Will the Circle Be UnbrokenWarren Haynes, Gregg Allman, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Devon Allman, Robert Randolph, Jimmy Hall, Sam Moore, Keb' Mo', Brantley Gilbert, Dr. John, Pat Monahan, John Hiatt, Taj Mahal, Widespread Panic, Trace Adkins, Vince Gill, Martina McBride, Eric Church, Jackson Browne, Zac Brown & The Allman Brothers Band
ALBUMSwingin': Live at the Church in TulsaTaj Mahal
Albums by Taj Mahal
ALBUMSwingin': Live at the Church in TulsaTaj Mahal
ALBUMSavoyTaj Mahal
ALBUMGET ON BOARDTaj Mahal & Ry Cooder
ALBUMTajMoTaj Mahal & Keb' Mo'
ALBUMLabor of LoveTaj Mahal
ALBUMTalkin' Christmas!The Blind Boys of Alabama & Taj Mahal
ALBUMSweet Mama RedTaj Mahal
ALBUMHidden Treasures of Taj MahalTaj Mahal
ALBUMStagger LeeTaj Mahal
ALBUMMaestroTaj Mahal
Taj Mahal's Popular Music Videos
Ain't That A Lot Of Love
Taj Mahal
I'm Shinin'
The Pack
Everyone Knows How It Goes (feat. Taj Mahal)
Liz Kennedy
What Can I Do?
The Blind Boys of Alabama & Taj Mahal
Artist Playlists
Taj Mahal Essentials
An ex-farmer was the bluesman Generation Woodstock needed.
Taj Mahal: Deep Cuts
Plumbing his past uncovers a historic partnership.
Artist Biography
As much as a blues musician, Taj Mahal is a broad-scale researcher of American and world music styles, obsessed with exploring the interconnectivity of their musical vocabularies. Born Henry St. Claire Fredericks Jr. in 1942 in New York City, the singer and multi-instrumentalist was raised in a family with refined musical tastes. His father was a jazz arranger, his mother sang gospel, and his entry into musical life was classical piano. He discovered his love of folk blues while in his teens and moved to Los Angeles in 1964, developing his signature gutbucket style in the band Rising Sons alongside Ry Cooder. On his self-titled debut album (1968), Taj Mahal emerged fully formed, with a sound both situated in the canonical blues tradition and invested with a thoroughly modern, live-wire energy. A collection of playful, raucous, and sometimes uncharacterizable '70s LPs—see 1974’s reggae outing Mo’ Roots—resituated Mahal’s career around genre experimentation. After a hiatus in the '80s, Taj Mahal spent the '90s both embracing pop and traversing even more far-flung stylistic territory, with projects featuring Indian, Hawaiian, and West African musicians. Mahal’s 21st-century output has been more reserved, featuring collaborations with Etta Baker, Keb’ Mo’, and his old friend Ry Cooder.