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Mo' Roots (Taj Mahal Album)
''Mo' Roots'' is the seventh studio album by American blues artist Taj Mahal. The musician turned away from his normal fare to record a reggae inspired collection. Track listing All tracks composed by Taj Mahal; except where indicated # "Johnny Too Bad" (Delroy Wilson, Winston Bailey, Hylton Beckford, Derrick Crooks) # "Black Jack Davey" # "Big Mama" # "Cajun Waltz" # "Slave Driver" (Bob Marley) # "Why Did You Have to Desert Me?" # "Desperate Lover" (Bob Andy) # "Clara (St. Kitts Woman)" Personnel *Taj Mahal - vocals *Hoshal Wright - guitar *Bill Rich - bass *Merl Saunders - organ *Aston "Family Man" Barrett - ska piano * Kwasi "Rocki" Dzidzornu - percussion, congas *Kester Smith Kester Winston "Smitty" Smith is an American percussionist. Born in Granada and raised from a young age in Trinidad, He is the drummer for the Taj Mahal Trio and has collaborated with jazz, blues and world musicians. He has performed with and al ... - trap drums *Rudy Costa - soprano saxophone, flute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taj Mahal (musician)
Henry St. Claire Fredericks Jr. (born May 17, 1942), better known by his stage name Taj Mahal, is an American blues musician. He plays the guitar, piano, banjo, harmonica, and many other instruments,Evans, et al., xii. often incorporating elements of world music into his work. Mahal has done much to reshape the definition and scope of blues music over the course of his more than 50-year career by fusing it with nontraditional forms, including sounds from the Caribbean, Africa, India, Hawaii, and the South Pacific.Komara, 951. Early life Mahal was born Henry St. Claire Fredericks Jr. on May 17, 1942, in Harlem, New York City. 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. His family owned a shortwave radio which received music broadcasts from around the world, exposing him at an early age to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the word "reggae", effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term ''reggae'' more properly denotes a particular music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues, and evolved out of the earlier genres ska and rocksteady. Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political commentary. It is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rocksteady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument. Reggae is d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1974 Albums
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; following Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir's resignation in response to high Israeli casualties, she was succeeded by Yitzhak Rabin. In Europe, the invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus by Turkish troops initiated the Cyprus dispute, the Carnation Revolution took place in Portugal, and Chancellor of West Germany Willy Brandt resigned following an espionage scandal surrounding his secretary Günter Guillaume. In sports, the year was primarily dominated by the FIFA World Cup in West Germany, in which the German national team won the championship title, as well as The Rumble in the Jungle, a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire. Events January–February * January 26 – Bülent Ecevit of CHP forms the ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claudia Lennear
Claudia Lennear (born Claudia Joy Offley; 1946) is an American soul singer and educator. Lennear began her performing with the Superbs before becoming an Ikette in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. She was also a background vocalist for various acts, including Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, and Freddie King. She released her only solo album in 1973. Lennear was featured in the 2013 Oscar-winning documentary ''20 Feet from Stardom''. She was inducted in the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame in 2019. Early life Lennear was born Claudia Joy Offley at Providence Lying-In Hospital in Rhode Island. Her last name was changed after her mother married Leo V. Lennear, a Navy man stationed in Newport. She grew up in different neighborhoods in Providence. Although raised a Catholic, her grandmother taught her to sing gospel songs as a child. In elementary school, Lennear studied music theory and took French at St. Charles Borromeo parochial school. Her career goal was to become a translator at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carole Fredericks
Carole Denise Fredericks (June 5, 1952 – June 7, 2001) was an American singer best known for her work in French music. She was the younger sister of Taj Mahal. Between 1990 and 1996 she was in the trio Fredericks Goldman Jones alongside singer-songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman and Welsh–French guitarist Michael Jones. Biography Early Years Carole Denise Fredericks was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on June 5, 1952, the youngest of Mildred and Harry Fredericks' five children. She and her siblings were raised in Springfield and were educated in the public school system. Her mother who was originally from Bennettsville, South Carolina, sang with Big Bands and on Sundays was the lead singer for a local gospel choir. Her father, the son of immigrants from the island of Saint Kitts, was a pianist and wrote arrangements for jazz trios. Growing up in her household, Fredericks was exposed to music from around the world.DiCaire, 9 Her parents encouraged creative expression i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kester Smith
Kester Winston "Smitty" Smith is an American percussionist. Born in Granada and raised from a young age in Trinidad, He is the drummer for the Taj Mahal Trio and has collaborated with jazz, blues and world musicians. He has performed with and alongside Taj Mahal for over forty years. He has recorded music with Taj Mahal, Geoff Muldaur, Peter Rowan, Cedella Booker, Morgan Freeman, Ellen McIlwaine, Mary Coughlan and Pinetop Perkins. Selected discography *Taj Mahal, ''Mo' Roots,'' Columbia Records, 1974. * Taj Mahalm Music Fuh Ya' (Musica Para Tu) *Taj Mahal, ''Big Blues: Live at Ronnie Scott,'' Silverline Records, 1991 *Taj Mahal, ''Mule Bone,'' Gramavision, 1991 *Geoff Muldaur, ''Secret Handshake,'' HighTone Records, 1998 *Taj Mahal, ''Sugar Mama Blues,'' Just a Memory Records, 2004 *Taj Mahal, ''Maestro,'' Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rocky Dijon
