Taj Mahal

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 creati...