Park Forest, IL—(ENEWSPF)—July 10, 2010. Carlos Santana and Steve Winwood, each named by Rolling Stone magazine as being one of the ‘100 Greatest Guitarists of All Times’ performed Friday night at Tinley Park’s First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre to a capacity crowd and left no doubt as to why each has been the recipient of such high praise.
Steve Winwood, who recently finished a North American tour with Eric Clapton, started the evening with a set of songs that received a standing ovation from the crowd – not an easy accomplishment from an Illinois audience who are usually not even in attendance for the opening act. With songs from his days with Blind Faith, the Spencer Davis Group and Traffic, the ‘geezers’ like myself re-lived many memories of our hippie days while the younger people in the crowd were actually mesmerized by both Winwood’s musical and vocal abilities. The set included Winwood classics I’m A Man, Can’t Find My Way Home, Higher Love and Dear Mr. Fantasy which turned into a crowd sing-along.
If you’re new to Steve Winwood’s music, make it a point to get his recently released retrospective “Revolutions – The Very Best of Steve Winwood” for a portrait of one of the most influential British musicians of our time.
Carlos Santana and his 10 member band kept the crowd on their feet and dancing with a mix of music ranging from rock, to salsa to jazz fusion. Songs included Oye Como Va, Black Magic Woman, Jingo, Evil Ways, Maria Maria, Smooth, and Singing Winds, Crying Beasts. While Santana’s driving lead guitar riffs are always the crowd favorites, he is quick to point out that he is only the leader of the band and the ‘Santana sound’ distinguishes itself from others of the genre thanks to the great musicians and vocalists that have always been a part of the band.
On this tour, the Santana line-up consists of:
- Raul Rekow – congas and percussions
- Benny Rietveld – bass
- Freddie Ravel – keyboards
- Dennis Chambers – drums
- Karl Perazzo – percussions
- Bill Ortiz – trumpet
- Jeff Cressman – trombone
- Tommy Anthony – guitars and vocals
- Andy Vargas – vocals
- Tony Lindsay – vocals
Santana’s concerts are always filled with his message of peace and love and Friday night’s ‘love message’ had some special meaning when he brought out Cindy Blackman, the former drummer from Lenny Kravitz’ band to play an outstanding solo which earned a standing ovation. Carlos announced that he and Cindy were in love and he actually popped the question on stage (she said ‘yes’).
Santana’s latest CD, “Guitar Heaven” will be released September 21. As was the case with his 1999 hit CD, “Supernatural,” this release will feature musical collaborations with Joe Cocker, Nas, Pat Monahan, India Arie, Rob Thomas, Daughtry, Ray Manzarek, Jonny Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, and Scott Stapp of Creed.
