Posted:
This is for the fans of Carlos Santana and for who are not aware of his work. Pl post any info you find on him and his work.
Will be writing his fans name here
Swar_raj
Qwest
Rachna
Sonayee
Sangeeta
Iron
Dayita
Roy
This is for the fans of Carlos Santana and for who are not aware of his work. Pl post any info you find on him and his work.
Will be writing his fans name here
Swar_raj
Qwest
Rachna
Sonayee
Sangeeta
Iron
Dayita
Roy
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Originally posted by: Swar_Raj
Carlos Santana, plugged in!
Woodstock music festival, 1969. A 22 year old from Tijuana, Mexico, was on hallucinogens. Nothing out of place, just that the mannish boy was about to play his first big show, which had been rescheduled to a day earlier than originally planned.
'I was praying to god to just let be in tune and on time,' he told Guitar Player magazine, years later. By then, his unique sound -- which legendary music promoter Bill Graham called 'about the joy of loving, the joy of giving' -- had made him an icon, a star.
And 36 years since he burst onto the music scene with his unique guitar style fusing Latin rhythms with the blues, Carlos Santana still pulls at heartstrings every time he bends a note.
His comeback album Supernatural made a whole new generation wake up to his magic. Since then, he has been experimenting with newer styles – from hip hop to rap to industrial metal.
Then again, he has never been a frog in the genre well. From jazz rock -- with the likes of John McLaughlin and Weather Report -- to Afro-pop -- with cora virtuoso Mori Kante – to the blues – John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton -- Santana's been there, played that.
But in an e-mail interview with rediff.com, the guitar god says his newest album, All That I Am, is his most personal record yet. Excerpts:
Dear Carlos, All That I Am seems a continuation of what you started with Supernatural -- collaborating with a new generation of artistes. Is it a conscious effort to woo new, younger audiences to your music?
I don't want people to think this is part of some formula. All of the material on this disc comes from the heart, which in itself makes the music special.
What's the story behind the name of the album?
It's my most personal album to date. Hence the name.
When you collaborate with an artiste, does s/he bring the song or do you sit down and write the song together?
It really depends from artist to artist. Sometimes, you work on things together, sometimes you just put in your individual thoughts and come up with something.
When I worked with (legendary drummer) Dennis Chambers on Hermes, we wanted to create a song that when one heard it, you could feel the richness of African soil beneath your feel.
When I am in Africa, I am not a tourist, but an artist absorbing and seeking knowledge. With Hermes, it is some of that knowledge I am sharing.
Who decides who you collaborate with? For instance, how did the jam with (Metallica guitarist) Kirk Hammett materialise? What was it like?
Working with Kirk was okay. Clive (Davis, Arista Records founder) came up with the idea for us to collaborate together.
Sceptics say you are collaborating with big-ticket names to ensure your albums are hits. What is your response?
As I said, these songs are from my heart. My music is all from the heart. I don't want people to think that anything I do professionally is part of some pre-planned programme.
After all these years, is music still a spiritual experience for you? Do you cut an album when you want to or when your label wants you to?
My label and I have always had a very smooth relationship. We work really well together. If there is anything that I want incorporated into the album, then I just try it out and we work together. When the label shows trust in you, it's easy to work together.
Would you mind elaborating a little on what guitars and set-up you used for the new album? Was it the PRS all the way? What kind of microphone placements did you experiment with? Or do you leave all that to the engineer?
I concentrate on the music clearly. I have a team of excellent engineers to figure out the rest. For example, when I worked with (singer) Anthony Hamilton, he had some inputs on the sound element and the clarity.
When I hear Anthony, I am reminded of brothers like Donny Hathaway or Bill Withers. Like water, Anthony Hamilton has all colours in his voice, but still it's so clear.
You are the flagbearer of an era of music and musicians that was all about experimenting, in music and in life. Do you feel the dream of rock, the spirit of adventure and rebellion, has died?
There is a new form of adventure and rebellion in this age. It's a very mature form of adventure. People have had too much freedom. What they are looking for now is a bit of stability.
Can music from the heart compete with music from machines?
Every time and any day of the week.
What new music are you listening to?
I love Maroon 5.
