R. Carlos Nakai on Not Speaking for All Natives

[Writer’s note: I conducted this interview in person just after I started at New Age Retailer magazine in 1998. I was a big fan, and the marriage of my new role (as assistant editor) and a surprise opportunity (R. Carlos was touring with the R. Carlos Nakai Quartet and coming through Bellingham, Washington, just then)…

R. Carlos Nakai on Music in the Moment

Ray: Is there an overall philosophy or message you’re trying to share with your music? R. Carlos: Part of it is expressing the idea of living in many worlds at once. But I also use the music to describe how I feel inside. To describe, as a child does, just singing impromptu—improvisationally in the moment—about…