Taj Majal One of the defining characters in the American blues movement, Henry Saint Clair Fredericks has been contributing to, and shaping, the art form for over fifty years. His stage name is Taj Mahal, a testament to his stylistically worldly opulence. Growing up in a musical family, Taj was exposed to a variety of genres early on, from gospel to Afro-Caribbean to West Indian jazz. He quickly picked up the guitar, piano, banjo, clarinet, trombone and harmonica. Taj began his professional career in 1964 when he moved to Santa Monica and formed the blues rock band Rising Sons. Keb’ Mo’ Keb’ Mo’ has been playing the guitar since he was a little blues-filled tyke. Kevin Roosevelt Moore, his given name, has been instrumental in spreading blues across the country over the course of his still-thriving, many decade-spanning career. While already an accomplished guitarist as an adolescent, his first professional experience came playing steel drums and upright bass in a calypso band. He branched out to play with numerous blues heavy bands all through the 70’s and 80’s. Jontavious Willis Every generation or so a young bluesman bursts onto the scene. Someone who sends a jolt through blues lovers. Someone who has mastered the craft for sure, but who also has the blues deep down in his heart and soul. The sincerely passionate Jontavious Willis may be the one. Hailing from Greenville, Georgia, Jontavious grew up singing gospel music at the Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church with his grandfather. At the age of 14, he came across a YouTube video of Muddy Waters playing “Hoochie Coochie Man” and was hooked. Dante Ross Dante Ross is a whiz in the music biz, as an industry executive, A&R rep, producer, and a phenom DJ. Named one of the top-25 greatest A&R representatives in hip hop by Complex magazine, Ross started his A&R career at Tommy Boy records, where he signed and handled artists like De La Soul, Queen Latifah, and Digital Underground. Ross was then hired by Elektra Records, the first person ever employed by a major label specifically for hip hop A & R.
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