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RELATED LINKS

• Carlos Santana's official site
• Q&A with Carlos Santana
• Salvador Santana's official site
• "Second Cup Cafe: Salvador Santana Band"

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Salvador talks about going on stage at his father's concerts. (1:42)
 

Tavis: I'm pleased to welcome Carlos Santana to this program. The rock legend and ten-time Grammy winner has been one of the biggest names in music since the late 1960s. In 1969, he helped define a generation with his performance at Woodstock. Nearly thirty years later, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He's joined tonight by his talented son, Salvador, a gifted musician in his own right. The father and son have collaborated on the new CD from the Salvador Santana Band called "SSB." Carlos and Salvador Santana, nice to have you both on the program.

Carlos Santana: Thank you.

Salvador Santana: Thanks for having us.

Tavis: It's cool just to see the two of you together. It must be cool to play together, huh, Salvador?

Salvador: Absolutely.

Tavis: Yeah?

Salvador: Yeah.

Tavis: What's it like getting your dad to play some riffs for you on your CD?

Salvador: (Laughter) It's not too hard, you know. He's very definitely open, willing and, you know, calls me up saying, "Hey, you know, if there's anything I can do to contribute musically, whatever you want, I'm here for you." That alone helped the process that much.

Tavis: I'm looking at the two of you and I'm thinking how cool it is to have your dad on your CD and how cool it must have been for you for him to win a Grammy at, what, fifteen because he played with you on the record that we'll never forget. Eight Grammies in one night.

Carlos: Well, it's really "Supernatural." We were writing a song for my dad and we got the call that he had just passed while we were writing the song for him. He won a Grammy for it, "El Farol." But I'm very grateful to God who's been so generous. His grandfather is Saunders King who played with many, many people and hung out with Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. So to our family, it's a way of life. It's not even a profession or a job.

It's like something that God just gave us, the language of communicating through sound, resonance and vibration. So to see Salvador continue that and also the two daughters, Stella and Angelica, they're writers. They all play piano, but they haven't really made the jump into finding their voice. They're more like writers. You know, they write with lyrics. So I'm very grateful because God is very generous to be part of this river where the consciousness just keeps, you know, rolling along, as they say.

Tavis: I hear the backstory now, but what do you make of that backstory that Salvador is now the fifth generation Santana? I mean, you got it on both sides of the family. Your maternal and your paternal grandfathers were musicians. But what do you make of why this particular family was blessed in that way five generations now?

Carlos: Well, you know, I know that God knows what He's doing. Like Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye and John Coltrane, we love utilizing the music to raise consciousness. You know, it's just another way of ministering a kind of thing because it's more like shantytown, ghetto, the barrio, the hood. You know, there's a time to go to church and there's a time to take it to the streets.

Tavis: Oh, yeah (laughter).

Carlos: And in the streets, you know, you can't speak the same language to the brothers in Richmond or Oakland that you speak at church. You have to come with them and ask them if they can teach you something about rearranging the behavior of the cruelty and the violence. So we're both being prepared.

As I said before, by Mr. Quincy Jones or Bill Cosby or Desmond Tutu or Harry Belafonte, they're the ones who call our house now. You know, before, it was B.B. King or Miles. We're being trained to do something that is beyond, with all respect, the Grammies. We're being trained to create a bridge of forgiveness because there is no future without forgiveness, to quote Reverend Desmond Tutu.

Tavis: What do you make, Salvador, of how you have had to find your own, I would say, voice and there's truth to that, but your own style? How much pressure does one feel when one is the fifth generation and your daddy's name is Carlos Santana?

Salvador: Well, you know, there's enough pressure that we as people put on ourselves. For that, I'm just learning to balance, you know, the good thoughts from the bad thoughts and what I can use to my advantage to help me move forward.

Kind of like my pops was saying, as long as you're involved with the highest presence, as long as you have that with you, as long as you have confidence in yourself and as long as you surround yourself with people that love you and have confidence with you, everything should be just fine.

For me, I'm taking it one day at a time. It's a brand new year. You know, I have my New Year's resolutions and learning to take it one step at a time and make myself happy. In doing so, I hope I make others happy too.

Tavis: You are doing that. Let me ask you to unpack that a little bit more for me, a little bit more.

Salvador: Sure.

Tavis: How do you go about distinguishing your own sound from your father? When people hear you, with all due respect to your pops, you want them to hear Salvador. You don't want them to hear Carlos. How do you come up with Salvador's stylings and sounds?

Salvador: Well, it's a little simpler than I had imagined. I mean, you know, he plays the guitar and I play the piano (laughter).

Tavis: (Laughter) That helps, huh?

Salvador: That's one way to kind of help, you know. A lot of people say, "Oh, well, why don't you play like your dad?" Well, I'll try to bend the note, but I got to go inside the piano and do it for you.

You know, kind of like my father, we've been surrounded and introduced and exposed to so many different styles of music from all different eras and all different parts of the world. Again, another advantage so that we don't just become so one-track minded and thinking like this is how you make a record; this is how you sell the record; this is how you become successful.

