Tags: Azteca, Benefit for Autism Awareness, Karl Perazzo, Pete Escovedo, Sheila E, The Warfield Theater, WAR, Women of Latin Rock

Voices of Latin Rock
5th Annual Benefit for Autism Awareness
January 24 , 2009 at The Warfield Theater, San Francisco

WAR

Azteca
Pete Escovedo, Wendy Haas, Victor Pantoja, Errol Knowles, Bill Courtial, Jules Rowlles, Sheila E.

Los Cenzontles

Voices of Latin Rock Review
Musical Director Karl Perazzo

Honoring the Women of Latin Rock
Rita Gentry, Lydia Pense, Wendy Haas, Sheila E., Linda Tillery

MC: Chuy Varela

San Francisco, California – Putting together an inspired collection of talent, Voices of Latin Rock presents The 5th Annual Benefit for Autism Awareness as a benefit for The Alex Speaks Foundation on Saturday January 24th, 2009 at the newly refurbished Warfield Theater, 982 Market Street, San Francisco, California. Headlining the bill is multi-platinum selling band WAR, Azteca, Los Cenzontles, Voices of Latin Rock Review, featuring members of Cold Blood, Malo, El Chicano and Santana. We will also be honoring the following Women of Latin Rock: Rita Gentry, Lydia Pense, Wendy Haas, Sheila E. and Linda Tillery. As in past years, many surprise guests will also appear. General tickets are from $45.00 to $75.00 and available by calling 415. 775.7722 or at Ticketmaster.

A limited number of exclusive packages & tables are available for special seating. Please e mail: DrBGMalo@aol.com for more information.

The show benefits schools in the Bay Area dealing with autism on a daily basis. This disorder has increased recently to 1 in 150 births, up from 1 in 166 just a few years ago. When questioned about special needs children in the most recent presidential debates, both candidates mentioned the need for increased funding for research for autism, specifically as it approaches epidemic numbers. With the Bay Area’s support of this event, we can continue our support of both schools and research for autism. – More-

WAR has recently been nominated as candidates for induction into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for 2009. WAR has recorded some of the biggest hits in the last 30 years including “The World Is A Ghetto”, “Cisco Kid”, “Why Can’t We Be Friends”, and “Low Rider.” The band is in it’s 40th year and has its first release in 14 years, “Greatest Hits Live.” More information on the band can be found on their website at www.wartheband.com.

Azteca features a stellar collective of Latin Rock performers that promises to tear the house down. Azteca was founded by the late Coke Escovedo and his brother Pete after their departure from the Latin Rock superband Santana. They were the first band to employ a large ensemble of horns, woodwinds, keyboards, Latin percussion and other instruments sometimes having 25 members in a live performance! Many of the original members will be performing.

Los Cenzontles is an amazing group from the Mexican Arts Center in Richmond, California featuring the vocals of Fabiola Trujillo and Luciana Rodriquez that infuses traditional Mexican instruments with gutsy electric bass and drums. The group is directed by Grammy nominated producer Eugene Rodriquez, and their latest CD “Wood & Steel” features producer/guitarist David Hildalgo along with vocalist Linda Ronstadt.

The Voices of Latin Rock Review with Musical Director Karl Perazzo includes members of Santana, Cold Blood, Malo and El Chicano.

This years event is honoring women of Latin Rock: Rita Gentry, Lydia Pense, Wendy Haas, Sheila E., and Linda Tillery.

‘Voices of Latin Rock’ has become a Bay Area favorite event, and early purchase of tickets is encouraged, as this event will sell out. Get your tickets soon!

For more information please contact: Gaynell Rogers 415.298.1114 or gaynell@pressandrelease.biz or
Katrina Markarian 707.578.6728 or Katrina@pressandrelease.biz.

Tags: Azteca, Benefit for Autism Awareness, Karl Perazzo, Pete Escovedo, Sheila E, The Warfield Theater, WAR, Women of Latin Rock

David Rubien
San Francisco Chronicle
E-mail David Rubien
Original article here
Sunday, January 18, 2009

Sometimes the good things in life don’t last long enough. Azteca, a big band spawned in 1972 by members of Santana and filled with the best rock, jazz and Latin jazz musicians in the Bay Area, lasted less than two years but set a “brown sound” watermark that’s rarely been topped.

Pete Escovedo, who has resurrected his 1970s Latin jazz b…Coke Escovedo (left), Tito Puente (center) and Pete Escov…The Latin jazz band Azteca in 1973. View More Images

“I really think we could have made a lot more music,” says Pete Escovedo, the Latin percussion master who formed Azteca with his brother, Coke. “Listening to the stuff we recorded, it still sounds great. It still holds up all these years.”