What is the secret of your unique guitar sound?
Just a lot of heart.
What music would Miles (Davis), (Jimi) Hendrix be playing, if they were alive today?
I really have no idea, but something that brings about emotion in them, I would imagine.
Are you a political person? Your Milagro paid tribute to Dr Martin Luther King. Do you think the days of activist musicians are over?
I'd rather not comment on this one.
You have been quoted as saying what George Bush is doing is not conducive for a better world. Do you feel the world is a better place in the new millennium?
All one can do is hope...
All I know is that I have to go see him every time he comes to town to feel the spirituality that comes from his music, and especially his soulful guitar playing.
| HOME | 1964 & BEFORE | 1965 - 1969 | 1970 - 1975 | 1976 - 1980 | 1981 - 1985 |
| 1986 - 1990 | 1991 - 1995 | 1996 - 1998 | 1999 - TO PRESENT |
1970
First time performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival, June 20.
Santana billed with Miles Davis & Voices of East Harlem, at Tanglewood, MA., August 18.
'Black Magic Woman,' was awarded the Hit Disc Award by CBS/Sony.
Release of Abraxas album, October.This artwork was a smaller part of an original piece of artwork by Abdul Mati Klarwein in 1962.
Abraxas awarded Best Rock Album by CBS/Sony.
R.I.A.A. Gold Award for Abraxas, October 20, 1970.
R.I.A.A. Quadruple Platinum Award for Abraxas, November 21, 1986.
1971
Performs at final show of the Fillmore West, July 4.
Final shows at the Fillmore become an album entitled, Fillmore The Last Days, released in 1972.
After arriving in Lima, Peru the Santana show was cancelled due to a political uprising by the students at the University, December 11.
'Samba Pa Ti,' Premio Poplarismas, Radiodifrisora Venezuela, Otorgan Al La Cancion.
Release of Santana III album, October.
R.I.A.A. Gold Album for Santana III, October 5, 1971.
R.I.A.A. Double Platinum Award for Santana III, November 21, 1986.
1972
Carlos and Deborah Santana met at the Tower of Power Concert at the Marin Civic Audiorium, July.
Release of Live - Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles album, August.
R.I.A.A. Gold Award for 'Live'- Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles album, August 8, 1972.
Begins nine year involvement with Guru Sri Chinmoy, introduced by John McLaughlin. (in fall of 1972)
Abraxas awarded Record of the Year by Playboy All-Star Jazz and Pop poll.
Best Small Combo Award by Playboy All-Star Jazz and Pop Poll.
El Padre de Pais Award, La Vida Nueva, in the area of Musical Entertainment and Performance.
Release of Caravanserai album, November.
Caravanserai nominated for a Grammy in the field of Best Instrumental Performance.
R.I.A.A. Gold Award for Caravanserai, November 9, 1972.
R.I.A.A. Platinum Award for Caravanserai, November 21, 1986
R.I.A.A. Platinum Award for 'Live' - Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles album, November 21, 1986.
1973
Santana and the Rolling Stones play benefit concert for Nicaraguan earthquake victims, The Forum, January 18.
Carlos and Deborah were married April 20.
Sri Chinmoy gave Carlos the name "Devadip" (pronounced Day va deep), meaning the "Lamp of God, Eye of God, Light of God."
First World Tour: Alaska, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand, Mexico, South America, Central America and the USA.
Lotus album recorded live in Japan, July 3 & 4.
Release of Love, Devotion and Surrender-Carlos Santana and Mahavishnu John McLaughlin album, July.
R.I.A.A. Gold Award for Love, Devotion and Surrender with John McLaughlin, September 17, 1973.
Performs 'Earthquake Relief' benefit concert in Managua, Nicaragua, October 3.
Release of Welcome album, November.
R.I.A.A. Gold Album for Welcome, November 29, 1973.
1974
Release of Illuminations-Carlos Santana and Turiya Alice Coltrane album, July.
Release of Greatest Hits album, August.
Release of Borboletta album, October.
R.I.A.A.Gold Award for Santana's Greatest Hits, October 3, 1974.
1975
SNACK Benefit at Kezar Stadium, (Students Need Art, Culture and Kicks), March 23.
