Daily Tune On - Taj Mahal, Heart Music
If you read today’s “Daily Crack,” you already know that I’ve known Taj for a number of years and he is someone special to me. And when you write about Taj it has to come from the heart, because that’s who he is and what his music represents to me, heart music.
I’ve been thinking about writing about Taj ever since I started my blog, but I wanted to wait. I also didn’t know which side of him or song I would want to showcase first. Over the years Taj has managed to mix together the sounds, rhythms, and flavors of the world and serve it up on a big blues buffet featuring a number of different specialty dishes. But the trouble for me is I don’t just like one or two of the dishes he’s conjured up in his musical career, I like them all! I just love hearing Taj sing and play, there is something joyful and uplifting in his presence and the songs he sings whether it’s Taj singing more traditional blues style songs, him singing and playing with the Hawaiian Hula Blues Band, the Tuba Band, or listening to Taj play with some of the music masters from Mali, the list goes on and on. Taj is infectious. He not only loves music and music from around the globe; is an ethnomusicologist; an accomplished player of multiple instruments; but he seems to truly love people, all different kinds of people. Taj is a very warm person, and when you sit down for a taste of what he offers, he brings all of the above to his musical table for you to enjoy.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen Taj play, the different configurations of groups I’ve seen him play with, and the different types of venues in which I’ve witnessed his performances. But no matter the size of the group, big, small, or solo, or the size of the venue, the essence of the man always shines through. He gives of himself and the audience feels it and knows it; and over the years I’ve come to think of Taj as some sort of great big human spirit musical connector.
I recently saw Taj for the first time in a very long time. He was headlining the “Putumayo” 15th Birthday Celebration in Central Park playing at SummerStage. He played as a trio and I couldn’t believe the big sound that they got. And once again like so many other times before the second he started playing and singing people were smiling and dancing. I was so happy to see Taj! In recent years every time he’s played New York I’ve been out of town. This time I was here and there was no way I was going to miss the show! I made my date stand in the rain under the Putumayo tent for two hours during the previous acts in order to see him play. But miraculously right before Taj came on the clouds parted, the sky got blue, the sun came out, and all was good.
Taj Mahal was born Henry Saint Clair Fredericks in Harlem, New York, but he grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts in a musical family. His father was a West Indian jazz arranger and piano player and his mother a gospel singer. To learn more about Taj and to hear some of his music I’ve included below links to his official website and also to his Myspace page. If you’re looking to buy some Taj Mahal CD’s some of my favorites are “Giant Step”, “An Evening of Acoustic Music,” “Senior Blues,” “Sacred Island,” and “Kulanjan,” to name just a few. His newest CD “Maestro,” will be released this October. Some of his most popular songs are “Fishin’ Blues,” “Gonna Paint My Mailbox Blue,” “Corrina,” “Stagger Lee,” “Built For Comfort,” “Cakewalk Into Town,” “Take a Giant Step”, and “Senior Blues.”
To connect to Taj’s website or Myspace page and hear Taj play and sing, either click on the links below or cut and paste them into your browser.
www.tajblues.com
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=96306092