BOOK REVIEW: The Universal Tone by Carlos Santana

Shane | 28 March 2015 | Reply

BOOK REVIEW: The Universal Tone by Carlos Santana
Hachette Australia, rrp$32.99 – November 2014
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
9/10

Carlos Santana couldn’t care less if people think he is an acid casualty from the ‘60s, a wannabe guru, or just plain old ‘Crazy Carlos’ – “Behold – my craziness is working. How’s your sanity doing?” he asks in the introduction to this wild ride through the mind of the Mexican guitarist and seeker.

From late nights as a young teen playing Tijuana bars, trying to assimilate into Californian school, developing the Santana Band’s fusion of Latin, jazz and rock music, and gradually taking the band over as his original collaborators left, Carlos Santana never holds back, admitting his mistakes, putting forward his spiritual ideas and ideologies, and delving deep into the music.

Spiritually speaking he devotes just enough – not too much – space to his search for meaning, for inner peace, for what he calls The Universal Tone – the one note which brings everyone and everything together. Along with his charitable work, his adoration of his family and second wife Cindy Blackman (drummer with lenny Kravitz) it’s admirable and humbling stuff and again, never less than fascinating.

His friendship with the legendary and volatile Miles Davis and members of his band, The Weather Report and other jazz greats gets a lot of exploration, though he’s never shy to remind us that he loves Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, John Lee Hooker. He’s a true audiophile and musicologist, namedropping every major influence as his love for them all shines forth from the page.

He is living, breathing proof that if you want to be truly original, you must combine unique elements of all your influences. In this way he has, in turn, been a major influence to many, and The Universal Tone tells his story in his own, unique voice.