A crowd will get a chance to see if Azteca still can deliver the goods when Escovedo revives it Saturday at the Warfield Theatre to play a Voices of Latin Rock benefit for Autism Awareness, part of a bill that includes War, Los Cenzontles and the Voices of Latin Rock Revue.

After flying up to San Francisco recently from Los Angeles, where he’s lived for nine years, Escovedo, 73, is talking with The Chronicle about growing up in West Oakland, playing in Santana, forming Azteca and other subjects. Dressed in a gray sports jacket and matching tie, with his gray hair slicked back, he looks a bit like a Mafioso. But there’s nothing menacing about the man, unless you’re intimidated by the idea that he can play the fastest timbales in the West – and you should be.

Actually, Escovedo’s daughter, Sheila E., may play the fastest timbales in the West, but the audience Saturday won’t get to experience that because she’ll be anchoring Azteca behind the trap drum kit. Anyone who knows her work with Prince in the ’80s will vouch for her genius as a drummer.

Escovedo was born in Pittsburg and moved to Oakland when he was 4. His father, Pedro Escovedo, an immigrant from Saltillo, Mexico, was a pipe-fitter at Oakland’s Army base during World War II.

“My dad was a wannabe singer,” Escovedo says. “He would throw us all in the car and drive down to one of the ballrooms in Oakland – there was Sweet’s, the Ali Baba, the Sands – because a lot of the concerts were on Sunday afternoons. My mom made him take us so we’d be sure he’d come home. My dad was a rolling stone.

“We’d just sit in the car listening to this great music coming out of the ballroom. The Dorsey brothers, Basie, Latin bands like Machito, Perez Prado. We grew up listening to all this stuff.”

Dad’s first marriage produced seven kids, including Pete and Coke (born Joseph Thomas Escovedo), and his second yielded six more, including Alejandro, a pioneer of West Coast punk and alt-country. Many of Escovedo’s siblings are professional musicians.

As a student at McClymonds High School, Escovedo played saxophone, but he moved to percussion when an older friend from New York played him records by greats such as Tito Puente and Chico O’Farrill.

“Man, I just fell in love with that music,” he says. “It was great to play jazz and have Latin rhythms with it.”

When Escovedo was 18, he and Coke met Puente.

“He was playing at a club called the Macumba on Grant Avenue, upstairs in Chinatown. We went there every night. We became great friends with Tito. … We were lucky because we got a chance to meet a lot of the great Cuban drummers at that time: Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo. We’d go to the Blackhawk and see Armando Peraza, Cal Tjader, all the great players. We made friends with all of them and hung out together.”

In the late ’50s, Escovedo put together the Escovedo Brothers Sextet, with Coke on timbales and another brother, Phil, on bass. The group burned through practically every club in Northern California for years.

“We were playing in this place where the Broadway Tunnel is,” Escovedo says, unable to recall the name. “That’s when Carlos (Santana) and Chepitó (José Chepitó Areas) came in. They were listening to us play, then said, ‘Man, we’re rehearsing in this garage on Mission Street. Come on over after you guys get off.’ They would rehearse 24 hours a day. So we went, and that was the original Santana band. We started hanging out with them and playing all night. Who knew these guys were going to become famous and make so much money?”

First Coke was hired on timbales as a replacement for Chepitó, then Pete Escovedo joined on congas.

“We had a chance to travel the world,” Escovedo says. “What was really cool for me was we were playing for a lot of white people. There we were, doing our thing, and it was amazing because I think a lot of the people were hypnotized by the sound of the Latin percussion. A lot of people had never heard that stuff before, and Carlos was able to break that barrier.”

But Santana kept shuffling personnel, leading to discontent in the band. It was Coke, Escovedo says, who decided to start a new group, and Azteca was born. With top rhythm players such as Paul Jackson on bass and Lenny White on drums and a large roster of horns and percussion, the group sounded something like a combination of Santana, Earth Wind and Fire, Tower of Power and the Tito Puente Orchestra.

“It was Coke’s vision,” Escovedo says. “Azteca was a mixture of a lot of different styles of music. All the Latin rhythms were very strong and prominent. At the same time, a lot of the guys came from a jazz background, so we incorporated a lot of jazz harmonies and jazz melodies. At the same time, because we were in the Latin rock era, we incorporated that and a little R&B.”

The groups recorded two magnificent albums for Columbia, “Azteca” and “Pyramid of the Moon,” and toured with the Temptations and Stevie Wonder. Columbia dropped the group after Clive Davis – who had signed Azteca – was ousted in a payola scandal. Mainly, though, it was the size of the group that did it in – 16 players at minimum, often augmented by many more.

“It was crazy,” Escovedo says. “There were times when we left a gig with no money and had to sneak out of the hotel at night. … We started having internal problems in the band because we weren’t making any money. Our bank account ran out, and a lot of guys began to jump ship. The ship was slowly sinking.”

