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" I'm always cracking up when I hear what people think I should be doing. "
Taj Mahal
Doing
Up
Think
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" 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. "
Taj Mahal
Doing
Know
Roots
" 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. "
Taj Mahal
Connection
Father
Grandparents
" 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. "
Taj Mahal
Door
Mother
World
" My perspective is cultural and world-based. It's always been a global perspective. "
Taj Mahal
Always
Perspective
Global
" 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. "
Taj Mahal
Control
People
America
" 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. "
Taj Mahal
Time
Me
Child
" Ziggy Marley is the third generation of Marleys I know. I knew his grandmother and his dad - I did a children's album with his grandmother. They're like family. "
Taj Mahal
Like
Children
Family
" 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? "
Taj Mahal
Live
Seeing
Know
" What the future of the planet and music and art and all of it is sharing; it's diversity. "
Taj Mahal
Future
Music
Sharing
" 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.' "
Taj Mahal
Time
My Life
Down
" I'm doing exactly what I always wanted to do, and I still like what I can do musically. "
Taj Mahal
Like
Doing
Musically
" My parents grew up during the Harlem renaissance. "
Taj Mahal
Parents
Up
Grew
" The one thing I've always demanded of the records I've made is that they be danceable. "
Taj Mahal
Thing
Always
One Thing
" 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. "
Taj Mahal
Moving
Children
She
" I enjoy music wherever it's coming from. "
Taj Mahal
Coming
Music
Wherever
" I see myself as a composer who plays music and likes to play with other people, and not just as a solo artist. "
Taj Mahal
See
People
Myself
" When I was 5 or 6, I was messing around with the piano, and I listened to everything from Chopin to boogie-woogie. "
Taj Mahal
Around
Everything
Messing
" 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. "
Taj Mahal
Good
Saying
Music
" It's pretty exciting. An honorary doctorate of the arts. It doesn't get any better. "
Taj Mahal
Arts
Exciting
Get
" 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. "
Taj Mahal
You
Interesting
Time
" Particularly with the blues, it's not just about bad times. It's about the healing spirit. "
Taj Mahal
Blues
Bad Times
Spirit
" 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
Me
Parents
Caribbean
" I didn't want to fall into the trap of complacency. "
Taj Mahal
Trap
Want
Complacency
" When I was a kid, there was so much talent outside of recorded music. "
Taj Mahal
Talent
Kid
Much
" The song of the blues, the song of the music, was something a lot of people missed out on. They thought they had to swagger a certain way or bark at the mic, and you don't have to do that. "
Taj Mahal
Music
People
Song
" 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. "
Taj Mahal
People
Back
Audience
" I wanted to explore the connections between different kinds of music. "
Taj Mahal
Explore
Music
Connections
" 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. "
Taj Mahal
Blues
You
Past
" I haven't worn one for a long time, but I look pretty good in a suit. "
Taj Mahal
Long
Time
Look
" I just worked my own personal thoughts into my music, and just kept at it until I found a way in. "
Taj Mahal
Music
Thoughts
Own