Awarded Latin-Rock Band of the year by Latin New York Music Awards.
Tadanori Yokoo, a renowned Japanese artist did the artwork for the Lotus album.
Release of the Lotus album Internationally, December.
SANTANA AUDIO:
1970:
Black magic Woman
Oye Como Va
1971:
Everybody's Everything
No One To Depend On
1972:
Song of the Wind
Them Changes
1973:
Mother Africa
Samba De Sausalito
A Love Supreme
1974:
Samba Pa Ti
Illuminations
Give & Take
1975:
Yours Is The Light
Download real player
| HOME | 1964 & BEFORE | 1965 - 1969 | 1970 - 1975 | 1976 - 1980 | 1981 - 1985 |
| 1986 - 1990 | 1991 - 1995 | 1996 - 1998 | 1999 - TO PRESENT |
1970
First time performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival, June 20.
Santana billed with Miles Davis & Voices of East Harlem, at Tanglewood, MA., August 18.
'Black Magic Woman,' was awarded the Hit Disc Award by CBS/Sony.
Release of Abraxas album, October.This artwork was a smaller part of an original piece of artwork by Abdul Mati Klarwein in 1962.
Abraxas awarded Best Rock Album by CBS/Sony.
R.I.A.A. Gold Award for Abraxas, October 20, 1970.
R.I.A.A. Quadruple Platinum Award for Abraxas, November 21, 1986.
1971
Performs at final show of the Fillmore West, July 4.
Final shows at the Fillmore become an album entitled, Fillmore The Last Days, released in 1972.
After arriving in Lima, Peru the Santana show was cancelled due to a political uprising by the students at the University, December 11.
'Samba Pa Ti,' Premio Poplarismas, Radiodifrisora Venezuela, Otorgan Al La Cancion.
Release of Santana III album, October.
R.I.A.A. Gold Album for Santana III, October 5, 1971.
R.I.A.A. Double Platinum Award for Santana III, November 21, 1986.
1972
Carlos and Deborah Santana met at the Tower of Power Concert at the Marin Civic Audiorium, July.
Release of Live - Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles album, August.
R.I.A.A. Gold Award for 'Live'- Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles album, August 8, 1972.
Begins nine year involvement with Guru Sri Chinmoy, introduced by John McLaughlin. (in fall of 1972)
Abraxas awarded Record of the Year by Playboy All-Star Jazz and Pop poll.
Best Small Combo Award by Playboy All-Star Jazz and Pop Poll.
El Padre de Pais Award, La Vida Nueva, in the area of Musical Entertainment and Performance.
Release of Caravanserai album, November.
Caravanserai nominated for a Grammy in the field of Best Instrumental Performance.
R.I.A.A. Gold Award for Caravanserai, November 9, 1972.
R.I.A.A. Platinum Award for Caravanserai, November 21, 1986
R.I.A.A. Platinum Award for 'Live' - Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles album, November 21, 1986.
1973
Santana and the Rolling Stones play benefit concert for Nicaraguan earthquake victims, The Forum, January 18.
Carlos and Deborah were married April 20.
Sri Chinmoy gave Carlos the name "Devadip" (pronounced Day va deep), meaning the "Lamp of God, Eye of God, Light of God."
First World Tour: Alaska, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand, Mexico, South America, Central America and the USA.
Lotus album recorded live in Japan, July 3 & 4.
Release of Love, Devotion and Surrender-Carlos Santana and Mahavishnu John McLaughlin album, July.
R.I.A.A. Gold Award for Love, Devotion and Surrender with John McLaughlin, September 17, 1973.
Performs 'Earthquake Relief' benefit concert in Managua, Nicaragua, October 3.
Release of Welcome album, November.
R.I.A.A. Gold Album for Welcome, November 29, 1973.
1974
Release of Illuminations-Carlos Santana and Turiya Alice Coltrane album, July.
Release of Greatest Hits album, August.
Release of Borboletta album, October.
R.I.A.A.Gold Award for Santana's Greatest Hits, October 3, 1974.
1975
SNACK Benefit at Kezar Stadium, (Students Need Art, Culture and Kicks), March 23.