The death knell came when Coke left the group for a solo career. He released three albums for Mercury, then was in high demand as a percussionist for artists such as Wonder and Herbie Hancock.

Coke died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1986.

“He passed away in L.A.,” Escovedo says. “We were in that era of doing some crazy things. Some of us were smart enough to get out of it, and some of us were not. And he was one of the ones who could not get out of it. And it eventually was his downfall. … It was too bad. He was a great musician.”

Compounding the anguish, Coke died on July 13, Escovedo’s birthday.

“It was a tough thing to get over,” he says. “Every time my birthday would come up, it’s kind of like, ‘Do I celebrate, or do I feel bad?’ ”

Escovedo’s career as a bandleader and percussionist – for artists ranging from Woody Herman to Hancock to Stephen Stills to Barry White to Puente – has been nothing but successful. Less so have been his ventures into owning nightclubs.

The resurrection of Azteca began in the summer of 2007, when filmmaker Daniel Meza approached Escovedo and other original members about getting back together and recording a DVD. The group performed at Hollywood’s Key Club on Sept. 15, 2007, featuring surviving members Lenny White, Jackson, Victor Pantoja on congas, Wendy Haas and Errol Knowles on vocals, Bill Courtial on guitar, Jules Rowell on trombone and Escovedo.

The DVD, “La Piedra del Sol” (“Stone of the Sun”), will be available from Internet vendors beginning Tuesday.

For Saturday’s show, the personnel is the same, except Sheila E. is on drums and Curtis Olson replaces Jackson on bass – and there’ll be plenty of guest horn players and percussionists on hand.

A new era for Azteca?

“It remains to the seen,” Escovedo says. “You never know what situations the good Lord puts us in. … I look at all these things as a blessing. We’ll see what happens.”

VOICES OF LATIN ROCK: Azteca, War, Los Cenzontles, Voices of Latin Rock Revue. 7 p.m. Sat. Warfield Theatre, 982 Market St., San Francisco. Tickets $45-$75. Call (415) 421-8497 or go to www.ticketmaster.com.

E-mail David Rubien drubien@sfchronicle.com.

Tags: Azteca, Pete Escovedo, Santana, Sheila E, The Warfield Theater

BY TONY WADE
DAILY REPUBLIC CORRESPONDENT

SAN FRANCISCO — The 5th annual Voices of Latin Rock Benefit concert for Autism Awareness returns Jan. 24 to the Warfield Theater in San Francisco. The concert raises funds for schools in the Bay Area who battle autism on a daily basis. During the last 5 years the show has grown and even expanded into a traveling tour, but the January annual event has become legendary.

The 2009 lineup includes 1970s funk/Latin/rock hit machine WAR (“Slippin’ into Darkness,” “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” and “Low Rider”), pioneering Latin/rock/jazz fusion group Azteca, an all-star revue featuring members of Malo, Santana, El Chicano, Cold Blood and many others. As a special treat, this year PBS is filming the show for later broadcast. It has become an annual tradition to give tribute to those who helped Latin rock flourish. This year women who helped craft the sound will be honored. Among the dignitaries are legendary promoter Bill Graham’s personal assistant Rita Gentry, vocalist Linda Tillery, Santana and Azteca pianist/ vocalist Wendy Haas, Cold Blood frontwoman Lydia Pense, and percussionist extraordinaire Sheila E.

Green Valley’s Jeff Trager has co-produced the show from the start. It’s grown from a one-time deal to an annual event and then into a traveling tribute which picks up local Latin legends as it trudges across the states.

Voices of Latin Rock sold out Bimbo’s in San Francisco for four straight years with no advertising. For their fifth go round, Trager and his associates have moved the soiree to the much larger and newly refurbished Warfield Theater. With the array of talent in this year’s lineup, in 2010 he’s sure to face a yearly problem once again.”Every year we say, ‘How are we going to top this?,’ ” Trager said. “Two years ago, we had Booker T. and the original Santana Band and Lenny Williams. Last year we honored Richie Valens and Los Lobos came up and played. “This year we have Azteca and we always wanted to have them because they were the first Latin Rock supergroup and this is their second appearance in 25 years. The band featured percussionist Pete Escovedo, drummer Lenny White who later went to Return to Forever and guitarist Neal Schon who was in-between Santana and Journey.”

In addition to the dream lineups of world class musicians on the bill, one of the hallmarks of the Voices of Latin Rock annual show are the  unannounced guests who show up and turn an already special evening into a magical one.Carlos Santana will be one of the presenters honoring the women of Latin Rock and while it’s not guaranteed he’ll strap on an axe and wow the Warfield crowd with his trademark tone, stranger things have happened.

