Happy Birthday Carlos Santana: Performing Live With The Trey Anastasio Band In 2003

Famed guitarist Carlos Santana was born in Jalisco, Mexico on this date in 1947. The musician formed the Santana Blues Band in the late-1960s after moving to San Francisco and the group went on to achieve massive commercial and critical success after shortening their name to Santana and performing a legendary set at the Woodstock festival in 1969.

Carlos blended blues, rock, salsa and psychedelia to create his signature sound. Santana has gone through dozens of lineup changes over the past 50+ years but still performs through the present. Covers of “Oye Como Va,” “Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen,” “She’s Not There” and the Rob Thomas collaboration “Smooth” were each big hits for Santana and remain staples of classic rock radio.

Santana served as a mentor to Vermont-based jam quartet Phish. In 1992, Carlos invited Phish to open for Santana at outdoor venues across America giving them their first exposure to many venues that would soon be regular stops for the band. Then, in 1996, Phish supported Santana on a tour of Europe.

So, when Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio brought the Trey Anastasio Band to San Francisco during TAB’s Spring Tour 2003, Carlos was invited to share the stage on the second of two nights at The Warfield Theatre. The Trey Anastasio Band was joined by Carlos for “Last Tube” and “The Way I Feel” in the first set as well as all of the closing stanza. All told, the guest spot made the cut for JamBase’s list of 20 memorable collaborations of the past two decades.

The 65-minute set contained just four songs, two of which were TAB debuts. Up first was a “Mr. Completely” the band and their guest jammed for over 25 minutes and worked into the traditional “John The Revelator.” Anastasio and Santana went toe-to-toe throughout the first-ever TAB “John The Revelator.” From there, the Trey Band dove into original “Night Speaks To A Woman.” Carlos took a few minutes to get a feel for the tune and then went to town.

Carlos was also on hand for the set’s finale, the TAB debut of Duke Ellington’s “Caravan.” The entire second set, as well as “The Way I Feel” from the first set, were issued the following year on DVD. Watch pro-shot video of the second set from the out-of-print Trey Anastasio With Special Guest Carlos Santana DVD below:

Setlist (via Phish.net)

Set One: Mozambique, Simple Twist Up Dave, Last Tube [1], The Way I Feel[1], Cincinnati, Black Dog

Set Two: Mr. Completely[1] > John the Revelator [2] > Night Speaks to a Woman[1] > Caravan[2]

Encore: Root Down [3]

• [1] Carlos Santana on guitar.
• [2] Carlos Santana on guitar; TAB debut.
• [3] TAB debut.

Carlos Santana sat in on a second guitar for “Last Tube,” “The Way I Feel” and the entire second set. Portions of this show including Carlos Santana were officially released on the 2004 DVD Live at The Warfield. The traditional “John the Revelator” and the cover of The Beastie Boys’ “Root Down” were Trey Anastasio debuts. Though it lived in the Phish repertoire from 1990 to 1996, this show also marked the Trey Anastasio debut cover of Duke Ellington’s “Caravan.” “Night Speaks to a Woman” contained a “San-Ho-Zay” jam and “Moving in Stereo” teases from Jennifer Hartswick. “Caravan” included a “Manteca” tease.