Go Taj Mahal : Taj Mahal plays the blues Sunday
Contributor September 7th, 2007
This year, Taj Mahal celebrates his 40th anniversary as a recording artist.
The singer/guitarist has played every kind of blues, dabbled in jazz and conducted major cross-cultural experiments. He once did an album with a quartet of tubas. He has made children’s records, movie soundtracks, Hawaiian music. He plays solo acoustic or with big band. He recorded with Miles Davis and the Rolling Stones. He was one of the first major artists to cover songs by Bob Marley.
The Taj Mahal Trio will play at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Orpheum Theatre, First and Broadway. Lisa Blake will open.
Born Henry St. Claire Fredericks in Harlem, Taj grew up in Springfield, Mass.
While studying animal husbandry at Amherst College, he played in a local band and changed his name –”Taj Mahal” came to him in a dream. A year after graduation, he moved to Los Angeles, where he put together a band called the Rising Sons (featuring Ry Cooder on guitar). They opened shows at the famous club Whiskey a Go Go for Otis Redding, Sam the Sham and the Temptations.
His 1967 Columbia Records solo debut, “Taj Mahal,” was an instant classic.
“I’ll figure out some way to celebrate this,” he said. “I’ve been a busy man.”