“You never, never know who is going to walk on out on the stage,” Trager said. “At last year’s show out came Jackie Greene, Santana vocalist Tony Lindsay, the reclusive Sly Stone, and Funkadelic’s George Clinton. That kind of thing happens every year.”
_______________________
Reach freelance writer Tony Wade
over40rocker@sbcglobal.net

At a glance
Who: “Voices of Latin Rock” Autism Benefit
When: 7 p.m. Jan. 24
Where: The Warfield, 982 Market St., San Francisco
Info: www.ticketmaster.com
www.voicesoflatinrock.com

Tags: Autism Awareness, Carlos Santana, Jeff Trager, Malo, Pete Escovedo, Sheila E, The Warfield Theater

by Mark Guerrero
Posted on March 19, 2006 by RDSMarketing

Malo is one of the most successful and enduring Latin rock bands in the world. In 2003, they celebrated their 31st anniversary. Their biggest hit, “Suavecito” reached number 18 on the Billboard charts in April of 1972. They’ve played all over the world and have performed on the bill with the Rolling Stones and Queen. Malo has at least ten albums to their credit and continue to tour. In 1997, along with Tierra and El Chicano, they recorded a live album called “Latin Legends Live.” The three bands have toured extensively since as “Latin Legends.”

To get the story of Malo, it begins with lead singer Arcelio Garcia. Arcelio was born in Puerto Rico and moved to San Francisco with his family when he was three years old. When he was a teenager, some friends of his had a singing group and asked him to sing with them because their baritone had gone into the army. Arcelio didn’t know if he could sing, but said he’d give it a shot. He found that he liked it and started to learn from his more experienced friends. One day a car drove by while Arcelio was singing on the sidewalk with his group. The driver told Arcelio he liked his voice and asked him if he would join his band. Arcelio checked it out and joined the band called the Malibus, named after the sporty Chevrolet. They went on to become a very well known and popular band in the Bay area in the mid-sixties. At first they played mainly r&b, but later started to add Latin music to the mix. Three or four years into the career of the Malibus, a guitarist was brought in by the name of Jorge Santana, the brother of the already famous Carlos Santana.

In 1970 the Malibus changed their name to Malo and things started happening. By 1971, they were signed to Warner Brothers Records and recorded their first album, which was simply entitled “Malo” (BS-2584). Arcelio co-wrote four of the six songs, including their classics “Nena” and “Cafe.” Released in 1972, “Malo” also included “Suavecito,” which had evolved from a song they had written and been doing in clubs called “My Love.” One of the band members at the time, Richard Bean, wrote a new lyric which gave birth to a major hit record. Malo members Pablo Tellez and Abel Zarate also got credit for the composition. “Suavecito” led to world tours and laid the groundwork for their career of three decades so far. The members on the first album were: Arcelio Garcia, lead vocals; Jorge Santana, lead guitar; Abel Zarate, lead guitar, vocals; Pablo Tellez, bass; Richard Spremich, drums; Richard Kermode, keyboards; Luis Gasca, trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals; and Roy Murray, 2nd trumpet, trombone, flute and sax. Guest musicians included Coke Escovedo, timbales; Victor Pantoja, congas; and Richard Bean, timbales and lead vocal on “Suavecito.” Malo has always had a “melting pot” of an ethnic mix, with Chicanos, Anglos, and people of Puerto Rican, Nicaraguan, and Philippino descent.

Later in 1972, Warner Brothers released Malo’s second album, “Dos” (BS 2652), followed by “Evolution” (BS 2702) in 1973. In 1974, Arcelio was incorrectly diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. It turned out to be yellow jaundice, but he was unable to sing for a year. This was the period when Little Willie G., formerly of Thee Midniters of East L.A., came in and became lead singer for Malo. Willie did one album entitled “Ascención” (BS 2769) and toured with the band. This album was Malo’s last with Warner Brothers. Back in good health, Arcelio, who owns the Malo name and logo, moved to New York and started a new Malo. This resulted in the release of Malo V in 1981. Arcelio then came back to the west coast, where he has been based ever since. In 1986, Malo had an album called “Coast To Coast” on the Blue Heron label. “Señorita” was released on GNP Crescendo Records in 1995. In 1997, two live albums were issued, “Malo Rocks the Rockies,” on an independent label, and “Latin Legends Live,” on Thump Records, featuring Malo, Tierra, and El Chicano.

