SantanaReseñas

Teaching Band Instruments in Groups

The American methods for teaching heterogenic band
instruments (woodwinds, brass, ~ and percussion instruments)
for groups entail activities and methodologies that develop
music reading, hearing capacities, the mastering of the
instrument, comprehension, cognition and musical
understanding., Americans utilize a set of melodies, which
function as pedagogic tools of· that methodology. The
melodies play an important role in relationship to the
students' development of musical and instrumental
performance skills. They are sung and played in unison, in
parts, canons and other textures for full band. These
acti vi ties develop aural, melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic
skills.
Moreover, the student has the opportunity to
experiment with different formats, phrasings, textures and
musical styles, and to develop from the very beginning of
the apprenticeship the ability of performing with a group.
There are also activities presented in other band
methods, based on a more comprehensive kind of music
education, which seek a broader development of the student.
These methods not only present activities designed to
develop improvisation and composition skills, but also
performance and music appreciation.
Group teaching has greatly decreased the costs related
to classrooms and hiring teachers, making it possible for
many students to have access to instrument lessons. The
success of this type of teaching in the United states for
almost a century is an example of the efficiency and
efficacy of the method, which has contributed to achieve a
better quality of instrumental music education.

1 Santana– Adouma
Backing Vocals – Kike Santander
Bass, Electric Guitar, Mandolin, Cuatro, Backing Vocals, Arranged By – Fernando "Toby" Tobon*
Keyboards, Backing Vocals, Engineer, Programmed By, Arranged By – Jose Gaviria
Keyboards, Engineer, Programmed By, Arranged By – Andres Munera
Lead Vocals – Tony Lindsay
Vocals – Andy Vargas
Written-By – Angelique Kidjo*, J. Hebrail*
4:15
2 Santana Featuring Musiq*– Nothing At All
Acoustic Guitar – René Martinez*
Acoustic Guitar [Acoustic Steel String Guitar] – Rene Toledo
Backing Vocals – Shelene Thomas
Congas – Karl Perazzo
Lead Vocals – Musiq*
Written-By – Rob Thomas
Written-By, Backing Vocals – Cori Rooney*
4:29
3 Santana Featuring Michelle Branch– The Game Of Love
Arranged By [Horn Arrangements] – Carlos Santana
Backing Vocals – Niki Harris*, Siedah Garrett
Congas – Raul Rekow
Drum Programming – Wayne Rodrigues
Drums – Brian Collier
Electric Guitar [Additional] – Rusty Anderson
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Michelle Branch
Percussion [Additional] – Luis Conte
Piano, Organ – Chester Thompson (2)
Trombone – Marty Wehner
Trombone, Arranged By [Horn Arrangements] – Jeff Cressman
Trumpet – Julius Melendez
Trumpet, Arranged By [Horn Arrangements] – Bill Ortiz
Vocals [Additional] – Andy Vargas, Tony Lindsay
Written-By – Alex Ander
Written-By, Backing Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards – Rick Nowels
4:14
4 Santana Featuring Seal– You Are My Kind
Acoustic Guitar [Additional] – Manny Lopez
Arranged By, Keyboards, Engineer, Programmed By – Lester Mendez
Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Organ [Hammond B3] – Chester Thompson (2)
Engineer – Dan Vickers
Lead Vocals – Seal
Producer – Lester Mendez
Programmed By – Havana Hustlers
Rainstick – Carlos Santana
Written-By – Rob Thomas
4:20
5 Santana Featuring Macy Gray– Amoré (Sexo)
Backing Vocals – Dawn Beckman, Sy Smith
Percussion, Engineer – Juan Losada*
Piano [Acoustic] – Paquito Hechevaria*
Trumpet, Trombone – Jesus "Chuchie" Jorge*
