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  • Playing For Change – Queen Bee feat. Taj Mahal, Ben Harper

    Playing For Change – Queen Bee feat. Taj Mahal, Ben Harper

    Playing For Change gets you “rocked to your soul” with the “sweet” sounds of the blues classic, “Queen Bee,” by legendary musician, Taj Mahal.

    Playing For Change – Queen Bee feat. Taj Mahal, Ben Harper
    Queen Bee feat. Taj Mahal, Ben Harper

    “Queen Bee” is a soulful single from Taj Mahal’s 1997 studio album, Señor Blues, which won a GRAMMY for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Enjoy this Song Around The World version, featuring Ben Harper, Rosanne Cash, Paula Fuga and over 20 musicians from six countries.

    “Queen Bee” written by Taj Mahal

    FEATURING:
    Ayano Uema: Sanshin
    Bassekou Kouyate: Ngoni
    Ben Harper: Vocals, Guitar
    Carlos Miyares: Saxophone
    Jake Shimabukuro: Ukulele
    Joe Sublett (The Phantom Blues Band): Saxophone
    Johnny Lee Schell (The Phantom Blues Band): Electric Guitar
    Jon Cleary (The Phantom Blues Band): Piano
    Larry Fulcher (The Phantom Blues Band): Bass
    Les Lovitt (The Phantom Blues Band): Trumpet
    “Lopaka” Colon Jr.: Percussion
    Louis Mhlanga: Guitar
    Mamadou Diabaté: Kora
    Pancho Amat: Tres
    Paula Fuga: Vocals
    Roberto Luti: Slide Guitar
    Rosanne Cash: Vocals
    Safi Diabaté: Vocals
    Taj Mahal: Vocals, Guitar
    Tony Braunagel (The Phantom Blues Band): Drums
    Yu Hatakeyama: Percussion

    MORE ABOUT TAJ MAHAL:

    Taj Mahal

    Born in Harlem, New York but raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. His father was a jazz pianist, composer, arranger hailing from Jamaica, while his mother was a teacher who sang gospel. She came from North Carolina. His grandfather married a woman from Saint Kitts.

    He studied agriculture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the early 1960s, graduating in 1964. (The same university awarded him the honorary title of Doctor of Fine Arts in 2006). There he founded Taj Mahal & Elektras. The name Taj Mahal was inspired by a dream.

    After college, he moved to Los Angeles and founded the Rising Sons group with Ry Cooder in 1964. The band signed with Columbia Records and released a single and recorded an album that was not released by Columbia until 1992. Taj, frustrated by mixed feelings about his music, left the band and began a solo career. Still, with Columbia Records, he released an album of his own name in 1968, building on his success, he released a second Natch’l Blues the same year. The Giant Step two-track set released in 1969 resulted in Taj’s strong position as an American blues artist, and the title track has become iconic and is still popular with current audiences. Most memorable, however, was the performance of Cooder and Taj at The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.

    His music comes from various sources: blues, cajun, gospel, bluegrass, Hawaiian, African, and Caribbean musical traditions. It sticks to the roots and adds a little bit of its own feeling. Plays many musical instruments.

    He has received two Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Blues Album, the first in 1997 for Señor Blues and the second in 2000 for Shoutin ‘In Key.

    He has made soundtracks for many films, including Sounder and Blues Brothers 2000, in which he also appeared.

    In 2006, he guest-starred on electric guitar with Ladysmith Black Mambazo while recording the album Long Walk to Freedom

    In 2013 he supported Hugh Laurie vocally on the album Didn’t It Rain, in the song “Vicksburg Blues”.

    Playing For Change

    Playing For Change (PFC) is a Certified B Corp (Social Purpose Organization) created to inspire and connect the world through music, born from the shared belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. The primary focus of PFC is to record and film musicians performing in their natural environments and combine their talents and cultural power in innovative videos called Songs Around The World. Creating these videos motivated PFC to form the Playing For Change Band—a tangible, traveling representation of its mission, featuring musicians met along their journey; and establish the Playing For Change Foundation—a separate 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting music programs for children around the world. Through these efforts, Playing For Change aims to create hope and inspiration for the future of our planet. To learn more, visit https://playingforchange.com

    To learn more about the work of the PFC Foundation, visit http://www.playingforchange.org

    Playing For Change – Queen Bee feat. Taj Mahal, Ben Harper
    Queen Bee feat. Taj Mahal, Ben Harper

    We appreciate your time and dedication to reading our article. For more of the finest blues guitar music, make sure to follow our Facebook page, “I Love Blues Guitar”. We share exceptional selections every day. Thank you once again for your continued support and readership.