Awarded Latin-Rock Band of the year by Latin New York Music Awards.
Tadanori Yokoo, a renowned Japanese artist did the artwork for the Lotus album.
Release of the Lotus album Internationally, December.
SANTANA AUDIO:
1970:
Black magic Woman
Oye Como Va
1971:
Everybody's Everything
No One To Depend On
1972:
Song of the Wind
Them Changes
1973:
Mother Africa
Samba De Sausalito
A Love Supreme
1974:
Samba Pa Ti
Illuminations
Give & Take
1975:
Yours Is The Light
Download real player
(Reprinted from Circus magazine: August 1973) On the surface, it seems like one of the most unlikely pairings in the land of rock and roll. John McLaughlin was born in Yorkshire, England, and raised in an upper-middle class home by a mother and father who loved classical music. Carlos Santana was born in Mexico and raised in the San Francisco slums by an uneducated mother and a father who played in Mexican street bands. McLaughlin begins a concert by requesting his audience to join him in a few minutes of silent meditation. Santana used to open concerts by torturing his guitar strings into a demonic frenzy of high volume sound. McLaughlin and his Mahavishnu Orchestra leap into music that is contradictorily laced with total energy and tranquillity. His long, searing guitar lines - with their references to cool jazz and Indian music - are locked in a contrapuntal embrace with Jerry Goodman's electric fiddle. Jan Hammer chimes in on keyboards; and Rick Laird on bass and Billy Cobham on drums provide the foundations for the band's soaring flights. And while the end product is exhilarating in the extreme, the audience is disinclined to stand up and boogie in the aisles, partly due to McLaughlin's religious attitude and partly because you could break an ankle trying to dance to those complicated, fluid rhythms. Carlos Santana's band races to the other extreme. Santana has had them dancing in the aisles since the group made its first appearance five years ago. Head hits concrete: As a consequence, a musical union between McLaughlin and Santana seemed as likely as a marriage between Archie Bunker and Maude. Yet the impossible union has just occurred. The street kid from San Francisco and the religious devotee from Yorkshire have gone into the studio together and emerged with a joint album - Love, Devotion and Surrender (on Columbia Records). How did it happen? Part of the answer lies in two life stories that for all their dissimilarities have a strikingly similar undercurrent. John McLaughlin started life as anything but a holy man. He may have trained in classical piano and violin at the age of seven, but at sixteen he dropped out of high school and a few years later joined the Graham Bond Organization with future superstars Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. "He was getting very stoned at the time," recalls Bruce, "he actually fell off the stage in Coventry and played this death chord as he landedkkkrrruuuuuunngg." Wrenched by the spirit: Then one night in 1963, after reading about the spiritual philosophy behind Tarot cards, McLaughlin was playing with Brian Auger's band when "suddenly the spirit entered me and it was no longer me playing." Six years later in New York, John made his commitment to the spirit formal and became a follower of the Indian guru Sri Chinmoy. Like John, the young Carlos was no saint. When his parents announced they were going to leave Mexico, ten-year-old Carlos ran away from home, and the family crossed the border without him. Six months later his mother came back and found him wandering the streets of Tijuana on his own. By 1968, when he gained success with the first Santana band, he continued his renegade ways, sleeping with as many women as he could handle, dropping acid and dabbling with other drugs. Yet slowly the discussions of kharma and reincarnation he had with his friends began to move him into the realm of the soul. Backstage summit conference: On a recent stopover at his New York apartment, Mahavishnu John McLaughlin told how the pair of prodigal sons finally met. It happened one night a year ago when the Mahavishnu Orchestra was performing at San Francisco's Winterland. The band played and the audience grooved. One of those grooving was that unlikely fan, Carlos Santana, who not only loved the music, but knew about Mahavishnu's spiritual associations with Sri Chinmoy. Carlos himself had been doing some spiritual investigations - meditating on Jesus and checking out Indian philosophies. So when Santana introduced himself to McLaughlin, they had a lot to talk about - music and spirituality. They must have seemed a strange pair as they sat in the dressing room talking - Carlos with his velvet shirt and long hair looking ultra-hip and ultra-worldly; John with his peculiarly short haircut and inexpensive sweater looking super-normal and super-subdued. But appearances did not keep the two from seeing all they had in common. Santana invited McLaughlin to his home to continue the conversation, but concert commitments kept the British guitarist from accepting. However, the two met again soon in Los Angeles, where the Mahavishnu Orchestra was continuing its tour, and talked some more. Santana swaps bands: While Mahavishnu was touring and recording, Santana was going