I am not just a struggling writer. I am also a wretched musician. When people come to my house, they see the guitars in the corner, and then ask me if I play.
“Play is the wrong verb,” I say. “Manhandle is the right word.”
So you can imagine my surprise when I jammed with a friend of mine. He paused to take in my fretwork for a moment and then said, “You know, your playing reminds me of Santana.”
Now, Carlos Santana, in addition to being one of the world’s greatest guitarists, is also the most famous and influential Latino rock musician of all time. I suppose one could make an argument for Jerry Garcia, but I would disagree.
I’m a big Santana fan, and I grew up with his music (my mother played “Abraxas” all the time, and I got into it). So I was understandably amazed when my friend made this comparison.
“Really,” I said. “My playing reminds you of Carlos Santana?”
“No,” he said. “Tito Santana.”
Actually, that comparison makes a lot more sense.
