Vintage santana at his best
30 Oct 2012 9:30 PM GMT
Even at the age of 65 Carlos Santana can rock and play his uniquely soulful guitar as enigmatically and with as much fervor as he did in Woodstock of 1969. With his tight band comprising of a strong rhythm and horn section, the 10 Grammy winner was a treat for all the rock fans at the F1 Rocks concert at Galgotia University grounds last Sunday. The concert was presented by Vladivar and produced by DNA Networks.
The repertoire was a collection of his greatest hits but the fascinating quality Santana has that he can get together a completely new line up of backing musicians that deliver. And deliver they did with powerhouse support. His current touring line-up includes Tony Lindsay on Vocals, Raul Rekow on Congas, Dennis Chambers on Drums, Karl Perrazzo on Percussions, Benjamin Rietveld on Bass and David Mathews on Keyboards.
Although this was Santana’s first outing in India he is no stranger to the country as he has been inspired by Indian spirituality in the past and even temporarily adopted the middle name of ‘Devadip’. In a press conference the previous evening he said that he used music to spread world peace and heal the planet and to come to India was to connect with spiritual principles whose awareness he imbibed in the sixties. He said they do what religion and politicians have failed to do and at the concert too he again reiterated that he brings the message of One Light, One Love and Peace.
A high point in the concert was with his wife Cindy Blackman on the drums. She is also an acclaimed jazz and rock drummer having toured with Lenny Kravitz and other jazz greats. She backed Santana playing his ever spiritually uplifting classic ‘Europa’ culminating in a dexterous drum solo. Santana was in his electrifying best in a mesmerizing lead solo in ‘Jingo’. Other memorable compositions rendered were ‘Evil Ways’, ‘Black Magic Woman’, ‘Oye Como Va’, ‘Smooth’ and the ever popular ‘Soul Sacrifice’ which included a medleys of his favourite riffs and even the James Bond Theme!
The only composition that failed to inspire initially was ‘Game of Love’ as Tipriti of Soulmate who was invited on stage was not familiar with the song but Santana deserves praise for his magnanimity to encourage her. She however excelled in ‘Smooth’ as well as ‘Make Somebody Happy’ along with vocalist Tony Lindsay who himself is an 11 Grammy winner and has spent 20 years with Santana as a frontman.
Soulmate were the opening act and set the mood with their great blues originals with Tipriti and her powerful vocals and Rudy on lead guitar. Rudy also presented his track ‘Moon Flower’ inspired by Santana’s ‘Europa’.
The repertoire was a collection of his greatest hits but the fascinating quality Santana has that he can get together a completely new line up of backing musicians that deliver. And deliver they did with powerhouse support. His current touring line-up includes Tony Lindsay on Vocals, Raul Rekow on Congas, Dennis Chambers on Drums, Karl Perrazzo on Percussions, Benjamin Rietveld on Bass and David Mathews on Keyboards.
Although this was Santana’s first outing in India he is no stranger to the country as he has been inspired by Indian spirituality in the past and even temporarily adopted the middle name of ‘Devadip’. In a press conference the previous evening he said that he used music to spread world peace and heal the planet and to come to India was to connect with spiritual principles whose awareness he imbibed in the sixties. He said they do what religion and politicians have failed to do and at the concert too he again reiterated that he brings the message of One Light, One Love and Peace.
A high point in the concert was with his wife Cindy Blackman on the drums. She is also an acclaimed jazz and rock drummer having toured with Lenny Kravitz and other jazz greats. She backed Santana playing his ever spiritually uplifting classic ‘Europa’ culminating in a dexterous drum solo. Santana was in his electrifying best in a mesmerizing lead solo in ‘Jingo’. Other memorable compositions rendered were ‘Evil Ways’, ‘Black Magic Woman’, ‘Oye Como Va’, ‘Smooth’ and the ever popular ‘Soul Sacrifice’ which included a medleys of his favourite riffs and even the James Bond Theme!
The only composition that failed to inspire initially was ‘Game of Love’ as Tipriti of Soulmate who was invited on stage was not familiar with the song but Santana deserves praise for his magnanimity to encourage her. She however excelled in ‘Smooth’ as well as ‘Make Somebody Happy’ along with vocalist Tony Lindsay who himself is an 11 Grammy winner and has spent 20 years with Santana as a frontman.
Soulmate were the opening act and set the mood with their great blues originals with Tipriti and her powerful vocals and Rudy on lead guitar. Rudy also presented his track ‘Moon Flower’ inspired by Santana’s ‘Europa’.
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