It's like, no, let's find more than one way to become successful. Again, in doing so, being successful, hopefully you're making a change in the world and, you know, making other people happy.

Tavis: How'd you end up on the piano? Was that by choice or by chance?

Salvador: You know what? It's a little bit of both. My folks definitely encouraged me. Obviously, my dad influenced me a lot to play music and my mom definitely encouraged that too. I was first introduced to the drums and -

Tavis: - actually, that's not what I heard. I heard before the drums came your momma and daddy literally putting you on the floor with a bunch of pots and pans. Is that a true story?

Salvador: Sure.

Tavis: Tell the story. Go ahead.

Salvador: Pots and pans, drums, guitar and a little bit of violin. All of them - not so much the violin - all of them I still kind of pick up a little bit.

Tavis: You still playing pots and pans?

Salvador: Absolutely, definitely. You know, people get very upset at restaurants because -

Tavis: - (Laughter) here comes Salvador again.

Salvador: Yeah. The cooks and everybody knows. Basically, when I was like seven or eight years old, a friend of a friend who we kind of locally know south of the Bay area, was kind enough to give myself and my sisters some regular piano lessons.

Those piano lessons eventually turned into going to recitals and that eventually turned into me playing at church in front of people and just having the advantage of going to my father's concerts and him inviting me up on stage to play a little bit. In time, I just kind of became affiliated with the piano and people kind of started associating me with the piano.

Tavis: Take me back to the first night that you recall your dad calling you on stage in front of a crowd of people to play. I see your dad dropped his head. Is that a bad thing or good thing?

Salvador: No, no.

Tavis: (Laughter) Carlos is saying, "Whoa."

Salvador: We might have to go to a commercial or something because I got to think about this. No, I'm -

Tavis: - yeah (laughter).

Salvador: You know, I think it's more of a still frame than it is an actual vivid memory. I just kind of remember - I don't know how young I was. I was young enough to where he could pick me up. I guess I came up on stage. He held me up and said, "This is my son." I guess, you know, some people screamed and had fun and other people were just enjoying the music. In terms of playing, I can't necessarily remember, again just like my dad said, it's -

Tavis: - do you recall getting a rush from it or being intimidated?

Salvador: Oh, absolutely.

Tavis: A rush.

Salvador: It was definitely just "What is this? What is going on and how can I get more of this?"

Tavis: Hey, Jonathon, I don't know if you can do this. Can you get a shot of their feet? Can you get a shot of their feet, Mike? Carlos' feet? There you go. Just leave it there for a second.

Salvador tells a funny - he turned to the side because he knows where I'm going with this. Salvador tells a funny joke all the time. People say to him, "You got some big shoes to fill because of your father." Salvador, you tell them what?

Salvador: Well, you know, my dad wears a size nine and I wear a size fifteen and a half.

Tavis: There you go (laughter).

Salvador: You go ahead and do the math.

Tavis: Yeah, you do the math (laughter).

Salvador: But it's not about numbers. It's about respect and it's about honoring. You know, I'm just honored to be here. I'm honored to sit next to my dad and, you know, fill in for the legacy in keeping it going and keeping the family involved. Again, hopefully people will feed off of that.

Tavis: Before I go back to your dad, to pull back in this conversation, tell me about your band. Tell me about "SSB."

Salvador: Salvador Santana Band. That's what's hot right now.

Tavis: All right, enough said. Thank you very much.

Salvador: We got together. I should say, myself and my band members. It's been a long road trying to, you know, okay, this person was in the band at once and, okay, they're sounding great. You know, now we're going off and doing different things.

Now I have this particular lineup and I said, "Okay, this is a great band. I want to start recording a record. I think people need to start listening to what I want to start hearing literally on a CD of what's in my mind and what I think that these musicians can help me and have the capability of playing the music that I have in my head."

So we got together a year ago, been in the studio until about August and, this past September, went out on tour for two and a half months with the B-Side Players promoting the record. I've gotten nothing but positive and great responses. I can only hope for more.

Tavis: And you will have more.

Salvador: Yes. Also, it features my dad on the record, two songs on this one. We do a rendition of "Evil Ways" which I think a lot of people have really dug. My band, we just try and cover everything. There's so much music out there. It's really hard to pinpoint it and it's really hard to kind of, you know, categorize who I am and what I'm trying to do. So, therefore, I try and acknowledge all the music that I've been exposed to for my entire life.

Tavis: Speaking of being exposed to a lot of music, your father, Carlos Santana, has exposed us to so much stuff. I see a lot of critics who try to describe this, Carlos. How would you describe how your music has changed and evolved? Because you have fans in so many different generations now. How would you say that your stuff has changed and evolved over the years since those 1960s?

Carlos: I would say that, if people try to put it in a box, they can't because it's not Latin or Spanish. Those are words that are given to Hollywood, to people, you know. Before that, for me, I always played African music. You know, some people got upset because I said, you know, if it was Charanga, Cha-Cha-Cha, Mambo, Rumba, Hip Hop, Bossa Nova or whatever, it comes from Africa. I've been to Africa and I know what I'm talking about.