It was recorded live at The Hop in Puente Hills and it has sold very well, according to Arcelio. Malo has gone through many personell changes over the years, but Arcelio is the one constant. Jorge Santana, played with Malo for three or four years in the early 70s. Since then he’s had his own bands and has performed often with his brother, Carlos. He’s also had albums out, including 1978’s “Jorge Santana” and 1979’s “It’s All About Love,” both on Tomato Records. In 1994, Jorge was on an album with Carlos and their nephew, Carlos Hernandez, entitled “The Santana Brothers” on Island Records. In the last several years Jorge plays often with Malo. In fact, he just performed with Malo last weekend, on March 29, 2003 at the Star Plaza Theater in Merrillville, Indiana.

Malo’s current lineup includes: Arcelio Garcia, lead vocals; Julian Molina, bass; David George, drums; Gabriel Manzo, lead guitar; Jay Rossette, 2nd lead guitar; Daniel Cervantes, keyboards; Frank Bailey, lead trumpet; Pete Rodriguez, trumpet; Steve Rocha, trombone; Gibby Ross, timbales; and Tony Menjivar, congas. Another addition to the current Malo is Arcelio’s son, Octaviano, who’s an excellent singer and performer in his own right. He and Arcelio work very well together. My band, Mark Guerrero & Radio Aztlán, performed twice on the bill with Malo in 2002. The first time at the Galaxy Theater in Santa Ana, California and the second at The Hop in Puente Hills, California. Believe me, the current Malo is great and can rock the house. Their music ranges from romantic ballads to high energy Latin grooves. I met Arcelio at the second concert at The Hop and spoke to him about doing this article. I’m also on an album with Malo called “The Chicano Alliance” on Our Town Records (1998), which includes my songs “On the Boulevard” and “Rosalie” and Malo’s “Lady I Love.”

Malo has given back to the community by doing many benefits for schools and other good causes over the years. They recently raised $35,000 to refurbish public baseball fields for Latino teams in the bay area. Arcelio is also proud of the fact that some of Malo’s music, including two songs he co-wrote, “Nena” and “Cafe,” are in college music text books. He jokingly says that was the only way he was going to get to college. In 1999, longtime Malo members Gabe Manzo and Tony Menjivar formed a faith based band. Since Malo means “bad,” they named their band, Bueno, which means “good.” The bands Malo and Bueno have a close connection, but are separate entities and completely different in the mission and purpose of their music. Arcelio, who became a Christian about three years ago, occasionally sings with Bueno, but is not a regular member. Speaking of good, a few years ago, the band Sugar Ray recorded a hit song called “Every Morning,” which used the vocal hook from “Suavecito.” Unlike many other artists, Malo did not have to go to court to get their share. Everything was handled properly up front. It turns out, Sugar Ray’s lead singer, Mark McGrath, had seen Malo play at a car show when he was a kid. McGrath was taken to the show by his father, who was as big Malo fan and loved the song “Suavecito.”

Malo has some reissue collections available. GNP Crescendo Records released “The Best of Malo” (GNPD 2205) in 1991 and Rhino Records issued a boxed set called “Celebración!,” which includes Malo’s first four albums. Also, Malo’s 1995 CD on GNP Crescendo Records, “Señorita,” (GNPD 2244) is still available on the net at: www.gnpcrescendo.com. As for the future, Malo will be back in the studio in two weeks to record a brand new album on Arcelio’s new label, Olam, which is Malo backwards. They’re also doing a dvd with VH1, which will include clips of various television appearances Malo did in the early 70s such as, Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, and “The Midnight Special.” VH1’s cameras will also follow Malo around on tour for the dvd.

This article is based on an audiotaped telephone interview by Mark Guerrero with Arcelio Garcia on March 28, 2003.

Tags: Abel Zarate, Malo, Mark Guerrero, Pablo Tellez, Richard Bean, Suavecito

Here is an article by Karen Murphy and Yvonne Montoya for Latino Future Magazine.
September 2006
Carlos Santana

By Karen Murphy & Yvonne Montoya
Photo Credits: J Records

Carlos Santana’s inimitable fusion of rock, jazz, blues, soul and Latin sounds have long earned him high praise. After 40 years in the fickle music industry, Santana remains a revered icon who has never sounded better.

When Jim Nash’s 1970s Rolling Stone review of Abraxas, Santana’s second album, said Santana “might do for Latin music what Chuck Berry did for the blues,” few people probably realized just how right that assessment was. Carlos Santana almost single-handedly brought the explosive Latin sound and energy of San Francisco’s blue collar Mission district in the 1960s out of the barrio and onto the world stage. Born the son of a virtuoso Mariachi violinist in Autlan de Navarro, Mexico, Carlos Santana had music running through his veins. He took up the violin at the age of five, but it was the music of the blues masters—John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, and B.B. King—that reached deep into his soul. His first band in San Francisco actually was called the Santana Blues Band and it naturally mixed the music of his blues heroes with the Latin rhythms of his heritage.

