Taj Mahal The Musician
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• • • the Hula Blues Band Website Henry Saint Clair Fredericks (born May 17, 1942), who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American musician, a self-taught singer-songwriter and film composer who plays the guitar, piano, banjo, and harmonica, among many other instruments. He often incorporates elements of into his works and has done much to reshape the definition and scope of blues music over the course of his almost 50-year career by fusing it with nontraditional forms, including sounds from the Caribbean, Africa, and the South Pacific. Contents • • • • • • • • • • • • • Early life [ ] Born Henry Saint Clair Fredericks, Jr. On May 17, 1942, in, New York, Mahal grew up in. He was raised in a musical environment; his mother was a member of a local and his father was an Afro-Caribbean arranger and piano player.
Taj Mahal Musician Bio
His family owned a which received music broadcasts from around the world, exposing him at an early age to. Early in childhood he recognized the stark differences between the of his day and the music that was played in his home. He also became interested in jazz, enjoying the works of musicians such as,.
His parents came of age during the, instilling in their son a sense of pride in his Caribbean and African ancestry through their stories. Taj Mahal at the Museumsquartier in (Jazz-Fest Wien) in 2007 Because his father was a musician, his house was frequently the host of other musicians from the Caribbean, Africa, and the U.S.
His father, Henry Saint Clair Fredericks Sr., was called 'The Genius' by before starting his family. Early on, Henry Jr. Developed an interest in African music, which he studied assiduously as a young man. His parents also encouraged him to pursue music, starting him out with lessons. He also studied the clarinet, trombone and harmonica. When Mahal was eleven his father was killed in an accident at his own construction company, crushed by a tractor when it flipped over.
This was an extremely traumatic experience for the boy. Mahal's mother later remarried. His stepfather owned a guitar which Taj began using at age 13 or 14, receiving his first lessons from a new neighbor from North Carolina of his own age who played acoustic blues guitar. His name was Lynwood Perry, the nephew of the famous bluesman.
Taj Mahal The Musician Website
In high school Mahal sang in a group. For some time Mahal thought of pursuing farming over music. He had developed a passion for farming that nearly rivaled his love of music—coming to work on a farm first at age 16. It was a dairy farm in, not far from Springfield. By age nineteen he had become farm foreman, getting up a bit after 4:00 a.m.
And running the place. 'I milked anywhere between thirty-five and seventy cows a day. I clipped udders. I grew Tennessee redtop clover.
Taj Mahal The Singer
Mahal believes in growing one's own food, saying, 'You have a whole generation of kids who think everything comes out of a box and a can, and they don't know you can grow most of your food.' Because of his personal support of the family farm, Mahal regularly performs at concerts., his stage name, came to him in dreams about,, and social tolerance. He started using it in 1959 or 1961 —around the same time he began attending the. Despite having attended a vocational agriculture school, becoming a member of the, and majoring in and minoring in and, Mahal decided to take the route of music instead of farming. In college he led a band called Taj Mahal & The Elektras and, before heading for the U.S. West Coast, he was also part of a duo with Jessie Lee Kincaid. Taj Mahal performing in 1971 (Millard Agency photo) In 1964 he moved to Santa Monica, California, and formed with fellow musician and Jessie Lee Kincaid, landing a record deal with soon after.