10 Minutes With Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal is a groundbreaking, world-renowned blues virtuoso. The multi-instrumentalist and songwriter’s music incorporates a wide range of creative traditions. After spending a significant portion of his childhood in nearby Springfield, the three-time GRAMMY® winner went on to achieve worldwide fame through decades of outstanding musical releases and stellar live performances. Taj returns to Massachusetts to perform on the third day of the FreshGrass Festival (Friday–Sunday, September 23–25) at MASS MoCA in North Adams. FreshGrass features a diverse lineup that represents the best in grassroots music. This year’s artists include Gary Clark Jr., Old Crow Medicine Show, Tanya Tucker, Trampled by Turtles, Skip Mar- ley, Yola, Aoife O’Donovan, Sierra Ferrell, Alison Brown, and many others. We had the opportunity to speak with Taj during a stop on his recent live performance tour. Taj is the Official Blues Artist of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and his early musical experiences in the state significantly influenced his artistic trajectory. He shared stories from the years that he spent in the region, his thoughts on music festivals such as FreshGrass, his perspective on the current state of Blues and Grassroots music, and some wise words about the importance of artistic authenticity.
You spent a good deal of time in nearby Springfield when you were growing up. there any experiences in Springfield or in the Berkshires that shaped your artistic development?
Growing up in Springfield, there was a wide variety of different types of people and cultures, and the culture was also very musical. It was a hotbed of creativity and education. People had the feeling of being able to accomplish their goals and dreams! The culture of music was very audible and visible, with tremendous families of musicians and Gospel, Jazz, Bebop, Doo-Wop, Pop, and Jump Blues music. Classical training on any instrument was readily available, and there were many piano teachers and mentors who were happy to share their knowledge.
My mother was a gospel singer from South Carolina. She was also an elementary school teacher who held both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in early childhood education. My father was a classically trained jazz pianist whose parents were from St. Kitts and Nevis. I came into the world listening to Dizzy Gillespie, who was born in the same town in South Carolina where my mother was born. I heard lots of early jazz: Ellington, Basie, Coleman Haw- kins, Louis Jordan, Nat King Cole, and Ella Fitzgerald. After my father tragically passed away, my mother ended up remarry- ing my stepfather, who was Jamaican. He wanted to be a guitar player, so he went out and bought a guitar and put it in the closet in the back of the house. One day, I was playing a game of hide-and-go-seek, and I discovered his guitar in the closet. I took the guitar out of the case, closed the door to the stairs behind me, and started playing it. I heard the door open, and my stepfather found me there, and he let me keep playing it. When the springtime came around, I talked over the fence with another boy who told me he played guitar. His name was Linwood Perry, and he ended up showing me the rudiments of Blues. Two other people from the neighborhood were also important sources of guitar inspiration for me: Ernest Nichols from Stovall, Mississippi, and Garland Edwards from Springfield. Later on, I went to the University of Massachusetts. I had a band, and we played all over New England. We played around campus a lot at UMass Amherst, and we played a mixer at Smith College and passed out our business cards. We also played one or two fraternity gigs at Williams College. The music side of the room was packed!
You’re well-known for integrating different international sounds into your music that go far beyond the scope of traditional blues. Many of the other artists who are coming to play at the FreshGrass Festival are also celebrated for the unique and eclectic ways in which they fuse multiple genres, including Gary Clark, Jr., Skip Marley, and Yola, among others. What are your thoughts on the current state of Blues and Grassroots music, and what do you think of the new generation of artists and their willingness to take similarly brave musical risks?
I’m seeing all of these youngsters come out, and they’re unbelievable—starting with Keb’ Mo’. Every time he gets on stage, he’ll tell people that without me, there wouldn’t be him. People have always been afraid to do what I did. It’s always, “Here’s the quick money, here’s the easy road. Slick your hair, put on a shiny suit, and lie to people.” I value the music and the culture. That was always the most important thing to me, so I stayed the course. I see the whole thing as connected. As a kid, I would hear music from Brazil or Cuba, and it would be instantaneously familiar, even though I didn’t speak the language. There’s a tendency for people to look at me and my music and say, “Oh…he went through this, and then he went over here with his music,” but what they don’t see is how the Blues is connected to other forms of music. The United States of America only got a small percentage of the African people who were brought west from Africa. If you go anywhere in the Americas or the Caribbean—Brazil, Cuba, Martinique, Trinidad, Barbados, St. Kitts & Nevis, it doesn’t matter— the African influence in the music is there, because our ancestors are speaking through the music.
Your music is timeless in every sense, and you have continued to elevate and expand your sound with every release. Are you working on any new projects currently?
Oh yeah! I’m always working. There’s always a stockpile of music. I’m working on a collaboration with Rhiannon Giddens, and I’m also working on a lot of Rap and Hip-Hop and some stuff in Nashville with some great players down there.
What should people expect from your upcoming performance at FreshGrass?
I don’t focus on playing tomorrow’s solo. I just focus on today, but it’s going to be fun! The current band is a quartet with Billy Rich on bass, Kester Smith on drums, and Bobby Ingano from Hawaii, who is playing Stratocaster guitar. He’s also an incredible steel guitar player. The tunes are cool, and people everywhere on tour are coming out of the shows grinning and talking. We’re able to incorporate all the different sounds into what we’re doing, and we’re going to bring out some of the older stuff that’s really good.
Some of your best live performances have been at festivals, and you’ve said in past interviews that the audience plays a part that can be equally as important as the performers themselves. What do you like most about performing at festivals like FreshGrass?
In general, people are open to what’s going on. It’s not like, “Here’s the show. It’s limited to two or three artists and that’s it.” There are different layers of what supports the music, everything from the merchandise to the food. People meet up with one another. A festival is always great. You get to feel a whole other kind of America when you go to those kinds of festivals.
You’ve always served as an outspoken mentor for the next generation of talented musicians, such as Keb’ Mo’ and Grace Potter, among many others. The FreshGrass Festival is produced by the FreshGrass Foundation, which provides grants, commissions, and supportive programs for developing musicians who are refining and perfecting their sound. Do you think it’s important to provide these types of opportunities?
Yes, I do! I think that if we do, we will have an even stronger group of young people coming up and playing. It needs to be done, and I support it in every way.
—Benjamin Lerner