Taj Mahal (musician) Taj Mahal (musician) Henry Saint Clair Fredericks (born May 17, 1942), who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American blues musician, a self-taught singer-songwriter and film composer who plays the guitar, piano, banjo, and harmonica, among many other instruments. He often incorporates elements of world music into his works and has done much to reshape the definition and scope of blues music over the course of his almost 50-year career by fusing it with nontraditional forms, including sounds from the Caribbean, Africa, and the South Pacific. Born Henry Saint Clair Fredericks, Jr. on May 17, 1942, in Harlem,
Taj Mahal (musician) An album was never released (though a single was) and the band soon broke up, though Legacy Records did release "The Rising Sons Featuring Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder" in 1993 with material from that period. During this time Mahal was working with others, musicians like Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Muddy Waters. Mahal stayed with Columbia after the Rising Sons to begin his solo career, releasing the self-titled "Taj Mahal" in 1968, "The Natch'l Blues" in 1969, and "Giant Step/De Old Folks at Home" with Kiowa session musician Jesse Ed Davis from Oklahoma, who played guitar and