists. The oral tradition that has allowed the music to evolve and grow generationally lives at the community jam session. It is a fertile meeting place and proving ground for both established ...

Having A Good Time With Alberta Hunter

by Mary Foster Conklin
April 12, 2021

This broadcast celebrates the birthday of legendary pianist and songwriter Alberta Hunter, who returned to the NYC clubs after a twenty year nursing career. Also featured are new releases from composer/arranger Jihye Lee, and vocalists Clare Foster, Aubrey Logan, Alyssa Allgood and Veronica Swift. Other birthday shoutouts include Norah Jones, Tessa Souter, Tina May, Aimee Allen ...

Meet The JazzTwins, Arnold and Donald Stanley

by Tessa Souter and Andrea Wolper
December 9, 2020

For our first two-for-one Super Fans column, we present the JazzTwins, Arnold Stanley and Donald Stanley, who got started pretty young (just wait till you see who played at their high school concerts). All jazz Super Fans are VIPs, but these two take things to another level. From invitations to musicians' family dinners to being the ...

Spring 2020

by Doug Collette
May 17, 2020

Blues Deluxe is a regular column comprised of pithy takes on recent blues and roots-music releases of note. It spotlights titles in those genres that might otherwise go unnoticed under the cultural radar. David Clayton-Thomas Say Somethin' Linus Entertainment 2020 Circa “Spinnin' Wheel" plus “And When I Die," ...