Guitarist

Taj Mahal is a legendary force in American roots music whose influence reaches across genres and generations. For more than six decades, he has explored the deep connections between blues, jazz, reggae, Caribbean, and African traditions, weaving them into a vibrant sound uniquely his own. A five-time Grammy Award winner and 2025 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement honoree, Taj continues to expand the boundaries of modern blues with the same curiosity and authenticity that have guided his entire career. His mastery of over twenty instruments and his gift for storytelling have inspired artists from Eric Clapton to the Rolling Stones, all drawn to his fearless blend of innovation and reverence for tradition.

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Taj Mahal

Newberry Opera House

Equal parts preservationist and visionary, Taj Mahal is the closest thing we have to an American griot. His music embraces the raw energy of field hollers, the rent-party gumption of early jazz, the urbane grooves of rhythm and blues, the church-derived cadences of soul music and the rhythms of West Africa, via New Orleans and the Caribbean. Most recently, The Recording Academy named Taj Mahal a 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award honoree, for creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.

SFJAZZ Center

The Experience Hendrix tour evokes the era when artists treated each performance as a unique interaction with their audience. Jimi Hendrix called this his “Electric Church.” Experience Hendrix fully embraces this approach, presenting multiple opportunities for performers and audiences to witness unique collaborations among the participating artists and will highlight these artists performing their favorite Hendrix signature songs, including “Little Wing,” “Fire,” “Purple Haze,” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).”

Experience Hendrix

Luther Burbank Center for the Arts

Two-time GRAMMY-winning blues icon Taj Mahal is the closest thing we have to an American griot. His music embraces the raw energy of field hollers, the rent-party gumption of early jazz, the urbane grooves of rhythm and blues, the church-derived cadences of soul music and the rhythms of West Africa, via New Orleans and the Caribbean.

His Summer Sessions concerts are the world premiere performances of material from his forthcoming album Savoy — a jazz-inflected tribute to the music of his childhood and the legendary Harlem ballroom of the 30s,40s, and 50s, featuring his singular interpretations of Great American Songbook classics including “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” “Summertime,” and “Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You.” The project has special meaning for Mahal — his parents met at the Savoy during an Ella Fitzgerald concert and the music of that era was the soundtrack of his early life. In his words, “I heard (the songs on Savoy) as a kid when all of those people who made those musics were alive and speaking to us through the records.”

Guitarist

Taj Mahal

Events

Past events

Apr 18, 2026

Taj Mahal · Newberry Opera House

14 - 17 Aug, 2025

Taj Mahal · San Francisco Jazz

About

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