  • Playing For Change – Queen Bee feat. Taj Mahal, Ben Harper

    Playing For Change – Queen Bee feat. Taj Mahal, Ben Harper

    Playing For Change gets you “rocked to your soul” with the “sweet” sounds of the blues classic, “Queen Bee,” by legendary musician, Taj Mahal.

    “Queen Bee” is a soulful single from Taj Mahal’s 1997 studio album, Señor Blues, which won a GRAMMY for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Enjoy this Song Around The World version, featuring Ben Harper, Rosanne Cash, Paula Fuga and over 20 musicians from six countries.

    “Queen Bee” written by Taj Mahal

    FEATURING:
    Ayano Uema: Sanshin
    Bassekou Kouyate: Ngoni
    Ben Harper: Vocals, Guitar
    Carlos Miyares: Saxophone
    Jake Shimabukuro: Ukulele
    Joe Sublett (The Phantom Blues Band): Saxophone
    Johnny Lee Schell (The Phantom Blues Band): Electric Guitar
    Jon Cleary (The Phantom Blues Band): Piano
    Larry Fulcher (The Phantom Blues Band): Bass
    Les Lovitt (The Phantom Blues Band): Trumpet
    “Lopaka” Colon Jr.: Percussion
    Louis Mhlanga: Guitar
    Mamadou Diabaté: Kora
    Pancho Amat: Tres
    Paula Fuga: Vocals
    Roberto Luti: Slide Guitar
    Rosanne Cash: Vocals
    Safi Diabaté: Vocals
    Taj Mahal: Vocals, Guitar
    Tony Braunagel (The Phantom Blues Band): Drums
    Yu Hatakeyama: Percussion

    MORE ABOUT TAJ MAHAL:

    Taj Mahal

    Born in Harlem, New York but raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. His father was a jazz pianist, composer, arranger hailing from Jamaica, while his mother was a teacher who sang gospel. She came from North Carolina. His grandfather married a woman from Saint Kitts.

    He studied agriculture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the early 1960s, graduating in 1964. (The same university awarded him the honorary title of Doctor of Fine Arts in 2006). There he founded Taj Mahal & Elektras. The name Taj Mahal was inspired by a dream.

    After college, he moved to Los Angeles and founded the Rising Sons group with Ry Cooder in 1964. The band signed with Columbia Records and released a single and recorded an album that was not released by Columbia until 1992. Taj, frustrated by mixed feelings about his music, left the band and began a solo career. Still, with Columbia Records, he released an album of his own name in 1968, building on his success, he released a second Natch’l Blues the same year. The Giant Step two-track set released in 1969 resulted in Taj’s strong position as an American blues artist, and the title track has become iconic and is still popular with current audiences. Most memorable, however, was the performance of Cooder and Taj at The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.

    His music comes from various sources: blues, cajun, gospel, bluegrass, Hawaiian, African, and Caribbean musical traditions. It sticks to the roots and adds a little bit of its own feeling. Plays many musical instruments.

    He has received two Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Blues Album, the first in 1997 for Señor Blues and the second in 2000 for Shoutin ‘In Key.

    He has made soundtracks for many films, including Sounder and Blues Brothers 2000, in which he also appeared.

    In 2006, he guest-starred on electric guitar with Ladysmith Black Mambazo while recording the album Long Walk to Freedom

    In 2013 he supported Hugh Laurie vocally on the album Didn’t It Rain, in the song “Vicksburg Blues”.

    Playing For Change

    Playing For Change (PFC) is a Certified B Corp (Social Purpose Organization) created to inspire and connect the world through music, born from the shared belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. The primary focus of PFC is to record and film musicians performing in their natural environments and combine their talents and cultural power in innovative videos called Songs Around The World. Creating these videos motivated PFC to form the Playing For Change Band—a tangible, traveling representation of its mission, featuring musicians met along their journey; and establish the Playing For Change Foundation—a separate 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting music programs for children around the world. Through these efforts, Playing For Change aims to create hope and inspiration for the future of our planet. To learn more, visit https://playingforchange.com

    To learn more about the work of the PFC Foundation, visit http://www.playingforchange.org

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    We appreciate your time and dedication to reading our article. For more of the finest blues guitar music, make sure to follow our Facebook page, “I Love Blues Guitar”. We share exceptional selections every day. Thank you once again for your continued support and readership.

