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" American music is a powerful ingredient in international music, and as much as it comes from within, it also comes from without. "

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" Very old music is, like, 11th century in my mind. That's very old. "

" More and more people are finally realizing that in the heart of America, there's all this incredible music that wasn't widely heard before because it wasn't in the interest of those who feel they have to control the taste of the wider public. "

" I pretty much move around wherever I like. "

" I've got tons more stuff to do. "

" I enjoy music wherever it's coming from. "

" I just worked my own personal thoughts into my music, and just kept at it until I found a way in. "

" I wanted to keep pushing the musical ideas I had about jazz, music from Africa and the Caribbean. "

" When I was 5 or 6, I was messing around with the piano, and I listened to everything from Chopin to boogie-woogie. "

" I was always taught that Latin, Caribbean people were cousins to me, as well as blues was a cousin to me, as well as Africans were direct relatives to me. It was all a part of my language. "

" I don't care if it's somebody else's song. Most of the time, you'll find that I'll put my own stamp on it. But I started writing more because, you know, it's easy to regurgitate what somebody else is doing, but it's exciting to be able to come up with your own writing. "

" My grandparents on my father's side came to this country from the Caribbean with a strong connection to Africa and no shame about it. "

" It's very interesting, the dynamics of popularity. When you do something all the time, you don't worry about whether it's trendy or not. "

" I'm perceived as someone who goes out and searches for new music, but it was all present in my household. "

" As a solo performer, it's total involvement. What I do is to break down the wall between audience and performer. "

" I'm a composer, man. "

" I see myself as a composer who plays music and likes to play with other people, and not just as a solo artist. "

" As I got more involved in music, one of the things that made me excited, from the time I was a child, was that clear link between our ancestors and the sounds we hear today. "

" I would have never gotten to college if it hadn't been for getting up at 4 A.M. and milking them Holsteins. "

" What the future of the planet and music and art and all of it is sharing; it's diversity. "

" All the music that I play today, I actually heard either at home or in my neighborhood when I was growing up in the '40s and '50s. "

" My perspective is cultural and world-based. It's always been a global perspective. "

" When I was a kid, there was so much talent outside of recorded music. "

" If what you're talking about is seeing someone perform, then I'll have to say that in the rhythm-and-blues side of things, seein' Otis Redding live was it, you know? "

" The blues is played everywhere. There's no place I've been where they don't have blues or aren't interested in blues. "

" Music is like the soul of the planet. "

" My grandmother had many children. She lost most. So when we came along, we were really special. I was the first grandchild that could see her spirit moving to a new generation. "

" What you have to understand is that blues... it's in a line from the oldest forms of African music. If you're playing it like it's an echo of the past, it would be a lot less exciting, but this music lives today. "

" I wanted to explore the connections between different kinds of music. "

" No matter what went down, music was always going to be a part of my life. What ultimately happened is that, over a period of time, I just kind of looked around and when like, 'Wow! I'm actually making a living doing this.' "

" As a youngster, my parents made me aware that all that was from the African Diaspora belonged to me. So I came in with Caribbean music, African music, Latin music, gospel music and blues. "