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" 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. "

Taj Mahal

Parents

Caribbean

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

" I didn't want to fall into the trap of complacency. "

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

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

Taj Mahal

Tons

Stuff

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

" If the Rolling Stones are playing a concert across town, that's not my audience anyways. But I do find that there's a lot of people coming back around to see me again. "

" The one thing I've always demanded of the records I've made is that they be danceable. "

" I pretty much move around wherever I like. "

Taj Mahal

Wherever

Pretty

" It's just like heirloom tomatoes; this is heirloom music. We used to have all kinds of diversity in our poultry, in our vegetables, in our fruits, and slowly but surely the monoculture beast comes in. I'm saying that's not a good idea. And if it means that I gotta do it on my own, then I do it on my own. "

" 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. "

Taj Mahal

Growing Up

Home

" It's pretty exciting. An honorary doctorate of the arts. It doesn't get any better. "

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

" 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. "

" I was always looking for evidence of these common musical roots, but I was too young to know that what I was doing was called ethnomusicology. "

" My mother was American, and my father was from the Caribbean, and there was a big open door into the world of humanity and music. "

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

" I'm doing exactly what I should be doing, every day on the road. "

" I haven't worn one for a long time, but I look pretty good in a suit. "

" I don't need the credits for playing the blues and paying the dues. I've already done it. There are some other things to do here - movies and scores and voice-overs. "

" 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.' "

" Naw, it - it never stops, man... You gotta be doing what you're supposed to be doing - whenever, however it's coming down, you know. If you're getting your butt kicked - you still gotta do what you gotta be doing. "

" I base myself in African-derived music. Blues is one of the modern forms of African music. "

" In looking out into the world, it didn't look all that nice out there. And who were the nice people? Certainly Mahatma Gandhi was. "

" 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 old enough to chew my peas and corn without choking. "

" My parents grew up during the Harlem renaissance. "

Taj Mahal

Parents

Grew

" As a kid, I always felt connected to Africa; it was something I was very proud of. "

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

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

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