"Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits" at the Hard Rock -- when I saw it Sunday night -- did feature many of Santana's better known songs like "Black Magic Woman," “Evil Ways,” “Batuka,” "Oye Como Va," "Maria Maria," “Jingo,” “No One to Depend On” and, of course, the 1999 hit "Smooth.” 

Opening with vintage footage of "Soul Sacrifice" from Woodstock on the monitor, the concert starts when the now 62-year-old Carlos Santana starts ripping out a series of high notes from his guitar with the same technical virtuosity, physical dexterity and emotional expression that defined his Woodstock appearance almost 40 years ago. In general, the hits were more heavily provided when I saw him Sunday, the end of his first long weekend of shows, than when reviewers saw him Thursday and Friday. That did not mean Santana played all the band's hits (MTV hit "Winning," for example) and there were still plenty of obscurities to please the more than casual fan ("Foo Foo," anyone?). A take on "A Love Supreme" is almost certainly the first time a Vegas headliner covered John Coltrane. Ann Powers reviews Thursday night's concert here. My review of the Sunday concert for Las Vegas Weekly comes out Thursday. 

For the Buffet, I reached Santana by phone Tuesday at the Hard Rock and we talked briefly about his first weekend as a resident headliner in Vegas. Oddly, part of the reason the interview had to be brief is that Santana, in addition to the Vegas show, is currently doing press for an upcoming European tour. And, so although Vegas has him locked down for all shows in the United States west of the Mississippi, it appears the veteran road warrior has no intention of taking of f his traveling shoes and using a Vegas residency to stay off the road for some years.

Richard Abowitz: So, have your first few Vegas shows as a resident headliner proven to have any surprises compared to a regular Santana concert?

Carlos Santana: Yes, we had to crystallize everything to make it a lot more concise and precise. We usually play 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Now we are doing 90 minutes. What I found out is that when you come to a concert it is like going to a garden where each flower is perfect. Each song must be a perfect bloom. There is nothing wasted.

RA: What is the meaning of Barack Obama to your show. He concludes the introductory video [also  featuring the Berlin Wall coming down, Nelson Mandela and a celebration for the year 2000] and you spoke about him the night I saw you between songs?

CS: Barack Obama represents a change of consciousness. You know how your heart felt when the Berlin Wall came down or when Mandela was freed. We celebrated the year 2000 as one family without the illusions of separation, conflict and fears, especially conflict and fears and suspicion. When Barack Obama won, the whole world celebrated it. You witnessed it. He is a carrier like Kennedy, who carries the idea of a better united family even beyond the United States. The United States is really not that united. It should be. But we are not. It is still a grand experiment. We are still a work in progress. So, when Barack Obama came in, everybody celebrated, because we did not want eight more years of arrogance without accountability.

RA:The 40-year anniversary of Woodstock is in August and here you are a Vegas headliner. Can you reflect a little on the journey?

CS: To me where I am playing is no different: a parking lot or Istanbul or Woodstock. Las Vegas to me is where I am offering my heart. And, hopefully, the music will resonate with them and change them. I utilize music the same way Bob Marley or Coltrane used music, to give people a different dimension about their lives. There is so much negativity and suicide on television and cable and satellite on every channel. There is so much negativity out there. When you go to see a Santana concert it is happy music, but it is also laced with melodies and rhythms from Africa and it has a message like Coltrane, Bob Marley, John Lennon or Bob Dylan. "Blowing in the Wind" has a positive message.

RA: In your show you talked about your religious beliefs between songs and showed Barack Obama in your opening footage and comments. We are in places Vegas entertainers usually avoid: politics and religion. Do you feel like you are breaking Vegas show taboos?

CS: I knew I would come into Vegas as a Trojan horse and bring something  to Las Vegas to infiltrate consciousness. Because Las Vegas is basically out front, illusion and luck, fortune and chance and gambling. But there is no gambling when it comes to trusting. That is a big word. You trust your car is going to take you to a certain destination. You put the key in and go. Trust is a dimension and energy we are bringing to Las Vegas. There is only love and fear on this planet and that is it.

RA: Have you enjoyed any of the Las Vegas pastimes? Have you gambled?

CS: No, not at all. I got my fill of strippers from when I was 9 to 14 in Tijuana. So, I know what that is about. I never got the bug for gambling. I've already taken the ride. I am here to just touch people's hearts. I am not distracted. I am not tempted. And, my life is not boring at all by not yielding to things that do not give me satisfaction.

RA:  How did you meet strippers at 9 years old?

CS: I worked there. I worked in Tijuana from 9 to 14 years old before I moved in San Francisco in 1962. I saw the whole thing, backstage and onstage. I understand they are just people trying to make a living to feed their kids.

RA: Your signature guitar-playing style has a lot of high notes. Why is that?

CS: I am so glad you asked that. The high notes is a form of calling a vortex. There are certain musical spheres you get into where you create a vortex where time disappears. I'll say it like this, when eternity nears, time disappears. There are certain notes when you get in them you become eternally relevant. Bob Dylan calls it "forever young." Some people invest heavily in making music they think is ahead of their time but in 10 years from now is passe. But when you say eternally relevant, play Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," the whole album is happening right now.

RA: And how do high notes connect to that?

CS: Those high notes take me to that place where I can let go of illusions and fear and I am in the holy instant.

 

RA: Has your approach to music changed much over the years?

 

CS: I don't think so. You aim for the center of people's hearts.

Photo: Erik Kabic / Hard Rock