Written-By – Dallas Austin, Javier Vazquez*
Written-By, Lead Vocals – Macy Gray
Written-By, Percussion, Engineer, Programmed By – Lester Mendez
3:52
6 Santana– Foo Foo
Congas – Raul Rekow
Drums – Dennis Chambers
Trombone – Jeff Cressman
Trumpet – Bill Ortiz
Vocals – Andy Vargas, Carlos Santana, Tony Lindsay
Written-By – Hermann Nau*, Claude Jean*, Yves Joseph*, Roger Eugene*, Yvon Andre
6:29
7 Santana– Victory Is Won
Drums – Dennis Chambers
Written-By, Acoustic Guitar [Acoustic 12-string Guitar], Electric Guitar – Carlos Santana
5:20
8 Santana Featuring Melkie Jean* & Governor Washington*– Since Supernatural
Lead Vocals – Melkie Jean*
Vocals [Additional] – Dayona Pringle, Kenny Mohammed "The Human Orchestra"*
Written-By – Jerry Duplessis, Wyclef Jean
Written-By, Lead Vocals – Governor Washington*
4:32
9 Santana Featuring P.O.D.– America
Written-By, Bass – Traa*
Written-By, Drums – Wuv*
Written-By, Guitar – Marcos*
Written-By, Lead Vocals – Sonny*
4:35
10 Santana Featuring Citizen Cope– Sideways
Bass – Me'Shell NdegéOcello
Drums – Rodney Blade*
Organ, Keyboards – John Ginty
Percussion – Bashiri Johnson
Timbales – Carlos Santana
Written-By, Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Keyboards [Additional] – Clarence Greenwood
4:42
11 Santana Featuring Chad Kroeger– Why Don't You & I
Arranged By, Keyboards, Arranged By [Horn Arrangement], Engineer, Programmed By – Lester Mendez
Bass [Chorus Bass] – Lee Sklar*
Guitar [Additional] – R.J.*, Tim Pierce
Keyboards – Carlos Santana
Organ [Hammond B3] – Chester Thompson (2)
Programmed By – Havana Hustlers
Saxophone – Ed Calle
Trumpet, Trombone – Jesus "Chuchi" Jorge
Written-By, Lead Vocals – Chad Kroeger
4:34
12 Santana Featuring Dido– Feels Like Fire
Acoustic Guitar – Martin McCory*
Backing Vocals – Ola Taylor, Pauline Taylor
Electric Guitar [Additional] – Dave Randall (2)
Keyboards – Mark Bates, Sister Bliss
Lead Vocals – Dido
Percussion – Jody Linscott
Written-By – Dido Armstrong, Pnut*, Rollo Armstrong*
4:40
13 Santana– Aye Aye Aye
Lead Vocals – Andy Vargas
Mixed By – Jim Gaines
Written-By, Backing Vocals – Carlos Santana
Written-By, Congas, Backing Vocals – Raul Rekow
Written-By, Drums, Arranged By [Horn Loops] – Michael Shrieve
Written-By, Drums, Backing Vocals – Karl Perazzo
4:46
14 Santana Featuring Alejandro Lerner– Hoy Es Adios
roducer – Jeeve, Klaus Derendorf
Rhythm Guitar – Klaus Derendorf
Rhythm Guitar, Engineer, Programmed By – Jeeve
Written-By – Jean-Yves Docornet*, Klause Derendorf*
Written-By, Lead Vocals – Alejandro Lerner
4:37
15 Santana Featuring Ozomatli– One Of These Days
Backing Vocals – Ozomatli
Bass – Wil-Dog Abers
Drums [Kenya Drum], Congas, Shekere – Shangó Dely
Organ [Hammond B3], Engineer – Sebastian Arocha Morton
Rhythm Guitar – Raul Pacheco
Talking Drum, Tabla – Jiro Yamaguchi
Tenor Saxophone – Ulises Bella
Trombone – Arturo Velasco
Trumpet, Backing Vocals – Asdru Sierra
Turntables – Andreas Allen
Written-By – Carlos Santana
Written-By, Electric Piano, Keyboards, Drum Programming, Backing Vocals, Engineer – KC Porter
Written-By, Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Keyboards, Drum Programming, Backing Vocals, Engineer – JB Eckl
5:52
16 Santana Featuring Placido Domingo– Novus
Arranged By – Carlos Santana
Arranged By [String Arrangement] – Benny Rietveld
Congas, Timbales – Karl Perazzo
Lead Vocals – Placido Domingo
Strings – Carla Picchi, David Schoenbrun, Deborah Price, Emily Onderdonk, James Schallenberger*, Jeremy Cohen, Joseph Edelberg, Joseph Herbert*, Marika Hughes, Paul Ehrlich, Sarah Knutson
Technician [Pro Tools] – Nick Thomas (7)
Written-By – Carlos Santana, Gabor Szabo, Greg Digiovine*, Ritchie Rome*, Walter Afanasieff

