[headsup]

I just heard about a new Taj Mahal album to be released soon titled Maestro. The album is featuring Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Angelique Kidjo, Los Lobos, Ziggy Marley and more. Sounds like it could be something worth checking out. you can get it on CD or limited edition 40th anniversary Vinyl

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[DudeAsInCool]

Excellent. He was a great musician. Here is some info from Wikipedia and a sample of his music:

""Henry Saint Clair Fredericks (born May 17, 1942), who goes by the stage name Taj Mahal, is an internationally recognized blues musician who folds various forms of world music into his offerings. A self-taught singer-songwriter and film composer who plays the guitar, banjo and harmonica (among many other instruments)[2], Mahal has done much to reshape the definition and scope of blues music during his 40+ year career by fusing it with nontraditional forms, including sounds from the Caribbean, Africa and the South Pacific."

[ericdesouza]

This album isn’t really considered a masterpiece by most fans but I cherish this recording—it often shows up on my desert island list. For many years this was only one of two early Taj records available on cd so I wore out a few copies since then and I am still waiting on a proper reissue of both on cd (the other being Mo Roots). It is fair to say that Giant Step wouldn’t have been the album I would have gravitated toward had more of his catalog been available in the 1990s, as it has no immediate hook (I would have probably worn out Natch’l Blues or the debut instead). Upon first listen I can’t say any tracks stood out to me—perhaps Fishin’ Blues made the most impact. But as it turned out, this being about all you could get of early, non-best-of compilation Taj, it got played a lot and as a result became my favorite of all his records.
This album sort of stands on its own, not sounding exactly like his earlier, more bluesy records nor the reggae-world-caribbean albums that followed. But its got a little funk, a good bit of country-blues, and a lot of laid back rock ‘n’ roll typical of the stuff being made in Southern California in the late 60s/early 70s. And if you’re a Jesse Ed fan this recording is a real treat.