Santana focuses on young crowd
By Daniel Oliveira
Daily Forty-Niner
Rock artists from the 1960s rely primarily
on longtime fans to maintain their careers, but legendary Mexican guitarist
Carlos Santana is concentrating on embracing younger audiences.
"I'm not interested in becoming a goodie
from the 1960s," he said.
Santana said his new album, "Supernatural,"
is designed to reach high school and university students.
To achieve his goal, he invited to the
recording sessions famous younger musicians, including Everlast, Dave Matthews,
Wyclef Jean (The Fugees) and Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20).
"To spend five minutes with Carlos [in
the studio] is to look into someone who is without pretension and who is
pure talent," Thomas said. "He is as fresh today as he was in 1968."
Jean agrees.
"He's the god of music and the god of
guitar," he said. "With Carlos, I knew that all I had to do is show up
with a pad and pen and it would just happen."
Santana said he did not need to negotiate
deals with managers, accountants or lawyers of the artists to have them
play on the album.
He said everyone involved in "Supernatural"
was open and excited about working with him.
Santana said Clive Davis, the manager
of his record company, gave him the idea of recording with younger guests
to help the songs reach mainstream radio stations.
"American radio is really locked into
17 to 27 demographics,î Santana said. "It's very difficult for a person
like me to come into the radio, because the format does not allow it."
But fortunately for him, radio stations
have been playing the songs "Smooth," which features Thomasí vocals, and
"Put Your Lights On," which features Everlastís guitar and vocals.
Consequently, "Supernatural," which mixes
rock, salsa, R & B, hip-hop and African rhythms, remains on the top
100 of the Billboard charts.
"Now I see grandparents, parents and young
kids!" Santana said, referring to seeing people of all ages at the shows
of his current tour.
Santana said late jazz legend Miles Davis
taught him to stay fresh musically and not just belong to a specific musical
generation.
"I like honoring the things that I learned
from Miles Davis," he said. "He always had young musicians in his band
and a young crowd."
Discovered at Woodstock festival in 1969,
Santana has established himself as one of the most successful artists from
Latin America.
He has sold more than 40 million albums
in his 30-year career, according to his official biography. |
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