through major changes. Most of his original band had left, there were hassles with managers, incompetent and sometimes corrupt lawyers and accountants and the wrench that comes from changing musical directions as he did in his latest album, Caravanserai. In the midst of all this Santana continued his studies of various religions, removed himself entirely from the drug scene, and generally turned his head around. Months passed but Mahavishnu had not forgotten Santana. The next event in their journey toward togetherness was a strong coincidence, or, if you are a fatalist, a pre-destined act of the Gods. As McLaughlin described it, "it was really strange the way it happened. No, it was really nice. I woke up one morning with this idea for an album I wanted to do with Carlos. That same day, my manager phoned me to say that he had been having meetings with Clive (Davis, president of Columbia) and that Clive had this idea that I should do an album with Carlos. I called Carlos right away, but he wasn't home, so I left a message and he called me back." The bowels of the church: With the blessings of all concerned, Carlos and Mahavishnu talked by telephone several times about ideas for the impending LP. Then McLaughlin made another trip to California to visit with Santana, talk some more and rehearse. By November of 1972, both were ready for the studio and made the trek back to New York where they checked into Columbia's recording plant on East 36th Street. Appropriately enough, that massive studio, home of original cast recordings and monster Christmas parties, was located in a de-sanctified church and boasted some of the best natural acoustics to be found anywhere. McLaughlin and Santana each brought with them a very few people from their respective bands. For the first sessions, McLaughlin had Jan Hammer from the Mahavishnu Orchestra, not playing his usual piano but displaying his other talent as a percussionist. "He's very good at it," McLaughlin noted admiringly. Santana had three from his band - Doug Rauch on bass, Armando Perazo (a veteran of the Latin music scene) on percussion and Mingo Lewis on congas. Don Elias from the Lou Rawls band played drums and Kalid Yasim played organ. Needless to say, McLaughlin and Santana played guitar. Swept into oneness: One friend, admirer and observer of those November sessions was very impressed with the goings on at East 36th Street. He reported that "Everything was positive and the music just flowed. There was no star ego. The two of them played so well together that often you couldn't even hear which one was which." McLaughlin agrees. "We had a very strong rapport. And neither of us dominates the music. Spiritual harmony creates musical harmony. The result is different from the Mahavishnu Orchestra and different from Santana. I think it's greater than them both." The bond between the guitarists was phenomenal. And the other six musicians found themselves swept hypnotically into the stream of a totally unfamiliar breed of music. It seemed all the stranger since the two men's styles are miles apart. As the friend pointed out, "Their musical approaches are different, but at the same time they are driven by the same force, so it works. It's like two colors that are put in the proper setting so that they won't clash. Carlos' music was very sweet and flowing, while Mahavishnu has more intensity and, of course, an incredible technique." The combination seems to have produced remarkable results. Santana strips away the old: But the sessions would do more than just produce extraordinary music, they would lead to a drastic change in Carlos Santana's life. When the first round of recording was over, Carlos and McLaughlin continued to get together. And when Carlos expressed growing interest in Mahavishnu's faith, he was taken to one of the meditation meetings that Sri Chinmoy holds weekly for the U.N.'s staff members. It was at that meeting that Santana received a blessing from Sri Chinmoy. The experience moved him so much that he asked to come to another meeting at Sri Chinmoy's headquarters near McLaughlin's home. Shortly thereafter, Santana became a disciple of Sri Chinmoy. McLaughlin characteristically refuses to take any credit. "I didn't do anything. Sri Chinmoy did it. But it's really God who does everything." |
Carlos Santana:
Musical Migration
by Neil Leonard
www.neilleonard.com
published in Rhythm Music Magazine, Cover Story
Volume 3, Number 8, August 1994
Twenty-five years ago, a wiry, goateed guitarist, barely twenty-two, took to the stage at Woodstock, N.Y. Many in the audience were unprepared for what they were about to hear, as the young man had yet to put out his first record and was largely unknown outside of California. Carlos Santana closed his eyes, threw back his head, and wailed, tearing notes off his guitar in a tone that would make him famous: it was fat, distorted, biting, warm, unbelievably sustained. Behind him, a conga and timbale player joined in, laying down a polyrhythmic groove that was impossible to resist. It was a new sound from an almost instant guitar hero who would soon join the ranks of headliners like Pete Townshend and Jimi Hendrix, bringing with him a fiery rhythmic infusion. It was hot, it was Latinbut it rocked.
