Spiritual orgasms with Carlos Santana

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One of my favorite musicians is Carlos Santana. I first heard his music as a 12 year old. Actually, now that I think of it, it was probably even earlier!

There was something about his wailing guitar, the tensions and the release, the phrasing, the slow, seductive build-ups to impassioned climaxes and the sublime melodies that first got me eg Europa (Earth’s Cry, Heaven’s Smile), Revelations, Moonflower. It was as if his guitar captured his essence (indeed our essence) well beyond the boundaries of his/our personality.

That was before I heard his faster paced numbers like Oye Como Va and Evil Ways and Black Magic Woman. They were the ones I danced to with a friend who taught me the chacha. Well, we thought it was the chacha. I’ve since learnt that the chacha can be a little more sophisticated than our pre-teen versions!

For periods of my life, growing up and well into adulthood, I would listen to nothing but Santana. It was as if I was drawn into a place of spiritual ecstasy. At no point did it occur to me to find out about the man himself. It was simply unnecessary!

In recent times, however, for a number of reasons, one of which is possibly because I have become more committed to playing the guitar, I have become interested in finding out about this great lover. (Yes, the greatest work of any kind seems to arise from lovers in action, whether they are musical, literary, sporty etc).

Actually, there was one other thing that I now recall which prompted me to google him up. It was a comment he made on a music dvd that I watched. He said something to the effect that he wanted his music to be a spiritual orgasm for all who heard it. If you ask me, I think he has succeeded, at least with me.

Anyway, what have I learnt about Santana?

Well, really, about how he sees the world and chooses to act in it, wherein I see beauty and love and sheer joy (Mind you these are words that point to, but don’t fully describe, what I feel/see. They’ll have to do for now ).

In a late 2007 interview with Jambase, he talks about Oneness, about the divine, about his music being his communion with the divine, about meditating before he goes on stage, about replacing current selections of piped music in shopping malls and lifts with music that uplifts and unites and honours and rejoices and empowers. He talks about following the creative spirit (and he has continued to move with, if not lead, not just within his particular blends of musical genrer but across others for over 40 years!). He talks about accessing the cosmic, collective consciousness that pervades all of life across time and space and he talks about living without fear, i.e. living in love.

Is it any wonder that I was hooked on this man’s music from such a young age? Is it any wonder that I still am? Not having known any of this in all the years that I have listened to him, it nevertheless comes as no surprise, although there is delight and adoration.

If you’d like to read this interview, you’ll find it here http://www.jambase.com/Articles/Story.aspx?storyID=11942 . Or, you could go listen to his music at his website: www.santana.com . You’ll probably hear his more racey, congo-heavy numbers there (I just did when I went to check the url).

But you can also get to hear some of his gentler numbers such as Revelations (which does reach a gripping climax), Europa (Earth’s cry, Heaven’s song) and Moonflower if you do a google search for their downloads (that is if you can’t find them at his website). (Enter ’song title’ and ‘download’).

Like me, you just might experience the fullness of eros!

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