After dropping the Blues Band moniker, the early Santana band released its first album, simply titled Santana, in January 1969. It featured a fusion of Santana’s hot electric guitar solos, Gregg Rolie’s bluesy organ and lead vocals with a three-prong Latin percussion section featuring Mike Shrieve on traps, José “Chepito” Areas on timbales and Michael Carabello on congas, underpinned by David Brown’s sturdy bass. It was, for rock and roll, both highly original and rhythmically uncompromising. Overnight, Santana’s music made a lot of rock music’s more monotonous 4/4 rhythms seem redundant. The album went gold, selling two million copies in its initial run.

Santana had been passed over by several producers before eventually being signed by legendary record mogul Clive Davis at Columbia, who focused more on the music and less on the cash register, according to Santana.

As Santana said in the foreword to the book, Voices of Latin Rock by Ron Sansoe and Jim McCarthy, “The first album was sound wise, no; music wise, yes. We’d been playing that material for about a year and a half. A lot of people forget we were headlining the Fillmore West without an album out. By the time we recorded it, it was done very fast with people who had no understanding of the music or how it should be recorded….”

Abraxas, which was released exactly one year later, is now widely recognized as one of greatest albums of all time. It secured Santana’s place among rock royalty and true to Santana’s love for the blues, Abraxas featured a haunting, powerful rendition of “Black Magic Woman”, originally penned by British blues guitar virtuoso Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac. The song was released as a single and it soon hit #4 on the Billboard music charts. The next track, Tito Puente’s classic Latin hit, “Oye Como Va”, became the second single and hit the charts at Number 13. The passion and ecstatic soloing on this album perfectly captured the psychedelic atmosphere of the times and showcased the incredible talent of all of the musicians.

Although 1971 started out on a high note—a new album in the works and a European tour preceded by an appearance in Ghana—a series of setbacks took a toll on the band. In February 1971, Chepito Areas suffered a brain hemorrhage right before the big tour and Coke Escovedo, whose brother Pete is the father of Prince collaborator Sheila E, had to be brought in to replace him.

As the band was struggling to record Santana 3 in 1971, everything began to fall apart. “We entered one of the worst periods of my life,” Santana said. “Success was getting to be too much. We were trying to make Santana 3, but overindulgence in everything available to a successful rock ‘n’ roller was becoming a problem. I started catching my friends shooting up in the bathroom.”

Santana and his band mates were not alone in their struggles with drugs at that time. The California music scene was awash in cocaine and heroin and talented musicians were dropping like flies before even reaching the age of 30. The Doors’ Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin all died in rapid succession the year before, the direct result of their overindulgence.
Fast Forward

While Santana more or less faded out of the mainstream in the 1980s and 1990s, he still continued to record and release CDs that his followers continued to buy. The band burst back into the limelight in 1999 with the release of Supernatural, Santana’s 36th album. The CD won a record-tying eight awards at the 42nd Annual Grammy® Awards—including Record of the Year, Best Rock Album and Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. Rob Thomas/Itaal Shur of Matchbox 20 also won the Song of the Year for penning Supernatural’s smash single “Smooth”.

The incredible feat tied Michael Jackson’s record for the most Grammys won by an artist in a single year. Jackson’s 1983 album Thriller also won eight awards in a single year. Santana followed this award-winning CD with Shaman, released in 2002. The CD won a Grammy® for the hit, The Game Of Love. Santana also has won three Latin Grammy Awards, and received the Latin Recording Academy’s “Person of the Year” award in 2004. His latest album, 2005’s All That I Am, continues his tradition of collaboration with other talented musicians. Almost five decades of performing in front of 100 million people worldwide. An amazing 90 million albums sold. Carlos Santana is not only rock royalty, he is the best ambassador for Latin music we could ever find.
Lost In Translation

It was a gas doing Abraxas. Abraxas had just come out and Chepito was going back to Nicaragua with an armful of albums. He had ‘em wrapped in brown paper. He gets on the plane, clutching this package. He didn’t speak English very well.The stewardess comes down the aisle; she sees him clutching this brown paper package. “Sir,” she says, “the package will have to go overhead in the compartment.” “No, iz alright. I hold it, I hold it!” says Chepito. “Sir, it’s regulations.” Chepito goes, “No, no, no, oh, it’s dynamite!!” So, the plane taxis around to an empty hangar. The FBI come on and pull him off. Bill Graham had to call them and explain what Chepito was trying to say—that it was a dynamite recording, that he wasn’t a hijacker, and they finally let him go.”
—Recording Engineer Fred Catero as quoted in Voices of Latin Rock by Jim McCarthy and Ron Sansoe

Tags: Carlos Santana, Jim McCarthy, Latino Future Magazine, Ronnie Sansoe

Here is a very brief bio about the authors of Voices of Latin Rock from the pages of authortree.