Santana will be performing this August at the upcoming Woodstock 94. We wanted some of the original Woodstock performers, said co-producer John Scher, but we wanted only those original acts that are still relevant, that continue to make music and records. Santanas record sales have leveled off in recent years, but his continued relevance is indisputable. He has sold over thirty million albums, and is one of only eight acts whose albums have entered the Billboard Top Ten LPs in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. On a recent Latin American tour, he outsold Guns N Roses two to one, drawing crowds of eighty thousand, a tribute to his unique success at blending Latin rhythms with American rock and roll.
Yet Santana has never thought of himself as a crossover artist. He is truly an American phenomenon, and claims the blues as his deepest source of musical inspiration. Like many of the old blues players, he has an almost instinctive way of connecting to people, a way of reaching out by looking in. I dont think of trying to impress these people or those people, to touch these people or those people, he tells me on the phone from San Francisco. I just try to touch myself. I think if I touch my heart, you are going to be touched. If I dont touch me, why should you be touched by me?
Carlos Santana was born in Tijuana, Mexico, and took up violin at age five with the help of his father, a Mariachi violinist. Though fascinated by his fathers ability to make each note sing, young Carlos soon rejected Mexican music, dismayed by the drunken brawls and macho competitions favored by the local enthusiasts. Instead, he turned to the North American pop music that he was hearing on the radio. Carlos switched to guitar at age eight. At eleven, he left home and dropped out of school to play in Tijuana cabarets.
A fellow guitarist from TJ and his Tijuana Band turned Carlos on to B.B. King, Bobby Blue Bland, Little Richard, and Ray Charles, but the big blues and R&B acts never reached Tijuana. Two years later, Santanas parents took him to live with them in San Francisco. There he shunned the surfer music and Beatles favored by his friends and again went in search of the blues, which his friends thought old-fashioned. Seeing Muddy Waters and Paul Butterfield at Winterland put him in a daze for weeks, and he soon formed his own group, the Santana Blues Band.
Though deeply affected by African-American music, it was to the white bluesmen that Santana turned as a primary source of material. Musicians like Butterfield, a mean harmonica player, along with guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop, were part of the nascent blues revival of the sixties. They were young white men who frequented Chicagos South Side blues clubs, drawn by the fame of men like Muddy Waters. Muddy Waters was a giant, a pioneer of plugged-in blues who trained an entire generation of black musicians and influenced countless whites, from Paul Butterfield to The Band, Johnny Winter, and the Rolling Stones.
Butterfields first album, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was immensely influential: his amplified harmonica and Bloomfields guitar (with Mark Naftalin on organ, instead of piano) added up to white, urban blues with no apologies. Santana himself made his first recording with Bloomfield and organist Al Kooper on The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper.
But while black audiences had always danced to the blues, Santana needed something to get white audiences on their feet. He kept the blues flavor of guitar, bass, and organ, and brought in Chepito Areas, an Afro-Cuban via Nicaragua way, to play congas. The congas were as new to Carlos as to many of his audience. The congas came in later in my life, I didnt grow up listening to them. I thought that anything to do with congas was corny, ruffled shirts, that kind of stuff. But the congas got people dancing. The timing was perfect. People just wanted to dance, and thats what congas do. We were hitting on different parts of your body than anyone else was hitting.
The Latin sound distinguished the Santana Blues Band from the local psychedelic music scene, led by bands like the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Quicksilver Messenger Service. The group shortened its name to Santana and soon became one of the Bay Areas hottest dance bands. Santana began playing shows at Bill Grahams Fillmore West auditorium, billed alongside names like Taj Mahal, the Youngbloods, and Melanie. The band was picked up by Columbia Records, and a debut album was in the works. Three months before its release, Santana played Woodstock.
