Word: taj
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...things. But you knew it was painful because you could feel the vibes from so many people who had been bent and broken and twisted and done in under that kind of structure. They wanted to get rid of the traces of any memories of slavery times." Yet Taj reveals those memories in "Slave Driver," a song written by Bob Marley on Mo Roots...
...Taj has made a career out of understanding his origins. The eldest of nine children, Taj (born Henry Fredericksin New York City in 1943) lived first in the Jamaican ghetto of Brooklyn but mostly grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts. His father, a noted jazz composer and arranger of West Indian descent, introduced his son to the likes of Meade Lux Lewis. Cow Cow Davenport and Leadbelly at an early, age. His appetite whetted. Taj sought out the early master Blues artists such as Willie Brown, Charlie Patton and Kid Bailey. His pursuit of the music of Southern country blues...
...Taj's music was also deeply influenced by his grandmother from St. Kitts, who would openly tell him stories about the country, her childhood and music. "She was crazy about me because I was her first grandson," Taj explains. Again, he has transformed his experience with her into "Clara (St. Kitts Woman...
When asked if changing his name wasn't a kind of denial of his origins. Taj dismisses the idea with a shake of the head and a wave of the hand. "It all came about in a really bizarre dream that I've gone into too many times already. Right now, the East seems to fit in my mind more than the West. At the time, I thought anything would be better than Bobby, Billy, Joey, Sammy, Freddie, or Richie--all of which reduce to zilch. I never really thought about the repercussions of changing my name. And you know...
...people have been willing to understand his music, Taj started to perform the country blues (after receiving a degree in Animal Husbandry from the University of Massachusetts) and later Chicago-style blues at a time when most young black musicians were involved with either rhythm and blues of the avant-garde jazz movement that was then flourishing. His early explorations into the Blues were also ensnared by the commercially oriented black blues revival of the late sixties. As long as he was classified as a blues singer." It was clear that few black people would ever rush to hear what...