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For me, rhythm is a type of divine mathematics in a way. No matter where you're from, we can all understand the mathematics of rhythm. I try to apply this mathematical thinking to my playing.

John McLaughlin

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John McLaughlin
Age: 82
Born: 1942
Born: January 4
Guitarist
Jazz Musician
Musician
Recording Artist
Songwriter
Playing
Understand
Matter
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Trying
Mathematical
Way
Rhythm
Thinking
Mathematics
Type
Divine

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Music that touches the transcendental aspect of a human being is reserved for a marginal audience
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Question: Does it frost Jackson, Jesse Jackson, that someone like Obama, who fits the stereotype blacks once labeled as an Oreo -- a black on the outside, a white on the inside -- that an Oreo should be the beneficiary of the long civil rights struggle which Jesse Jackson spent his lifetime fighting for?
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Spirituality is worthless if it's not practical. Music is my work. I am a musician.
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I just want to keep exploring music and hopefully the orders will keep coming in and I'll be able to keep growing the interior and exterior sides of my life.
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There is really no spiritual message that I'm trying to convey with my music, it's just a personal thing. I really believe that the more personal we get, in a way, the more universal the implications.
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At the risk of sounding hopelessly romantic, love is the key element. I really love to play with different musicians who come from different cultural backgrounds.
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The biggest government waste: The death penalty. An individual death-penalty case could climb to $100 million, much of it spent at the litigation level. Also, DNA evidence has exonerated nearly 300 death-row inmates.
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There are two kinds of success. One is musical or artistic and the other is commercial.
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When I hear a great musician, I can feel his life inside the music.
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When Indian musicians play a raga it's very restrictive. But, in a way these restraints are essential to liberate yourself through them, if that makes sense. I'm very much of this school of rhythm, it's the direction I'm drawn in when I'm writing and improvising.
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Interplay and interaction are the integral parts of music - they're as important as the notes.
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I believe everybody is spiritual and no one is any more spiritual than anyone else.
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