1 Evil Ways
Producer – Brent Dangerfield, C. Santana*
Written-By – S. Henry*
3:00
2 Jingo
Producer – Brent Dangerfield, C. Santana*
Written-By – M. Olatunji*
2:44
3 Hope You're Feeling Better
Producer – C. Santana*, Fred Catero
Written-By – G. Rolie*
4:10
4 Samba Pa Ti
Producer – C. Santana*, Fred Catero
Written-By – C. Santana*
4:47
5 Persuasion
Producer – Brent Dangerfield, C. Santana*
Written-By – Santana Band*
2:34
6 Black Magic Woman
Producer – C. Santana*, Fred Catero
Written-By – P. Green*
3:17
7 Oye Como Va
Producer – C. Santana*, Fred Catero
Written-By – T. Puente*
4:19
8 Everything's Coming Our Way
Producer – C. Santana*
Written-By – C. Santana*
3:16
9 Se A Cabo
Producer – C. Santana*, Fred Catero
Written-By – J. Areas*
2:51
10 Everybody's Everything
Producer – C. Santana*
Written-By – C. Santana*, M. Brown*, T. Moss*
3:31

Jingo 4:14
Evil Ways 3:54
Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen 5:19
Oye Como Va 4:16
Samba Pa Ti 4:47
She's Not There 4:09
No One To Depend On 5:32
Open Invitation 4:45
Hold On 4:22
Bella 4:30
Winning 3:28
All I Ever Wanted 4:03
Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana) 8:15
Europa (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile) 5:06
Everybody's Everything 3:30
Soul Sacrifice 6:35

Probably 4.5/5.0 stars

Very interesting insights into what made him such the great Artist and band leader that he is. Has definitely now got me wanting to seek out and listen to a lot more of his catalogue, many of which I've not heard or missed! But am also inspired to expand my horizons a lot more and to reach back into listening to many of the early great Blues and Jazz artists that influenced the Santana sounds and of which I am mostly ignorant about (other than well knowing their names) all easily accessible now on likes of Spotify

This is, obviously, the autobiography of rock guitarist Carlos Santana. The book could have used a little editing, as it comes in at 520 pages and has more than a little repetition, especially about Santana's world view and cosmic philosophy. He goes on at length about his childhood, generally a stumbling block for me, especially in autobiographies, but he does manage to make it mostly interesting, so I mostly give him a pass on that. He tells about the real meat of his career, the 60s and into the early 70s, in fine fashion. His relationships with figures like Bill Graham, Miles Davis and the other musicians he crosses paths with are told about quite well. He also talks at length, and quite interestingly (at least for me) about his musical influences, and how he goes about incorporating their styles into his own. It took hours and hours and hours of listening to records, trying to replicate solos and styles on his own guitar, and then doing it again. It's a real insight into the kind of discipline and dedication it takes to attain artistic excellence at his level. For example, I was surprised to learn that he considers his most important influences to be the blues greats as well as John Coltrane. As a jazz fan, I did find the descriptions of the later parts of his career, as he became more immersed in that music and began performing with greats like Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. And since Santana (and/or his co-writers) maintain a friendly, engaging, almost intimate tone throughout, I was willing to hang with the long explanations of Santana's long discipleship with Sri Chimnoy and his ideas about Cosmic Oneness and spiritual discipline, etc., although there was more of that than I would have cared for. Santana talks about his family lovingly: his parents, siblings, children and two wives. Certainly, if I want to know about the person, not just the musician (and, really, if I want to know what fuels the musician) than that's a very important part of the story, as well.

So overall, I give this autobiography pretty high marks. Four stars, I guess. I enjoyed learning about Carlos Santana the person as well as the musician. It could have been 50 or so pages shorter, at least, but so be it.