Taj Mahal und Phantom Blues Band

Strongly influenced by his gospel singing mother and jazz musician and composing father – who Ella Fitzgerald had referred to as “The Genius” – Fredericks was exposed to a genre-spanning collection of music from a young age. Despite being a talented and devoted farmer the bluesman decided to pursue his music career and moved to Santa Monica, California, U.S. and formed the band Rising Sons alongside Ry Cooder and Jessie Lee Kincaid. The band signed with Columbia Records however proved to be commercially unviable so Fredericks went solo. In 1968 Taj Mahal released his eponymous debut album, introducing the musician’s stripped back traditional brand of blues.

It wasn’t long before the album became a classic and paved the way for “Natch’l Blues” also in 1968 and “Giant Step/De Ole Folks at Home” in 1969. With these successes Fredericks was afforded the luxuries of working with some of the most prominent rock and blues artists, including the Rolling Stones. The ’70s represented Mahal experimenting with Caribbean themes and rhythms with “Happy Just to Be Like I Am” in 1971 and the brass-induced double live album “The Real Thing” in 1972.

After moving to Warner Bros. in 1976 and releasing the albums “Music Fuh Ya’” (1976), the soundtrack album “Brothers” (1977), and “Evolution” (1977), Fredericks moved to Hawaii to explore the island's musical tradition. After a ten-year hiatus from recording, the iconic bluesman returned with the album “Taj” in 1987, and a string of acclaimed children’s albums alongside Shake Sugaree followed. After earning a Grammy nomination in 1991 for scoring the play “Mule Bone”, Fredericks returned to his extensive recording and touring schedule on the Private Music label.

Throughout the ‘90s the blues musician covered more musical ground drifting into rock, pop, and R&B with the albums “Like Never Before” in 1991, “Dancing the Blues” in 1993, “Phantom Blues” in 1996, and the Grammy Award-winning “Señor Blues” in 1997. Fredericks subsequently collaborated with classical indian musicians to craft “Mumtaz Mahal” in 1995, and released the Hawaiian themed album “Kulunjan” in 1999. With an all-star list of guest including Ziggy Marley, Jack Johnson and Ben Harper, “Maestro” was issued in 2008, followed by the Christmas album, "Talkin' Christmas" with the Blind Boys of Alabama in 2014.