European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Carlos Santana so real Gumbo by Mary Campbell associated press with his new album spirits dancing in the flesh Carlos Santana wanted the same feeling of Quot oneness experienced at the finale of the olympic games. Quot every four years at the olympics you see people from All walks of life joining hands dancing laughing together crying. I wanted to do the kind of album to create that spirit every Day Quot Santana said in an interview in new York. The albums first video for peace on Earth. Mother Earth. Third Stone from the Sun Santana said Quot shows the Earth is the womb and we Are the babies. Forget about National anthems flags and passports and get into one family consciousness. That turns me on. Quot the first part of that piece was composed by John Coltrane the second by me and the third by Jimi Hendrix. I met Hendrix at a concert. He mentioned about joining my band. Musically he knew the band was embracing something different than show business that he was being put into. We were just kids but he knew. I think he had enough of show business. He wanted to seriously play some Tramaine Hawkins for whom Santana predicts big things and Bobby Womack sing on spirits dancing in the flesh. Santana plays guitar. This is the last album under Santana a present Columbia records contract and his thoughts Are full of what he wants in a new contract a the Chance to advise the company about non mainstream records. Quot i Don t want a big Juicy contract with a lot of Money. I would like to create a new Branch in the company that deals with people in a different Way than the predictable. Quot this company needs a Branch of rebels and renegades Quot he said. Quot i want to work with them. There Are a lot of bands not that predictable the fabulous thunderbird Tracy Chapman Bonnie Raitt John Lee Hooker. Turn on the radio it is very insulting. A lot of people done to want the same formula of canned soup. They want the real Gumbo. Quot i would like to bring my first hand experiences with the streets. In a trying for music you and i can be revitalized from spiritually. A lot of people Arentt dealing with the heart. 2 live Crew and Madonna have to do everything controversial to sell something. I m a Lover. My sound penetrates deeper than a surgeons knife because i go All the Way to your subconscious. Quot i see children and grandparents hip and Square Black and White. People Tell me How my music consciously or unconsciously helped them find their own identity in this outspoken and never at a loss for words Santana says that Columbia records would like him to repeat Black magic woman of 1970. A they treat you As a legend and Don t put your new records in the stores. Every time i go on the Road for the last five years it s been sold out. People Are waiting for the new thing we re going to Santana found it frustrating to take the healer which he composed and the soundtrack to la Bamba to Columbia and have them rejected. La Bamba came out on Warner Bros and the healer on Chameleon records. A i did a jazz album with Wayne Shorter two years ago. They Haven to put it he Hasni to done music for a film since la Bamba. A fall the scripts they Send me Are demeaning to women. If i can to play music in front of my four Sisters mom wife and daughters i won t play it. Thank god i m in a position where i Don t need to do it Quot Santana said. Quot musicians respect me. I have a lot of Confidence and peace of mind because of what i do and How i do it. I feel confident about my future. Very few bands a one family consciousness Quot on Santana a new release a spirits dancing in the can go to Jerusalem and make hebrews and palestinians dance together or play at san Quentin and see Blacks latinos and Whites dancing together. For the duration of the concert they forget about their hate. That s what my band Santana is touring the United states. Next year he plans to go to South Africa and South America. Quot i promised my wife some Domestic rhythm time. The lord gave us a daughter eight months ago. I need to watch her grow. In be tried All my life to balance my life. Salvador is 7, Estella 5 and Angelica Faith 8 months. I m very Santana left Mexico for san Francisco at 14, and has Only played in his native country twice. Quot next March i m invited by the president of Mexico to perform in Mexico City. In a banned from Mexico. All i said was they have to Stop imitating the worst of american music and get into their own thing. Quot in 1973, they let me play for Rich people in a Small bullfight ring. I wanted to play in a coliseum and have a ceiling on ticket prices. They said i could t because i play Rock n Roll. In 1988, they let me play in a town kind of like Fresno Calif. Quot now the president says in Man International musician and invited me to come to Mexico through the front door with Linda Ronstadt and los Lobos. If we do seven concerts i want the Money from three to stay in san Diego and collect interest and the Money to go to a Hospital in Mexico to take care of time a pandemonium calling it Quot the return of the magnificent seven Quot might be a bit much but this latest release from Minneapolis Funk sters the time Marks an impressive return to form for a band that almost single Anderly made Stacy Adams shoes a household word. Opening with a fawning introduction from Black entertainment television veejay Donnie Simpson the sleek septet immediately bursts into pandemonium a merciless Groove that slams the listener Over the head with powerful Drums and a hard driving dance Groove. Funk workouts like chocolate and Jerk out follow the same Lead offering an insistent beat sprinkled with time isms like slashing synthetic horns and a Slippery muscular Bass line. But the group also manages to Chart new ground with a couple of living Colour influenced Rock numbers like sexy socialite and Skillet that let guitarist Jesse Johnson strut his stuff admirably. Of course Singer Morris Day is still the same Jive talking self absorbed Buffoon that he s always been but that s part of his Peculiar Charm. When he warbles a few off key notes on Jerk out a Beautiful sounding companion asks derisively Quot who Ever told you you could sing Quot he dismisses her with an off hand Quot yeah baby Quot As if to say Quot i m having fun living Large and getting paid. So who cares if i can sing or not Quot and that attitude lends the album a sense of spirited Good time fun that makes listening a party of its own. Eric Deggans Scripps Howard we at s what s not record a review John Kay amp Steppe Wolf a Rise amp Shine John Kay May never produce another song to match the Freedom breathing glory of born to be wild. But he has t stopped trying. Rise amp Shine is like a postcard from a forgotten Friend. It s not a work of Fine Art but it delivers effectively enough Kay s message that adulthood is no excuse for compromising on Youthful ideals. It would be easy to dismiss Kay As just another 1960s act capitalizing on his Appeal to baby Boomers. But Steppe Wolf Wasny to just another pop band. Their music was As political As it was psychedelic and Kay is still a social critic. Twenty years ago he condemned drug dealers in the Pusher and railed against political apathy in monster. On this album he tries to raise environmental consciousness on do or die and lashes out slyly at the National addiction to debt in sign on the line. The title track becomes a plea for social activism As Kay recalls his own reawakening Quot i be been searching for the Man i used to be. I found him waiting alive and Well and he was screaming Back at me Rise and Quot the album hits its most topical Point on the Wall in which Kay first tells the Story of his childhood escape from East Germany with his Mother then rejoices at seeing the Berlin Wall torn Down late last year. The 10 cuts on Rise amp Shine Lack the psychedelic sound of the original Steppe Wolf although Kay still has that voice an animal growl that remains one of Rock s most distinctive sounds. Most of the tunes Are modern sounding straight ahead rockers that allow the three Man band a none of them original Steppe Wolf members a to work out. Guitarist rocket Ritchotte is an Ace. A David Dishneau a living Colour a times up contrary to popular belief today s heavy Metal bands have More to offer than simple minded music for sex obsessed adolescents. Take living Colour for example. With time s up the group ranges through everything from simple thrash the title tune to metallic Funk Pride and still finds room for guest spots by Little Richard rapper Queen Latifah and saxophonist Maceo Parker. Better yet the lyrics offer cogent insight on topics ranging from sexual politics under cover of darkness to race relations the terrifically tuneful Type. Toss in the ground breaking guitar work of band Leader Vernon Reid and living Colour sounds More and More like the future of american hard Rock. A . Considine Baltimore Sun wednesday september 19, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 17
