The Legacy, Alive and Afire

Sometimes, a concert is more than a concert, more than a singular, localized blip on an artist’s tour itinerary. Last weekend at the Santa Barbara Bowl was one such special occasion, representing the long-awaited and triumphant return of the towering musical phenom that is Santana.

Carlos Santana, the legendary Latin rocker with the heraldic and utterly signature guitar sound, was in the alfresco house of the Bowl, leading the mighty charge with his percussion-fortified band in the confident manner he has for an astonishing six decades. The concerts were more than just concerts: a mayoral proclamation from Randy Rowse was in order, along with a special commemorative cup created by the Bowl.

Santana has a strong and sentimental connection to Santa Barbara Bowl (nee the County Bowl). A mutual adoration society history goes back to 25 prior shows in this space since 1979, and last week’s two-night stand marked the long-awaited return after an 18-year gap. (All of this I know, in part, because I’m consulting data on my commemorative cup.)

In the interim was a memorable one-night stand at the Chumash Casino, back in 2011 — the first time local audiences had a live face-to-face meeting with a woman whose new role in the band bumped up its musical authority a few notches. Clearly, a central attraction of the current lineup is all in the family, in the form of stunningly fine drummer, and wife, Cindy Blackman Santana. A respected jazz artist in her own right before teaming up with Carlos, she’s truly a binding heartbeat for the band, flanked by two driving percussionists. 

She also steps out of the ensemble weave at times, unveiling her considerable chops on appropriate occasions, such as a potent solo late in the show on the extended version of the instrumental “Soul Sacrifice.” Not for nothing is there an overhead cam revealing to us her sprawling drum kit setup and her flowing command at that post, as seen in frequent action shots during the concert. It’s fair to say that Santana got a jolt of revived energy in its current and ongoing post-Cindy phase.

At the Bowl, we heard Santana’s iconic guitar sound — pointed yet warm riffing and exploring on his PRS guitar through a thick, swaddling distortion — before we even saw him onstage. After an introduction with onscreen footage of tribal celebratory dances around the world over pulsing percussion, the band kicked in the undulations of “Toussaint L’Ouverture” and the guitarist began playing, wirelessly, offstage before taking his place up front.

Santana clearly has a running and accessible headful of music, as heard in the fluid movements of his improvisations, shifting from bluesy riffs to a range of quotes from songs in the collective mental songbook. By my count, his quote factor at the Bowl touched on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Afro Blue,” “Fool on the Hill,” “Misty,” “In a Sentimental Mood,” “The Closer I Get to You,” “Wade in the Water” and no doubt others I didn’t catch wind of.

In keeping with the band’s jazz-leaning focus on soloing and improvisation, there was plenty of margin for jamming in the program, while settling into the business of actual vocal tunes, such as “Make Someone Happy” —  seemingly a Santana axiom/anthem. The expected Santana songbook chestnuts — “Evil Ways,” “Black Magic Woman,” “Oyo Como Va,” and their take on the Zombies hit “She’s Not There” — were naturally in the mix, spanning a 60-year musical swath, served up refreshed and timeless, with Santana’s lived-in, sinuous guitar lead on top.

As has been the case from the band’s early days, the “lead vocalist” role is effectively played by Carlos himself, while the actual vocals play a more functional role (with such exceptions as Rob Thomas’ spotlighted cameo lead on the boffo hit “Smooth,” a ripe show-closer here). Vocalists Andy Vargas and Ray Greene often sang in unison, only occasionally stepping out and showing their impressive individual wares in the course of the show, while mostly filling the vocal duties for the good of the team versus the typical upfront singer profile. 

Before launching into encore time, Santana stepped up to the microphone to offer words of wisdom from an inspired source, assuming a semi-preacher mode. “We are living in times where we have to take the wheel,” he told the capacity crowd on Sunday. “Everyone here is worthy to receive an avalanche of abundance of blessings and miracles. Everyone here. I know people get upset when I talk and say, ‘You should just play the guitar,’ and I say, ‘Just shut the f….” (Enter crowd laughter.) 

“But sometimes, I just have to tell people that you are significant, meaningful and precious and priceless. There’s only one of you on this planet. So learn to value and cherish yourself when you look in the mirror. It’s ok for you to say ‘God loves me, he believes in me and he’s proud of me.’ When you say that, you’re going to walk differently … play back your light, because you are a beam of light.” Next order of business: the pull of percussion and the seductive affirming force of “Soul Sacrifice” and the hit parade-kissed finale of “Smooth.”

At the concert’s end, the screen beamed a bold keyword and moniker for his current tour: “ONENESS.” Mission achieved.