Santana stood out at the festival as the only bandleader who was born and raised in the Third World; he came at a pivotal moment in rock history, and his audience was in the most receptive of moods. While musicians like Hendrix and Richie Havens also had conga players, no other group brought such an intense Cuban sound to the stage. The percussion solo on Soul Sacrifice turned many of his listeners on to Latin music for the first time. Ironically, their parents had danced to some of these same rhythms in their courting days, only this time the big-band trappings were replaced by electric guitar, Fender bass, and Hammond organ, with congas and timbales in addition to the standard trap set. Latin music had had its effect on jazz; now it was hitting rock and roll.
Within three months the band released its first album, Santana, which went platinum in a year, then double-platinum. Santana included the hit song Evil Ways, which blended a modal, salsa-like vamp with electric guitar and English lyrics. Jingo was a cover of Jin-Go-Lo-Ba from the influential Drums of Passion album by Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji. Although Santanas main direction has always been Latin-flavored music, his cover of the Olatunji tune presaged later collaborations with musicians such as Salif Keita from Mali and Toura Kunde of Senegal.
Their next album, Abraxas, produced two of Santanas biggest hits. Black Magic Woman was based on the same formula as Evil Ways, with the addition of a Doors-like intro on electric organ. The song was written by Peter Green, one of the four founding members of Fleetwood Mac, originally a British blues combo very unlike the phenomenon they were later to become. Oye Como Va, by Cuban timbale master Tito Puente, was sung in Spanish, and featured Santanas searing guitar work over a backing that could have been recorded by a New York salsa band. Abraxas, which went triple platinum, was followed in similar vein by the less successful Santana III. Throughout, Santana found a way to integrate the blues without recording a single blues standard on any of the albums.
The band changed direction with their largely instrumental next album. The first track on Caravenserai was called Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation, which opened with the sounds of crickets and a Middle Eastern style melody played on phase-shifted saxophone. Then an acoustic bass entered, followed by drummer Michael Shrieve, sounding like he had been listening to jazz drummer Elvin Jones. The Hammond organ was replaced by tremolo-drenched acoustic piano, and Santana played percussion instead of guitar.
Santanas commitment to the Afro-Cuban groove was evident in the addition of Armando Peraza, a master percussionist from Cuba. Armando is all the way from the inside, Santana says. He is a walking encyclopedia. In Peraza, Santana found a soloist who could challenge the bandleader himself. He is the Charlie Parker of bongos, its that simple.
Santana was getting more into jazz, an interest that went back to the inclusion on Abraxas of Gypsy Queen, by guitarist Gabor Szabo. Santana went to see guitarist John McLaughlin in a New York City jazz club and was awestruck at his complex, high-energy form of fusion. McLaughlin had just finished working with Miles Davis and was playing with two Miles alumni, Tony Williams on drums and Larry Young on Hammond organ. He had been studying the odd meters and intricate harmonic nuances of Indian music, to which he had been exposed by musicians like Badal Roy who had passed through Miles band. McLaughlin had also found a guru, Sri Chinmoy.
All this made sense to Santana. It was a time when musicians everywhere, from the Beatles to John Coltrane, were drawing inspiration from spiritual leaders. Coltranes 1964 recording, A Love Supreme, attributed his success in kicking a long-standing bout of heroin to a spiritual awakening, in marked contrast to the heavy drug abuse by many jazz musicians of the 40s and 50s. Santana himself was coming out of a period of recreational drug use and was looking, besides, for new musical inspiration. McLaughlin, for his part, was delighted to introduce Santana to his music and way of life. He suggested that Santana meet Chinmoy, and that the two guitarists do an album together.
