Arts & Lectures
2005-2006 Performing Arts Season News Release
For Immediate Release

March 14, 2006

Taj Mahal and Mavis Staples join forces for a wonderful evening of blues and soul at UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

Taj Mahal & Mavis Staples, two of America’s musical treasures, will perform a rousing concert of blues and soul on Tuesday, April 25 at 8 pm in UCSB Campbell Hall. For more than 40 years Taj Mahal has been a musical explorer, creating his own groove variously described as Afro-Caribbean blues, folk-world-blues, hula blues and folk-funk. Z Magazine writes, “Mahal amazes audiences with his fluid playing and uncanny ability to blend styles.” Mavis Staples is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee who, as lead in The Staples Singers, has been a driving force in music and social change since the 1960s. The Chicago Sun-Times asserts, “Staples has one of the most powerful and distinctive voices that soul or gospel has ever produced.”

With more than 40 albums to his credit, Taj Mahal is one of the recording industry’s most celebrated contemporary blues artists. Mahal has received nine Grammy nominations, twice winning the award for Best Contemporary Blues Album for Señor Blues (1997) and Shoutin’ in Key (2000). Famous for his musical collaborations, he has played with innumerable other musicians, everyone from Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters to Sheryl Crow and Eric Clapton. His excitement for music and musicians of all kinds is infectious. He’s just as likely to record a track with South African greats Ladysmith Black Mambazo as he is to appear onstage with jazz innovator Randy Weston.

Now a legendary performer, songwriter, composer and producer, Mahal grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts in a home that cherished sounds from around the globe. Listening to various musical forms, including Caribbean, African, Latin, Cuban, gospel and jazz, he developed his own distinctive blend of blues and world music. A self-taught musician, he plays more than 20 instruments, including the National Steel and Dobro guitars. His remarkable voice, which ranges from gruff and gravelly to smooth and sultry, has been enrapturing audiences for more than 40 years. Mahal’s music resonates as true today as it did when he began his career in 1969. “From my vantage point,” says the master musician, “my music talks about individuals being responsible for their own happiness. A lot of people think that blues music is gonna bring you down. Well, my music will never do that.”

Soul and gospel legend Mavis Staples possesses one of the most recognizable and treasured voices in contemporary music. From her early days sharing lead vocals with her groundbreaking family gospel group The Staple Singers to her storied solo recordings, Mavis Staples is an inspirational force in modern popular culture and music. A veteran of the music scene for over 40 years, she is responsible for blazing a rhythm & blues trail while never relinquishing her gospel roots, influencing artists from Bob Dylan to Prince (who dubbed her “the epitome of soul”) in the process. Appearances alongside everyone from the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Bill Cosby to Presidents Kennedy, Carter and Clinton to musicians Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, Santana and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and recording sessions with Bob Dylan, Los Lobos, Aretha Franklin and so many others barely scratch the surface of her accomplishments.

Her career began as part of the Staple Singers when just a teen in Chicago, singing in churches and on radio. Led by family patriarch Roebuck “Pops” Staples and including Mavis and siblings Cleo, Yvonne and Pervis, the Staples were often referred to as “God’s Greatest Hitmakers.” With prodding from Mavis, the Staples evolved from enormously popular gospel singers to become the most spectacular and influential spiritually-based group in America, helping provide an inspirational soundtrack to the Civil Rights Movement with message songs like “Long Walk to D.C.” and “When Will We Be Paid?” The Staple Singers hit the Top 40 eight times between 1971 and 1975, including two #1 singles, “I’ll Take You There” and “Let’s Do It Again.” Now a long ways from their early roots as a pure gospel group, The Staple Singers were bona fide pop stars. Since then Mavis has had a flourishing solo recording career, working with the likes of Curtis Mayfield, and acting in film (Graffiti Bridge) and television (The Cosby Show). Rolling Stone claims, “Mavis Staples is the most underrated diva of the century. She has an almost superhuman ability to implant the pure power of passion and emotion.”

Concert-goers may enhance their experience by attending a buffet featuring foods from Chicago’s favorite restaurants served by the UCSB Faculty Club at 6 pm prior to the show. The dinner is $18 per person; reservations must be made by April 18 by calling (805) 893-3096.

Taj Mahal & Mavis Staples are presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by the Santa Barbara Independent and KCBX Public Radio. Arts & Lectures’ Roots Series, of which this concert is a part, is sponsored by Fredric E. Steck and Kelly LeBrock. Mavis Staples’ residency is supported by the Arts Education Outreach Program of the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation. Tickets are $45 for the general public and $19, but in limited availability, for UCSB students who must show valid ID at ticket purchase and the evening of the show. Ticket prices are subject to convenience fees. Tickets are on sale now and can also be purchased at the door, if still available.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.

©2006 UCSB Arts & Lectures, University of California, Santa Barbara