Jesse Ed Davis, a Kiowa native from Oklahoma, joined Taj Mahal and played guitar and piano on Mahal's first four albums. Mahal moved to Santa Monica, California, in 1964 and formed Rising Sons with fellow blues rock musicians Ry Cooder and Jessie Lee Kincaid, landing a record deal with Columbia Records soon after. Taj Mahal performing in 1971 (Millard Agency photo) West Coast, he was also part of a duo with Jessie Lee Kincaid. In college he led a rhythm and blues band called Taj Mahal & The Elektras. Despite having attended a vocational agriculture school, becoming a member of the National FFA Organization, and majoring in animal husbandry and minoring in veterinary science and agronomy, Mahal decided to pursue music instead of farming. He started using the stage name in 1959 or 1961 -around the same time he began attending the University of Massachusetts. Henry chose his stage name, Taj Mahal, from dreams he had about Mahatma Gandhi, India, and social tolerance. Alfalfa." 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 Farm Aid concerts. "I milked anywhere between thirty-five and seventy cows a day. His passion began on a dairy farm in Palmer, Massachusetts, not far from Springfield, at age 16. įor some time he thought of pursuing farming over music.
His name was Lynwood Perry, the nephew of the famous bluesman Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup. 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 stepfather owned a guitar which Henry Jr. It was an extremely traumatic experience for the boy. was eleven years old, his father was killed in an accident at his construction company, crushed by a tractor when it flipped over. He also studied the clarinet, trombone and harmonica. His parents encouraged him to pursue music, starting him out with classical piano lessons. developed an interest in African music, which he studied assiduously as a young man. His father was called "The Genius" by Ella Fitzgerald before starting his family. Taj Mahal at the Museumsquartier in Vienna (Jazz-Fest Wien) in 2007īecause his father was a musician, his home frequently hosted other musicians from the Caribbean, Africa, and the US. His parents came of age during the Harlem Renaissance, instilling in their son a sense of pride in his Caribbean and African ancestry through their stories. He also became interested in jazz, enjoying the works of musicians such as Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk and Milt Jackson.
Early in childhood he recognized the stark differences between the popular music of his day and the music that was played in his home. His family owned a shortwave radio which received music broadcasts from around the world, exposing him at an early age to world music.
Growing up in Springfield, Massachusetts, he was raised in a musical environment: his mother was a member of a local gospel choir and his father, Henry Saint Claire Fredericks Sr., was an Afro-Caribbean jazz arranger and piano player. on May 17, 1942, in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York.
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