The cover of Love, Devotion, and Surrender showed Devadip Carlos Santana and Mahavishnu John McLaughlin standing on either side of Sri Chinmoy, his arms over their shoulders and his notes filling the albums inner sleeve. Santana had cut off over a foot of hair and traded in his necklaces and snakeskin platform shoes for neatly-pressed white clothes. The album opened with Coltranes A Love Supreme and also included his Naima. The musicians included Jan Hammer on keyboards and Billy Cobham on drums, both alumni of McLaughlins Mahavishnu Orchestra. The album was filled with guitar pyrotechnics, and Armando Perazas congas were mostly buried in the wash of sound.
Santana learned a lot from the jazz crowd, and drew a number of their ranks into his band, like former Miles drummer Ndugu Leon Chandler and Szabos keyboardist, Tom Coster. But Love, Devotion, and Surrender represented a low point in Santanas career for many of his fans, a period in which he seemed to have lost sight of his unique melodic voice. He got this feedback even from concerned jazz musicians. When Santana was working on his Illuminations album with Coltranes widow, Alice Turiya Coltrane, on harp, bassist Reggie Workman spoke up. You ought to look at what youre doing, he said. A lot of people look up to you, listen to your music. Its not so important, getting into Coltrane. Get into yourself.
Sometime during the tour for Love, Devotion, and Surrender, Santana went to see guitarist Elvin Bishop and realized how much he missed the blues. Once he got over the anxiety of touring with the cerebral, lightning-fast McLaughlin, he realized he could move people as much or more with only a fraction of the notes. Beginning with Amigos (1976), and continuing with Festival (1976), and the platinum Moonflower (1977), Santana had far fewer instrumentals, and kept the tempos at a good pace for dancing.
Moonflower was Santanas last platinum album. The second part of his career has been marked by less restlessness and greater personal balance. Though his music is no longer ground-breaking, he has still been extremely active, recording more than a dozen albums, touring all over the world, collecting awards and gold records. His talents have also been much in demand by fellow musicians.
Everybody knows I am not a tourist, so they call me, whether its the African musicians from Paris, or people in South Africa, or Puerto Rico, or Cuba. Believe me, when I go to Chicago and the phone rings as soon as I open the door, and Buddy Guy says, Come on over, Otis Rush and I are waiting for you, that, to me, is everything.
Santana has always been careful in the settings in which he chooses to play. Once he even refused an opportunity to sit in with one of his idolsMiles Davis. I refused because he was playing in this club in New York with [drummer] Jack DeJohnette and [pianist] Keith Jarrett. They were playing basically acid music. I dont mean acid jazz, I mean just acid music, like where you shove a microphone under running brook water. It was really, really out there, it was outer than Frank Zappa. It was good, its just that I didnt know how to build with those blocks. I am a melody-theme guy. Maybe I can take more chances now, but back then I said, Man, what is this stuff? It sounded more like the elements instead of notes, so I said, Next time.
The gig with Miles did eventually come about. We played in 87 at the Amnesty International. I sat in that day with Ruben Blades and the Neville Brothers and Miles. Instead of bringing my band, I had asked Bill [Graham] to bring Miles to the concert. Bill called me at 2:00 in the morning and said, I know its late but I had to call you. Miles Davis said yes, hes going to play! The following year Santana toured with another Davis veteran, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, co-founder of Weather Report.
Santana is equally choosy about his recordings with other musicians. I dont want to be dipped into anybodys album. I want to be like Bob Dylan says, Ill let you be in my dream if I can be in yours. That is how I work with people. Im not going to give you a cold-fish handshakewhats the point? The embrace has to complete, or dont even shake my hand.
The best of Santanas music has always done just thatembraced you, lifted you to your feet, got you dancing. He makes no distinction between dance music and serious music, but seeks only to touch his audience in some very real way. I want my music to stimulate the listener to go beyond life. This is not entertainment. When I was a kid, I saw dogs riding a motorcycle. Thats entertainment. Madonna, Copperfield, people like that, thats entertainment, phony-baloney, paper-mache Hollywood. Music that I know is just close your eyes, and the next thing you know, you are in Africa or Jerusalem. People are listening, they dont fight any more, Palestinians and Hebrews, they dance together. In San Quentin [penitentiary], Mexicans, Indians, blacks, Latinos, everybody, they dance together, including the warden and the guards, after the fourth song they dance together. They move just like blades of grass in a field, they move together to the sound of the music. Thats all I want to do.
Cricket