Jim McCarthy is founder and director of Good News for Catholics, Inc.

Ron Sansoe’s association with Latin rock began with his co-production of the Fort Mason show with MALO & TOWER OF POWER in 1985. He continues to administrate music publishing for a number of Bay Area’s musicians.

Tags: Jim McCarthy, Ronnie Sansoe

Book and tour explore underrated rock scene

By Sarah Hoye
shoye@mkeonline.com
Posted: Aug. 25, 2005

Five years ago, two music heads set out to write a book about the legendary Latin rock band Malo. In the process, they learned the story was much bigger than the band itself.

So instead, writer and cartoonist Jim McCarthy and music administrator Ron Sansoe decided to write about the scene that gave rise to Malo and other bands like it.

“Voices of Latin Rock: The People and Events That Created This Sound,” was published in 2004 by Milwaukee’s Hal Leonard Corp.

Through interviews, research and never-before-published photos, the book chronicles a genre birthed on the west coast during the tumultuous 1960s. The authors are now taking the story on the road in a tour of music and words that makes a stop in Milwaukee for a book signing and a concert on Saturday, Aug. 27.

“This story has just never been told,” said Sansoe, who co-managed Malo since 1985. “We have a true rich history here that people don’t know much about.”

Sansoe and McCarthy examined the roots of Latin rock. In the early years, the barrio in San Francisco’s Mission District was producing a new generation of bands that melded acid guitar and Latin percussion.

It wasn’t long before the musicians in this scene became synonymous with political activism. In need of venues, groups like Malo, Azteca, Dakila, Sapo and Abel & The Prophets would often team with civil rights groups such as the United Farm Workers Union and the Black Panthers to headline fund-raising events.

“That’s one of the things that made it interesting,” Sansoe said of the activists. “They all felt that the bands were instrumental in getting their cause out.”

As the book provides an insider’s view of Latin rock, it paints a brightly colored picture of an underrated scene. It traces the stories of bands like Santana and Malo while constructing a framework around the genre. The book also describes a music business that lacked interest in Latin rock.

“?’Voices of Latin Rock: People and Events That Created This Sound’ is the lyric, the words, stories, and memories of the musicians who devoted their lives to playing their passion,” wrote McCarthy in the book’s intro.

In the five years that it took Sansoe and McCarthy to complete the book, they spoke on the phone nearly every day, interviewed more than 120 people and lost 12 others.

“My satisfaction is to have somebody read and understand how I grew up and what my influences were,” said Jorge Santana who, as lead guitarist and a founding member of Malo, was among the interview subjects. He’ll be performing in Milwaukee as part of the book tour.

“The book right now is going to reinforce and give life to the music,” said Jorge, who is Carlos Santana’s younger brother. “(Latin rock) never got the popularity of hip-hop or rap, but it is definitely known.”

Jorge stopped touring in 1982, got married and raised a family. He continues to guest-perform with Malo and is looking forward to shopping around the works of his nephew, Jose.

To Jorge, Latin rock is his brother Carlos and his band. It took Jorge until the age of 12 to know that he would pursue music as a career (by comparison, Carlos knew music was his life by 4). But once he made the decision, he couldn’t escape the sound.

“I fell in love with the format and the style they introduced to the world,” Jorge said. “It’s the style of music that I am still categorized as today, but I don’t mind.”

