Whether it's gimmicky or whatever, they are very intent, at the moment that is, time will tell, on cultivating higher consciousness, meditation and things of this nature. Everybody writes, everybody is a part of the corporation. They don't do anything as one individual, everybody has a part in their structure. LEON: They did, as a matter of fact, we all did. The only pause in between was when I appeared at the Ann Arbor Festival last summer. And we just came back from England, Spain and Europe. Two weeks later we took off, last June, on a tour of Southeast Asia for two months and then through Latin America for another five weeks. So we rode around for a couple of days and talked, and I came back East to straighten out my music and business, and went back out to the coast to record the album with them and learn their show. And Michael Santana – whose name is now Maitreya – had been coming down to the East.Village Inn where we were working. I said, "My goodness, you guys want me to sing these songs," and they said, "yeah, man." They had been aware of me for some time because we both performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1970. We talked, I heard the music which didn't sound bad. So I flew out to the West Coast and saw they were extremely serious about their new spiritual insights. I dug something in the sky, a double-rainbow on Friday, and on Monday they called. I'd seen a lot of different signs that something was going to happen. SUN: To start out, how did this association with Santana come about. His more recent recorded efforts can be heard on the Flying Dutchman label, which arranged for this interview, done while Leon was at home in New York City. Leon is a troubador there's a message to his improvised screams, chants, yodels and incantations. But it was his work with Pharoah, especially as represented by the landmark "Karma" album on Impulse ("The Creator Has a Master Plan") that first brought Leon to popular recognition, that is, popular in terms of jazz musicians. "He was doing with the horn what I was trying to do with my voice." From there he went to New York and proceeded to sing with Art Blakey and then Count Basie until 1965, while also working with the likes of Roland Kirk, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders and other innovators. Leon attributes his first major flash of direction to experiencing the Miles Davis group with John Coltrane on tenor. The SUN interviewed Leon Thomas over the phone last week to ask about his new association with a rock and roll band. So if you like this album check out the real thing, too. And Leon Thomas' vocal feats are only hinted at on the Santana release. John Coltrane's Welcome will take you far beyond this arrangement. The Santana album is well worth listening to, but it can't stand up to the original versions of the music. Carlos' guitar is searing space/latino (McLaughlin plays on one cut), the rhythms are in there and the lyrics are refreshing, especially on the soon to be a single from the album "When I Look Into Your Eyes," sung by Leon. Putting the record on my first flash was fear of being bored by monotonous "guru" music, but don't let the opening section fool you, this album cooks as it gets going. The music begins with an Alice Coltrane religious organ arrangement called "Going Home" and soon slides into the Love, Devotion and Surrender tune first performed by Santana with McLaughlin, this time with lyrics done by Leon. It's meant as a very spiritual album, right down to the pure white cover. "Welcome" represents yet another step in the new directions of the Woodstock-spawned Santana band, which first surfaced when Carlos did an LP with Mahavishnu John McLaughlin. But now, thanks to Santana, millions of people will get a chance to discover the new black music this album is a tribute to. "Welcome" has already sold over a million copies, which is significant in that records by John, Alice or Leon alone would never get enough record company exposure to even come close to that. Alice Coltrane stepped in to arrange two of the tunes for "Welcome." And Leon Thomas, who does with his voice what John Coltrane pioneered on the saxophone, is the lead vocalist with Santana on the album and on tour. Well the new Santana album is called "Welcome," after the tune originally performed by John Coltrane on his monumental album, Kulu Se Mama. Now, you ask, what do John Coltrane and Leon Thomas have to do with Santana, anyway? A welcome feeling of peace." – John Coltrane Welcome "is that feeling you have when you finally do reach an awareness, an understanding which you have earned through struggle.
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