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" 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

Related Quotes:

" I'm doing exactly what I always wanted to do, and I still like what I can do musically. "

Taj Mahal

Doing

Musically

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

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

Taj Mahal

Tons

Stuff

" 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.' "

" I'm a composer, man. "

Taj Mahal

Man

Composer

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

" 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 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. "

Taj Mahal

Language

People

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

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

" 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. "

" 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

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

" 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? "

" 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. "

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

" 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 music is really fun music, with some pan-African and pan-American influences. "

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

" 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. "

" I'm always cracking up when I hear what people think I should be doing. "

Taj Mahal

Doing

Think

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

" Particularly with the blues, it's not just about bad times. It's about the healing spirit. "

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

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

" 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. "

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

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

" 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. "

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