The guitar GOD teamed up with Latin music greats for a sound only he could create.
After nearly 50 years as an undisputed guitar god in several musical genres, there wasn't anything more Carlos Santana really needed to accomplish.
Except the release of a Spanish-language album.
"Corazón," came out May 6, has the Mexican-born Latin rock icon, now 66, performing alongside some of the biggest Latin music vocalists of the day, from veterans Gloria Estefan, Lila Downs and Juanes to such younger acts as Romeo Santos and ChocQuib Town, the Afro-Colombian hip hop group.
The corresponding concert special, "Santana-Corazón: Live from Mexico," was shot in December in Guadalajara, Mexico, and premiered May 3 on HBO Latino.
What was it like to perform with so many great Latin artists on both the album and concert?
There's a flow that happens when you trust from your heart something bigger than your imagination. This is a culmination of a lot of people's dreams that became one.
We started believing that it was essential to create the possibility of "Supernatural" en español. "Supernatural" was powerful! I love the universal vocabulary of music and we got it in this "Corazón" special.
This is our time. There is a lot of beauty in Latino women and Latino men that we can present, and I say it that way because we need role models to make us believe that we can go beyond the 'hood, the barrio, the favela.
"Corazón" is your first Spanish-language album. After so much success in your career, why now?
God wants it now. God wanted it then that way, God wants it now this way. When it's red I don't go, when it's yellow I go slow. But when it's green, I go really fast!
How did you choose the artists and songs for "Corazón?"
It started with my brother-in-law and manager, Michael, who created the seed of "Let's do something in Spanish." Sony got involved and we started thinking about the songs.
A lot of the songs I never heard before. I was raised in the '60s here in the United States so I wasn't hearing the frequency of the Latinos. But that gave me an advantage. Since I haven't heard it I get to make it new.
The songs came in like shoes for Cinderella or Cinder-fella. Juanes became the Cinder-fella for "La Flaca." Gloria (Estefan) became the Cinderella for "Besos De Lejos."
When you play it's as if your guitar takes on the role of a vocalist as opposed to just an instrument. Where do you draw the inspiration for your sound?
I love being around and surrounded by women because the vibration that I listen to as a guitar player is Aretha Franklin, or Mahalia Jackson, or Whitney Houston.
I don't listen to guitar players that much. I mainly listen to women, the way they phrase things. When women put their hand (on their hip) and start doing the neck thing, you have to play like that because it's a vocabulary that's recognized all over the world.
Out of all the years you've been performing, do you recall that moment when you knew something special was happening?
My validation really came from people saying out loud that I was just as good or equal to my dad. In Tijuana, he invited me to play with him. This is like 1960 or '61. I was 13. Someone said, "You see the young little kid? Man, that guy sounds really good."
So my validation wasn't when Miles Davis or Tito Puente used to come and see us play. It was being validated next to my father.
You've crossed over so many different genres. Is there one that touches you more than the others?
African music in the form of flamenco or cumbia or the cha cha cha or bolero or mambo or tango. I know my music. But it really comes from Africa, what I love the most.
love being around and surrounded by women because the vibration that I listen to as a guitar player is Aretha Franklin, or Mahalia Jackson, or Whitney Houston.
I don't listen to guitar players that much. I mainly listen to women, the way they phrase things. When women put their hand (on their hip) and start doing the neck thing, you have to play like that because it's a vocabulary that's recognized all over the world.
Out of all the years you've been performing, do you recall that moment when you knew something special was happening?
My validation really came from people saying out loud that I was just as good or equal to my dad. In Tijuana, he invited me to play with him. This is like 1960 or '61. I was 13. Someone said, "You see the young little kid? Man, that guy sounds really good."
So my validation wasn't when Miles Davis or Tito Puente used to come and see us play. It was being validated next to my father.
You've crossed over so many different genres. Is there one that touches you more than the others?
African music in the form of flamenco or cumbia or the cha cha cha or bolero or mambo or tango. I know my music. But it really comes from Africa, what I love the most.
Carlos Santana
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