Latin heritage and the songs created for the
new album.
"We just did our best to get out of the way
of the music," he says laughing about the making of Corazon. "There were no egos in the stu-
A
mong the many Latin music superstars
who joined Carlos Santana for his
Corazon album and HBO concert special taped this past December in Guadalajara,
Mexico, was Gloria Estefan. Estefan, who
recorded a couple tracks with the famed rock
guitarist prior to the Corazon project, still can't
believe she has been able to collaborate with
the artist who inspired more than any other.
Backstage at the venue where the TV special was taped, Estefan stretched out on a
leather couch in her dressing room and spoke
to us about her work on Corazon; her admiration for Santana; the struggles she has faced as
a one of the few Latin artists who has crossed
over to a mainstream pop audience; and what
the future has in store.
IE Talk about the experience of working together with Carlos on this project...
GE: This has been great. Well, he had already
worked together on an album I did and we did
a song called "No Llores" (Don't Cry). We went
to San Francisco to shoot it and it was amazing. It was my first experience of working with
him in the studio. This album, we could not do
that because he was in residence (in Las Vegas)
and I was traveling around. He always likes to
do the vocals first so there is marriage and in a
duet he likes to feel the energy of the vocalist
first, before he lays down his tracks. He is very
special about that and I think it is important because it makes a different. So, he sent me "Besos
De Lejos," but it was in a unique language. It
was in Portuguese, mixed with African because it came out of Port Veridas. I wrote the
Spanish translation because I really wanted to
know what it was about. I kind of identified a
lot with it because it reminded me of Cuba and
it's talking about an island, and the nostalgia
and missing the sights and sounds when we
were very young. So, that feeling was still there
and it was a great experience. He's a wonderful guy, very legit.
IE:When you were young and starting out did
you ever think you would someday share a
stadium stage with Carlos Santana?
GE: Oh my gosh, are you kidding? I don't think
I ever dreamed that and I had heard him way
before I ever knew I was going to be in music.
I have been singing since I could talk, and San-
24 illinoisentertainer.com april 2014
dio making this music. There was no competing or comparing. It is just like the concert
tonight. You just come in and present yourself,
be present with intensity and look people in the
eye and say ' thank you for being here and
sharing the light.' Like the people performing
tonight. I know they could be at home taking
the rest of the year off with (their) family, but
instead you chose to be bring your light and
your fire and your brilliance here, and we are
really grateful."
And so are the millions of Carlos Santana fans.
tana was one of the first be icons that showed
me you don't have to change your name. And
he created his own sound, with the Latin vibe
in there. Woodstock I was very young, and my
mother was incredibly scandalized by it, so of
course, I was drawn to that. And he exploded
after Woodstock, so I have been following his
career and Jose Feliciano's since then. It was important to see Hispanics on the Grammy
Awards at time where they kept their natural
name and they didn't have to change their
music. You know, they tried to change us a lot
in the beginning. They told us to lose the percussion; lose the horns; you might have to
change your name – and we would say:
"Listen, this is who we are. If we cannot succeed with this, why would we bother even
doing music? This is who we are culturally, we
are that mix."
IE: What is the cultural significance of
tonight's show, in terms of the Latin culture
and breaking down barriers?
GE: It's very important, uniquely too. Even
Hispanics have a little confusion as to the type
of Latin music and the flavor. It is just so varied
that you cannot lump it all in one fell swoop.
When you say "Latin" to people they might
think salsa, or maybe that kind of thing. There
are so many different types of rhythms. The
song I am doing tonight, "Besos De Lejos," from
Cape Verdes has a Brazilian vibe, but everything that ties it together is the African underpinning of percussion. And we share that all
through out Latin America and the Caribbean.
And in Cuba particularly, we had a very interesting mix because the first people that were in
there after we got discovered were the French.
So, you have the African mixed with French
court music that made "dan- saun," and you
have the cha cha, all of it African based. But, if
you go to Argentina, you have tango; the Dominican Republic, we have Meringue; the Andian sounds of Peru. I think tonight really
celebrates those differences even within our
Latin community.
IE: Present work excepted, what is your all
time favorite Santana track?
GE: Ugh! It is between two of them: "Evil
Ways" and "Oye Como Va." I mean we had the
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