I Came To See A Mexican But Heard African

Bigger look at the poster

On this night, May 17th, 1995, my wife and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. After dinner, I gave her a kiss and left with my friend, Jimmy P , to see Santana at the Fillmore. Before you give me the Worst Husband of the Year award, realize that it was a Wednesday night (we still had the weekend), I have an understanding wife and it was SANTANA!

I’ve said this before about other artists, but I cannot remember a time that I did not know about Santana! On this night , at the Fillmore, I would be as up close as ever to the living legend. Harking back to my first ever rock concert. A massive Day On The Green in 1977 when I was first in the same “room” as Carlos Santana.  The only difference being about 350 feet between the two us. On May 17th, ’95, we were within 350 centimeters (about 11 ft.). 

As I remember the concert that night, I confuse the specific memories with the other time I saw the band at the Fillmore, 13 years later in 2008. However I do recall the opening act. Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir was listed in the ad but I, for one, had no idea who this was. Not that I cared all that much but it’s nice to know. It turns out that Linda Tillery and her group left a lasting impression.  

Linda Tillery and The Cultural Heritage Choir

The band plays traditional African music and entertains by using stick, song, dance and story. They have been described as: “ a Grammy-nominated, percussion-driven vocal ensemble whose mission is to help preserve and share the rich musical traditions of Black roots music. Their music is rooted in the Deep South and strongly connected to their West African and Caribbean origins.” Since that night, I have found out that Linda Tillery has been around for a long time and was very active in the late 60’s, 70’s and 80’s as a backup and a lead singer. A history lesson on Tillery shows just how influential she was for black women and especially black lesbian women. Ironically, one group she sang backup for was Santana. 

That Stick Player

I don’t know her name but I can still picture the face. She was playing the rhythm stick in the Cultural Heritage Choir and we had a moment. Imagine this group of six African American women, dressed in traditional clothing from Africa and Nigeria, seated with rudimentary instruments singing ‘field songs’ or spirituals created by Southern slaves. Inspirational, repetitive, call-and-response songs that were the beginnings of American music.

It was very engaging and I was impressed with the performance of this woman with the rhythm stick. She was holding down this wild beat and losing herself in the music, as was I. The performance ended and I caught this rhythm-woman’s eye. I pointed at her and yelled “you are great!” or something like that. Her face lit up and she gave me a big smile and a wave. The guy standing behind me sharply pats me on the back, yelling, “She’s on you dude!” It was a fun exchange and one I remember all these 30 years later.

The Poster

The poster given out that night was created by frequent Fillmore artists Michael Rios and Tony Machado. It features a famous, early 70’s era Carlos in a classic guitar pose with a patchwork of images behind him. In front of Carlos is the all-seeing-eye image, sometimes called the Eye of Providence. A very cool looking poster. Work by these two artists can be found all over San Francisco in the form of murals. A tribute to our hometown hero, Carlos! On this homestand, the band played 3 nights at the Fillmore to sold out crowds. 

The setlist pulled from Santana classics as well as the latest album, Milagro. A beautiful collection of songs dedicated to Bill Graham and Miles Davis. The musicians playing that night were some of Carlos’s longest band members: Chester Thompson on keys, Raul Rekow on percussion, Karl Perazzo on timbales with Alex Ligertwood and Tony Lindsey on vocals. There was also a horn section added! Standouts to me were a song from Milagro, “Make Somebody Happy” and “Open Invitation” from Inner Secrets. 

Playful Carlos

Seeing Carlos Santana up close for the first time was phenomenal. I loved watching his ease when playing. His emotion as he pushes that string to its limits. He is surprisingly playful in concert. For instance he would play a few bars of a nursery rhyme in the middle of a solo. Standing so close to the band reveals the intimate moments between members. I noticed Santana was very encouraging to his bandmates, cheering them on during solos and inspiring them to work harder. It was also fun to see how fluid the band could be onstage. Carlos directs all the action and takes his solos for as long as he wants. He signals to his band when he is done. It wasn’t my first Santana concert and, as it turns out, it was far from my last.