CARLOS SANTANA REMEMBERS CHICK COREA
In our Australian exclusive, Carlos Santana chats to Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips about the creation of his wonderful new album Blessings and Miracles and tells us that there are plans afoot for some of the album collaborators to join him on stage soon. He also opens up about some bucket list projects he’d like to get to one day, including a mood album he wishes to record with Eric Clapton and Derek Trucks based around UFOs, in the vein of soundtracks like The Good, the Bad and The Ugly. Photo by Jason Rosewarne
For more than five decades – from Santana’s earliest days as a groundbreaking Afro-Latin-blues-rock fusion outfit in San Francisco – Carlos Santana has been the visionary force behind artistry that transcends musical genres and generational, cultural and geographical boundaries.
Showing no signs of slowing down, Carlos has just released Blessings and Miracles, another magnificent recording to add to his already staggering discography. Blessings and Miracles presents Multi-Grammy Award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Carlos Santana in all of his incarnations, playing in myriad styles featuring numerous alluring guitar tones. There are so many points of interest with this record, that it is difficult to know where to begin. From the beautiful short opening track Ghost of Future Pull/New Light, in the vein of Caravanserai’s Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation into the Soul Sacrifice-style Santana Celebration to the hook-laden latin influenced pop track Move with Rob Thomas, you’ll find multi-era splashes of Santana throughout this album. There’s the love song tribute to his wife, Song for Cindy, a poignant collaboration with the late great Chick Corea and his wife Gayle Moran, also a former Mahavishnu Orchestra member. Latin pop-rock fans will enjoy Rumbalero, a percussion-driven track with his son Salvador, joined by Ozomatali founder “Asdru” Sierra, and then daughter Stella Santana delivers a stunning vocal, along with Avi Snow on Breathing Underwater. A lifetime of ambitious ideas have been packed into this one extraordinary album.
As with many recent Santana projects, it’s very much a star studded affair. Steve Winwood performs a heartfelt version of the classic Procol Harum track Whiter Shade of Pale. Diane Warren and G-Easy join forces on the cruisy groove of She’s Fine. Living Colour’s Corey Glover unleashes a powerful vocal performance on the rocker Peace Power. Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and Death Angel’s Mark Osegueda get angry and political on the garage punk flavoured America For Sale. Sonically, Blessings and Miracles touches on many eras of the multi-dimensional musician’s career, there’s something here for all Carlos Santana fans.
Blessings and Miracles is out now. For more information please visit: Santana.com.
Santana, Chris Stapleton – Joy (Animated Lyric Video) from Blessings and Miracles