Out today (October 15th) is Carlos Santana's latest album, Blessings And Miracles. The collection features collaborations with Metallica's Kirk Hammett, Steve Winwood, Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas, songwriter Diane Warren, Chris Stapleton, and the late-Chick Corea.
Santana and Rob Thomas have reunited for the album's lead single titled, “Move,” which pairs them over two decades after 1999's multiple Grammy-winning smash “Smooth.” Since the track dropped last month, fans have been taking note of Santana's incredible teamup with Winwood on their cover of Procol Harum's 1967 era-defining classic, “A Whiter Shade Of Pale.”
We asked Carlos Santana if there was any advice he would offer up to aspiring musicians today: “Don't pay attention to the business. Pay attention to life. People need water. People need air. People need music. And if you're a good musician, if you play piano at Nordstrom's and they fire you because nobody buys anything when you're playing, because they're all looking at you? (laughter) — that's a badge of honor (laughter).”
Carlos Santana is by far rock's most iconic Mexican-born artist. He told us that by creating music with different musicians is his way of not becoming a part of any one kind of genre. “It helps me not to allow anyone to define me: 'There's like another Mexican blues player or another Los Lobos guy.' And as much as I like Los Lobos, sometimes people put them into like, y'know, 'they're those nice Mexican guys who play this music.' And I'm like 'whoa, whoa.' I'd rather be a musician that could go to Japan or Africa or Jerusalem or the Apache Reservation and be able to complement whatever they put in front of me.”
