Salvador Santana Band: "SSB"

Drawing upon an array of musical styles, the Salvador Santana Band thrives on collaboration and innovation. Bursting with hip-hop, rock, funk, R&B and traditional Latin sounds; the sonic amalgam which gives life to SSB the collective's official debut sizzles with allure. Simply put: It's unlike anything else you're going to hear in 2008.

For more than four decades the name Santana has been synonymous with groundbreaking musical approaches, and 25 year old keyboardist, vocalist, songwriter and bandleader Salvador Santana is well-versed in the familial traditions. Built out of what he calls a mix of all my favorite music, the best of what's impacted my life, all coming together in a new way SSB takes flight with the Afrobeat-bolstered Oh Yea Yeah. Launching the album in a fun and celebratory style, the track has Salvador's rap vocals meshing with the soulful intonations of Quincy McCrary (formerly of Quetzal and Burning Star) atop a scorching fusion of percussion and horns. We wrote collectively as a band, Salvador explains. So it's a strong song to open the record with. It's a great representation of what we sound like, but at the same time we don't give everything away.

In addition to Salvador and McCrary, the current incarnation of the Salvador Santana Band includes bassist Emerson Cardenas, guitarist Woody Aplanalp, drummer Tony Austin (who moonlights for Solomon Burke) and former Ozomatli multi-instrumentalist Jose Crunchy Espinosa. The line-up had only been playing together for a year and a half when SSB was recorded, making their seamless, interlocking prowess that much more awe-inspiring.

From the buoyant 'Sounds Good', a rhythmic, soulful and lyrical call to arms, to the provocative and irresistibly funky 'Imacallya' (co-written by Ryan Tedder of One Republic) that self-assuredness translates on SSB. It's evident on the undeniably catchy, Summer's Day, which was co-written and produced by Jurassic 5's own DJ Nu-Mark, and manifested on Me & U, the breathtaking collaboration between his band and his father, legendary guitarist Carlos Santana.

I was just like, Hey dad. Try a couple takes where you just go for it. And then do a couple where you sort of play along and we'll decide what works best, Salvador explains. He was really happy to be a part of it, and we were all really pleased with the outcome.

Elsewhere, a cameo by Asdru Sierra of Ozomatli helps the SSB light the politically-charged, dancehall fuse known as Why Yo. Asdru's appearance is an extension of Salvador's alignment with Crunchy, who Sal first met and befriended when Ozomatli was the support act on Santana's legendary 1999-2000 Supernatural tour. Crunchy signed on to the SSB in 2006 and helped Salvador perfect the existing line-up. Working with Crunchy has just been a fantastic experience,? he asserts.

Weaned on artists as diverse as Bob Marley, Ozomatli, Jurassic 5, The Roots, Jimi Hendrix, Billy Cobham and underground hip-hop outfit Atmosphere, not to mention his family's own astounding musical legacy, Salvador Santana was drawn to musical instruments, specifically the piano, at a very young age. Born to ten time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Carlos Santana and his author mother Deborah (who penned the 2005 memoir Space Between the Stars), Salvador's first official collaboration with his father led to him earning a Grammy at the age of fifteen for the track 'El Farol,' off of Santana's smash 1999 album Supernatural.

Born and raised in Northern California, Salvador studied at San Francisco's heralded School of the Arts before attending Cal Arts in Valencia, CA. In 2004 the band began an active touring schedule and started to develop their musical imprint. It was around this time that Sal collaborated with his father on Open Up Your Eyes, which can be found on the Milagro Foundation benefit CD Food For Thought. In 2006, the SSB teamed up with Santana?s Andy Vargas for an acclaimed reworking of Evil Ways, the lead track on the 2006 compilation, A Song For My Father. Now, with the arrival of 2008's SSB, the Salvador Santana Band is set to capture the attention of music lovers throughout the world.