Tags: Jorge Santana, Malo

Hey here is a write up from the LATIN MUSICFEST website

Press release
“Voices of Latin Rock” Book VOICES OF LATIN ROCK MUSIC FROM THE STREETS
Until now the history of Santana and Latin rock has remained untold. Parallel with the late sixties San Franciscan “psychedelic” scene was an explosion of music, arts and culture from the Mission District area of that same City.
Santana spearheaded a cultural wave, which represented a totally new art form known as Latin Rock in which Latin based music was on everyone¹s record player. At one stage Santana were the biggest selling act in the world, outselling even The Beatles. Other Mission based acts such as Malo, Azteca, Dakila, Sapo, and Abel & the Prophets also emerged out of that first wave. It was this same talent pool, fed the ranks of Sly & The Family Stone, Graham Central Station, Tower of Power, Cold Blood and many others.
VOICES OF LATIN ROCK ­ MUSIC FROM THE STREETS, unfolds this Wild West Coast tale of early huge success, the young Latin musicians attempts to cope with this roller coaster, the impact on the emerging Latin cultural identity, framed within the turbulent backdrop of Latino and black political consciousness, as evidenced by The Black Panther, Brown Berets and United Farm Worker movements. Musicians also ran into trouble with the increasing availability of hard drugs in the US cities.
The music itself, with its myriad influences displayed the best that the USA had to offer. The Latino¹s love of soul and R&B; combined with ferocious and pungent Latin percussion sections, in which the full primal heat of this music was underpinned. The music, completely original in style and attack, had amongst its ranks, young gunslingers like Carlos Santana and Gregg Rolie, from Santana, plus their ace timbalero, the mighty Jose²Chepito²Areas. From Malo, Jorge Santana¹s electrifying guitar; was abetted by master Cuban conguero Francisco Aguabella. Azteca, featured the Escovedo Brothers, Coke and Pete (who went to work and develop the career of his daughter Sheila E) with the cream of the West Coast jazz fraternity on horns. Suffice it to say, this music was as tight and as hip as it comes.
VOICES OF LATIN ROCK ­ MUSIC FROM THE STREETS is an in-depth look at this phenomenon. Compiled from over 100 hours of interviews, including all the main players such as Carlos Santana, Mike Shrieve, Gregg Rolie, Jorge Santana, Herbie Herbert (who went on to mastermind the mega-success of Journey, CBS¹ biggest selling act in history.) and many others. These are combined with intensive and detailed photographic and archival research. Jim McCarthy, a well known writer and cartoonist in the UK and Ron Sansoe, with his many interests in music publishing, including Malo¹s back catalogue, have pulled together a tale of passion, excitement and an in-depth look at a musical form, hitherto unexamined.
Sugar Ray incorporated Malo’s “Suavecito”, and Latin evergreen and also had a Billboard Number 1 with “Every Morning”. The upsurge in ³Nu Latin soul² from the likes of Los Moscosos, Ozomatli and Los Jaguares, shows a further broadening and contemporary slant on Latin rock. With Carlos Santana currently enjoying a musical rebirth with the international success of Supernatural and Shaman. With the soar away hits, “Smooth”, “Maria, Maria” and “The Game of Love” under his belt. Carlos is not only as fresh musically today as ever before but represents a symbol of both grace and perseverance to the Latin peoples who continue to admire both him and this musical form.
VOICES OF LATIN ROCK ­ MUSIC FROM THE STREETS
Voices of Latin Rock: The People and Events that Shaped the Sound Written by Jim McCarthy with Ron Sansoe and a foreword by Carlos Santana, is a dazzling documentation of modern American music history. In the late 1960s and 1970s, groups such as Santana and Malo along with a cast of characters roared out of San Francisco¹s Mission District barrio with a hot sound that gave birth to a new music synergy known as Latin rock.
McCarthy started developing this unique tome many years ago. Voices of Latin Rock reveals his path of more than 30 years following the explosive era of Latin rock music. After meeting music publisher Ron Sansoe at a Malo rehearsal in 1999, they began this historic musical journey. Interviewing not only the musicians and the cast of characters around them but also interviewing influential people in the recording industry and social an political groups who were all a part of the rise of this musical and cultural revolution, including the United Farm Workers union, the Black Panther party.
In the book, readers will discover the San Francisco Mission District scene of the 1960s and 1970s and the explosion of Latin, salsa and rock music. In addition, it includes more than 800 black-and-white and color photographs, artwork of dozens of rare album covers and other archival materials that have never been seen before.
“I’m grateful this book was written, because it’s a chance to take us back and bring us forward. If our history can challenge the next wave of musicians to keep moving and changing, to keep spiritually hungry and horny, that’s what it’s about.” Carlos Santana

Jim McCarthy and Ron Sansoe as well as a list of musicians are available for interviews and book signings.

If you have any questions or would like to set up book signings or interview please feel free to call Ron Sansoe at 415.431.6754 or email to ronsansoe@sbcglobal.net

Tags: Jim McCarthy, Ronnie Sansoe

Directly from the Mission District in San Francisco, the explosive fusion of Latin, salsa and rock is chronicled from a writer who has followed the music and the musicians for over 30 years. The book covers the stories of prominent Latin rock bands including Santana and Malo, examining in detail the pioneering records and the ways in which both reflect a wide spectrum of Latin influences. It highlights the cast of characters and emerging period in the US during the late ’60s, with all the cultural background events including the Summer of Love, Woodstock, political activism, and the record label expansion. Legendary figures such as Bill Graham, Clive Davis and the Escovedos family play crucial roles in the development of this sound. As Latin music continues to become more mainstream, the interest in its musical roots grows. This book sheds light on these musical pioneers, and is gorgeously illustrated with over 800 BandW photos by Jim Marshall, Rudy Rodgriguez, Joan Chase and others, plus artwork of dozens of rare album covers.
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More details
Voices of Latin Rock: People and Events that Created this Sound
By Jim McCarthy, Ron Sansoe
Contributor Ron Sansoe
Published by Hal Leonard Corporation, 2004
ISBN 063408061X

Tags: Carlos Santana, Jim McCarthy, Mission District, Ronnie Sansoe, Santana