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Reviews |
December 14,
2005 | vol. XXXIX | No. 3 |
Santana
suceeds in entertaining critic,
listeners
By Maggie
Sinak, music critic
 New
Santana. For most music connoisseurs,
that is all I have to say and they are
already in the car on the way to the CD
store before I have reached the end of
this sentence. And that would definitely
be the right decision.
Carlos Santana was born in Autlan de
Navarro, Mexico and at the age of five
decided to pursue music like his father,
the classical violinist, and so he took
up the violin. His music is now very
well known throughout the entire world.
Santana’s music transcends the
boundaries of the “usual” music
classifications. The overall feel of
most of Santana’s music is very
uplifting. Most of his sound is happy, a
melodic intertwining of different
cultures, instruments, and people.
In 1961, Santana crossed the border from
Mexico into San Francisco and started
the Santana Blues Band - a band with a
smooth Latin bluesy feel that set the
stage for the late 60s West Coast music
scene. Since then Santana has had great
amounts of success from playing on the
Ed Sullivan Show, Woodstock ’69, and
winning a Grammy in 2001.
He is loved by many, and it shows in the
way he has fun in his music. This album,
All That I Am, aside from being the
usual mix of Spanish and English, has a
very modern sound. Collaborating with
Steven Tyler, will.i.am, Mary J. Blige,
Big Boi, Michelle Branch, Anthony
Hamilton, Toure Kunda, Sean Paul, Joss
Stone, Kirk Hamett, Robert Randolph, Bo
Bice, Los Lonely Boys, and Rob Thomas,
Santana covers all bases, using either
their voices or songs they have written
to vary the sound of his music. All That
I Am is about people, expression, and
human connection; the way music should
be. So what better than to have several
different styles come together on one 13
track album? |
A-
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No one can
criticize Santana, but kudos to the
critic who has the guts. Although
Santana seldom sings, he is always
speaking through his guitar. His guitar
almost acts like a chorus of “Amen”,
“You go sister!”, and “Sing it”, by the
way his clever and smooth guitar licks
compliment the lyrics and styles.
The one thing that never changes about
Santana’s style is Carlos Santana
himself. |
His cool
style and suave presence match the way
he plays his guitar; he is clearly and
easily identifiable.
What does change, however, is what is
layered on top and underneath him. This
album differs from others because of his
several guest artists - most of which
come from the rap genre and rap their
hearts out over various percussion
instruments that have been mixed with
synthesizers and blended together
beautifully.
All That I Am is like a Latin version of
Ska music- and it works.
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