Friday, February 22, 2008
Carlos Santana
Latin rock legend Carlos Santana played a sold-out concert of 15,000 fans at Festival City in Dubai on Friday February 15th. Showing his unique guitar style and impressive solo's.
At 60 years old, Santana showed that his age wasn't holding him back.
During the press conference earlier in the day, Santana captivated the Dubai media for more than 25 minutes as he passionately spoke about his music, life, collaborations and spirituality.
He said:
I owe my passion and talent to the women in my life. My mother and four sisters and my wife are the people who inspire me in life. It's all about the women. Music is made of two things - melody which is the female and rhythm which is the male.
I am definitely a melody man. Even my guitar is female, it has a female sound."
On the same note, Carlos briefly touched a delicate subject; He stated: women should have the room to develop themselves, regardless their culture or religion. Surprisingly I cound not find this statement in any of the Middle East newspapers.
Although Santana made it clear that women are very important to him, he says it was his father who taught him the most important lesson in life.
He added: "When I was younger my father pulled me aside and played a quick tune on his violin. A second later a tiny bird flew down and sat on the edge of the violin and repeated the tune in his whistle. My father played a different tune and the bird sang it back. I was utterly amazed and thought "my father can speak to birds", but he looked at me and said "that is the most important thing to remember in life - to communicate with people."
Speaking about working with younger artists, he said: "For me there is no compromise when working with other people. They come to me with a song or idea and we make it happen. For me there is a difference between a real artist and an entertainer.
Lots of the newer music is about showbiz and Hollywood. It is only the true artists and musicians who will be around for years to come. Music is real - it's a sound to make your hair stand on end, make you cry, dance or laugh.
Carlos finished by addressing the whole press conference. He said: "Take five minutes each day to connect with your own light and the world will be a better place. Let's love, show tenderness, graciousness and be kind. These qualities aren't only for women - we could all do better by living with these things."