  • Ben Harper, Charlie Musselwhite – I’m In I’m Out And I’m Gone

    Ben Harper, Charlie Musselwhite – I’m In I’m Out And I’m Gone

    Ben Harper With Charlie Musselwhite

    Ben Harper

    Extremely charismatic, sensational musician and vocalist, two-time Grammy Award winner. He is known for his involvement in social issues and inexhaustible energy at concerts. Harper’s work is deeply rooted in rock, blues and folk. Already in childhood, thanks to his parents, he met two musical worlds – on the one hand, Cat Stevens and Bob Dylan, on the other Marvin Gaye and Bob Marley. Later, he became fascinated with both Chuck Berry, The Beatles, The Sugarhill Gang, Elton John and Jimmy Cliff. You can hear all these influences on his records. He regularly releases new records since the 90’s. His releases have repeatedly coincided with gold. For example “Fight For Your Mind”, “Burn To Shine”, or “Live At The Apollo”.

    Ben Harper represents the middle generation of American musicians. He was born in 1969, so he certainly can not remember the events described in the texts by the classical masters of the blues genre, nor could he hear most of them live. But he offering his own view of the musical tradition. Harper mixes different inspirations while being a guitar virtuoso using his skills where it is needed, leaving virtuoso traps to other great guitarists. He usually sings just like the old masters of blues. Sometimes he stays somewhere alongside the melody, focusing rather on the emotions and expression proper to simple texts than some extremely complicated harmonies. He has also shown respect for the great masters many times. His performances and recordings from Blind Boys Of Alabama have already passed into the genre’s history.

    Charlie Musselwhite

    Charlie Musselwhite is 1944, is one of Mike Bloomfield’s best-known pupils, who in the early 1960s had more or less the same role in the US (at least for white bluesmen) John Mayall played in Great Britain – he was an educator for entire generations of outstanding musicians. Charlie Musselwhite began his musical journey at a time when, especially living in Chicago, you could see and play with the legends of the genre. Recognized as a world star of the blues harmonica, he is the co-author of the historical for the blues album “Stand Back! Here Comes Charles Musselwhite’s Southside Band. ” He has recorded countless albums. He also became a prototype, which was repeatedly emphasized by Dan Aykroyd, his character in the famous film “Blues Brothers”. Charlie Musselwhite appearing for the moment on stage in the sequel – “Blues Brothers 2000”.

    No Mercy In This Land
  • Ben Harper, Charlie Musselwhite – I’m In I’m Out And I’m Gone

    Ben Harper, Charlie Musselwhite – I’m In I’m Out And I’m Gone

    Ben Harper

    Extremely charismatic, sensational musician and vocalist, two-time Grammy Award winner. He is known for his involvement in social issues and inexhaustible energy at concerts. Harper’s work is deeply rooted in rock, blues and folk. Already in childhood, thanks to his parents, he met two musical worlds – on the one hand, Cat Stevens and Bob Dylan, on the other Marvin Gaye and Bob Marley. Later, he became fascinated with both Chuck Berry, The Beatles, The Sugarhill Gang, Elton John and Jimmy Cliff. You can hear all these influences on his records. He regularly releases new records since the 90’s. His releases have repeatedly coincided with gold. For example “Fight For Your Mind”, “Burn To Shine”, or “Live At The Apollo”.

    Ben Harper represents the middle generation of American musicians. He was born in 1969, so he certainly can not remember the events described in the texts by the classical masters of the blues genre, nor could he hear most of them live. But he offering his own view of the musical tradition. Harper mixes different inspirations while being a guitar virtuoso using his skills where it is needed, leaving virtuoso traps to other great guitarists. He usually sings just like the old masters of blues. Sometimes he stays somewhere alongside the melody, focusing rather on the emotions and expression proper to simple texts than some extremely complicated harmonies. He has also shown respect for the great masters many times. His performances and recordings from Blind Boys Of Alabama have already passed into the genre’s history.

    Charlie Musselwhite

    Charlie Musselwhite is 1944, is one of Mike Bloomfield’s best-known pupils, who in the early 1960s had more or less the same role in the US (at least for white bluesmen) John Mayall played in Great Britain – he was an educator for entire generations of outstanding musicians. Charlie Musselwhite began his musical journey at a time when, especially living in Chicago, you could see and play with the legends of the genre. Recognized as a world star of the blues harmonica, he is the co-author of the historical for the blues album “Stand Back! Here Comes Charles Musselwhite’s Southside Band. ” He has recorded countless albums. He also became a prototype, which was repeatedly emphasized by Dan Aykroyd, his character in the famous film “Blues Brothers”. Charlie Musselwhite appearing for the moment on stage in the sequel – “Blues Brothers 2000”.

    [yellowbox]’No Mercy In This Land,’ the new album from Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite, is available now https://amzn.to/2J4luYp [/yellowbox]

    No Mercy In This Land

    Video

    Ben Harper, Charlie Musselwhite - I'm In I'm Out And I'm Gone
    Ben Harper, Charlie Musselwhite – I’m In I’m Out And I’m Gone