Kwasi Dzidzornu (1935 – March 13, 1993), also known as Rocky Dijon, was a Ghanaian percussionist known for his playing on recordings by The Rolling Stones, Nick Drake, Ginger Baker, Stevie Wonder, Billy Preston and Joe Walsh. During the 1970s he recorded extensively with Taj Mahal. Bill Wyman also enlisted him on his 1976 solo album ''Stone Alone''. War's drummer Harold Brown has named him as an important influence, and also credits him with teaching Ginger Baker. Dzidzornu was born in Ghana, and escaped poverty there by stowing away on a boat for weeks with hardly any food and water to make his way to England. He was the father of six children, two sons, Kwaku and Gary, were both born in England and four daughters; Evonne, Jane, Norvi (deceased), and Awura. Producer Jimmy Miller brought him in to work with the Rolling Stones. Critic Ned Sublette has written that the addition of his conga drumming on "Sympathy for the Devil" transformed the song from "a dirge, and a dull one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aston "Family Man" Barrett
Aston Francis Barrett (born 22 November 1946), often called "Family Man" or "Fams" for short, is a retired Jamaican musician and Rastafarian. Biography Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Aston "Family Man" Barrett was one of the Barrett brothers (the other being the younger brother on drums Carlton "Carly" Barrett) who played with Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Hippy Boys and Lee Perry's The Upsetters. He was the bandleader of Marley's backing band, as well as co-producer of the albums, and the man in charge of the overall song arrangements. Mentorship Barrett was the mentor and teacher of Robbie Shakespeare of the duo Sly & Robbie. Equipment Barrett played a Fender Jazz Bass, Acoustic 370 bass amplifier. Legal battle In 2006 Barrett filed a lawsuit against Island Records, the Wailers' label, seeking £60 million in unpaid royalties allegedly due him and his now deceased brother. The lawsuit was dismissed. Nickname Barrett's "Family Man" nickname came about before he had a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merl Saunders
Merl Saunders (February 14, 1934 – October 24, 2008) was an American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B-3 console organ. Biography Born in San Mateo, California, United States, Saunders attended Polytechnic High School in San Francisco. In his first band in high school was singer Johnny Mathis. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1953 to 1957. He worked as musical director of the Billy Williams Revue and served in a similar capacity in Oscar Brown Jr.'s off-Broadway show, ''Big Time Buck White''. He gained notice in the 1970s when he began collaborating with Jerry Garcia, with whom he had begun playing in 1971 at a small Fillmore Street nightclub called The Matrix. He sat in with the Grateful Dead, and co-founded the Saunders/Garcia Band which produced three albums, and which became the Legion of Mary, with the addition of Martin Fierro (sax) in 1974. It disbanded the following year, but he and Garcia continued to collaborate in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Andy
Keith Anderson CD (28 October 1944 – 27 March 2020), better known by the stage name Bob Andy, was a Jamaican reggae vocalist and songwriter. He was widely regarded as one of reggae's most influential songwriters. Early life Anderson was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in October 1944, where his mother worked at Up-Park Camp. At the age of seven he moved to live with his grandmother in Westmoreland. After his grandmother died, his mother gave him away, and he was subject to beatings at the hands of his adoptive parents. After several years he returned to Kingston to help look after one of his siblings, but to escape beatings from his mother, he tried to get a place at Maxfield Park children's home by telling them that his mother had died. They both ended up in court, where he was made a ward of the state and returned to Maxfield Park. At the home, he taught himself to play piano, and began singing in the Kingston Parish Church choir. In the local scout troop he met Tyrone Evans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady, as well as his distinctive vocal and songwriting style. Marley's contributions to music increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide, and made him a global figure in popular culture to this day. Over the course of his career, Marley became known as a Rastafari icon, and he infused his music with a sense of spirituality. He is also considered a global symbol of Jamaican music and culture and identity, and was controversial in his outspoken support for democratic social reforms. In 1976, Marley survived an assassination attempt in his home, which was thought to be politically motivated. He also supported legalization of marijuana, and advocated for Pan-Africanism. Born in Nine Mile, Jamaica, Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waltz
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the waltz that date from 16th-century Europe, including the representations of the printmaker Hans Sebald Beham. The French philosopher Michel de Montaigne wrote of a dance he saw in 1580 in Augsburg, where the dancers held each other so closely that their faces touched. Kunz Haas (of approximately the same period) wrote, "Now they are dancing the godless ''Weller'' or ''Spinner''."Nettl, Paul. "Birth of the Waltz." In ''Dance Index'' vol 5, no. 9. 1946 New York: Dance Index-Ballet Caravan, Inc. pages 208, 211 "The vigorous peasant dancer, following an instinctive knowledge of the weight of fall, uses his surplus energy to press all his strength into the proper beat of the bar, thus intensifying his personal enjoyment in dancing." Around 1750, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