People say, "Why do you want to give them..." and I say, "No, no, no." I'm trying to give respect because that's how I make my living playing this music. I play African music. I haven't played Country and Western or Waltzes and Polkas yet, but I know I can do it if I put ska on it. I've been listening lately to Fela Kuti and Marvin Gaye and Orchestra Baobab, which is very, very romantic music.

So some people got upset because I always said that I always played African music whether it's like African American or straight from Africa or from South America unless I'm talking about pre-Colombian music, you know. So to me, when I went to Africa, I was part of the family. I'm not like a tourist. Like some people can sail the world, but when they go there, they're still tourists because they can't mingle with the music.

I can go in any place past the fresnoes of Africa and I know in my molecules where the want is and where it's going and what it's doing. So they accept me as part of the family and it's one of the highest compliments that anyone can give you where you have never overstayed your welcome. So that's why the music that I play is African music.

Tavis: I'm just curious now. You got me thinking, Carlos, because everybody knows that you can play anything you want to play, but to your point, you've not played Country Western or Polka yet. But if you decide to do a little Country Western, what kind of flavor would you put on it? I mean, do you hear in your head what treatment, what kind of flavor, you'd bring to a Country Western record? What would you put on it?

Carlos: I'd do the same thing that brother Ray Charles did.

Tavis: Ray Charles did, yeah.

Carlos: He'd bring some of that church in there to give it that essence and the flavor, you know. And I would bring some rhythms from King Sunny Ade, you know, just so it doesn't sound so blasé, so that even from the next room, you don't care whether it's Country and Western or not. I mean, I like Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, the real thing, you know. I don't go for the plastic stuff.

So what I would bring to Country and Western would be adorned with rhythms that women adore. Marvin knew the secret, man. There's a secret to holy music, sacred music and sensual. God sees it in the same eye.

So if I was going to do Country and Western or Polkas or whatever, I would just take my time knowing that I will have to select from different brothers in Africa, King Sunny Ade or Toure Kunda or Mory Kante, different ways to present it in such a way that it would be 2008.

Tavis: I have in my hand here "Ultimate Santana" and I just want to throw three or four songs at you. I want you to tell me something about these records, anything you want to tell me, but I just want to throw some titles at you for so many of your fans watching tonight.

I have a makeup artist named Sheila and she was just crazy about you coming because her favorite song from Santana is "Black Magic Woman." Knowing Sheila, I can tell you why she feels that way (laughter), but that's a whole other conversation. Tell me something about "Black Magic Woman," Carlos.

Carlos: "Black Magic Woman" is, you know, a healer lady who lives in Africa or in the shantytowns or in Brazil, Jamaica. It's a beautiful lady who can cast a spell on you by her charms. You know, I think brother Curtis Mayfield wrote "Gypsy Woman" and it's the same woman. There's only one woman in the world and only one guy. They just do it with the mirrors (laughter).

Tavis: Doing variations, huh (laughter)? "Evil Ways" is so good that Salvador put his own thing on it, but tell me about "Evil Ways."

Carlos: "Evil Ways" was brought to me by another teacher named Bill Graham because we used to play just jams. We didn't know how to play songs because songs have a verse, a chorus and a hook and then a bridge. We didn't know nothing about that. We just hit it.

So he said, "Look, man, your songs are too long. I mean, your thing is too long." So he brought us "Evil Ways" and we had to learn it from Willie Bobo, which is like Bill Cosby's favorite comedian, a timbala player. So we learn it and, once we learned it, we said, "Oh, that's what they're talking about, a verse and a chorus."

Tavis: That's how that works. A verse and a chorus (laughter).

Carlos: He just hit it, you know. So it was one of the first educations for me about crafting or visiting a song.

Tavis: One more. This actually features Tina Turner on "Ultimate Santana," "The Game of Love."

Carlos: Well, you know, sister Tina - there's divas and queens and all that and then there's Tina who, on one note, every hair on your body stands at attention. Because like Coltrane and like Miles, she's in another place where queens and divas come and go, but there's only one Tina. I have so much deep respect for her because she's a supreme survivor, you know, a sole survivor.

I happened to be graced to have gone to Africa with her in 1970 with "Soul to Soul" and I got to see her and Roberta Flack and Mavis Staples and Tina. They're all singing and I'm in the middle and I'm like - just thinking about it, man, yeah (laughter).

So, no, being with Tina was like one of the highlights of my life along with playing with Miles or Herbie. There are certain people who you know you're in the presence of excellence and greatness. Like Tiger Woods or whatever, they walk in and there's a whole lot of spirit and you just have to say, "Oh, my God, oh, my God."

Tavis: Now you know how we felt when you and Salvador walked in the studio. We felt the same exact way. What an honor it is for me. I think this is going to go down as one of those moments I will never forget, having a chance to sit next to these two gentlemen, father and son.

First, "SSB" is the new record from the son, Salvador Santana Band, and, of course, in my hand I'm holding "Ultimate Santana." So many records, so many hits, so little time to talk about them. "Ultimate Santana" by the one and the only Carlos Santana. Honored to have both of you on the program.

Carlos: Thank you.

Salvador: Thank you so much.