Over the course of his 40-year career, two-time Grammy winner Taj Mahal has proved himself to be "certainly one of the enduring figures in 20th century American blues" (Rolling Stone).

Though his influence on the following generation of blues players, such as Keb Mo' and Corey Harris, is undeniable, Mahal is a musical adventurer who has engaged in all variety of cross-cultural collaborations, injecting reggae, calypso, Indian ragas and West African sounds and textures into his music to create a blend that is distinctly his own.

In his teens, Mahal chose music over farming and quickly got to work, performing with such blues legends as Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy, Lightnin' Hopkins and Muddy Waters. The Massachusetts-born Mahal relocated to California and formed the legendary Rising Sons band with Ry Cooder, which disbanded after one record. Mahal went solo in 1968 and hasn't looked back.

Despite being deeply knowledgeable about the blues, he's clearly no purist. As The Rough Guide points out, "Taj Mahal was one of the first major artists, if not the very first one, to pursue the possibilities of world music. (He) showed an aptitude for spicing the mix with flavors that always kept him a yard or so distant from being an out-and-out blues performer."

Mahal's 34 albums have been nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning two. He has worked collaboratively with Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt and Etta James in the blues world, and Indian musician V.M. Bhatt and African kora master Toumani Diabate from the world-music realm.

And as anyone who has seen him perform in recent years can attest, "He just keeps getting better with age...Mahal's heartfelt, bluesy, roots rock never sounded better, or stronger" (Creative Loafing).

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