Santana to Perform National Anthem at Game 2 of the NBA Finals

Carlos Santana is heading back to the hardwoods…

The 68-year-old Mexican musician and his wife Cindy Blackman Santana will once again perform the “Star-Spangled Banner” at Game 2 on Sunday night.

Carlos-Santana-and-Cindy-Blackman

The global rock star has sold more than 100 million records over his 40-year tenure thanks to Latin-infused hits like “Oye Como Va,” “Maria Maria” and “Smooth.”

In April, he released Santana IV, which saw the reunion of his band’s original ’70s lineup, comprised of Santana, Gregg Rolie on keyboards, Neal Schon on guitar, Michael Carabello on percussion and Michael Shrieve on drums.

Santana IV also debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200.

His wife, Cindy Blackman, is an American jazz and rock drummer, who also joined her husband in performing the national anthem at last year’s NBA Finals.

After the Golden State Warriors claimed victory in Game 1, the hometown team will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers for round 2 at Oakland’s Oracle Arena on Sunday, June 5.

The game airs at 8:00 pm ET on ABC.

Santana to Release Live CD/DVD Package for His Hit Spanish Project “Corazón”

Santana is bringing his corazón to live…

Following the success of his first-ever all Spanish-language album Corazón, the 67-year-old Mexican musician and 10-time Grammy-winner is set to release a live CD/DVD package titled Corazón, Live From Mexico: Live It to Believe It.

Santana

From RCA Records/Sony Latin Iberia, the package will be released on September 9 and include a live CD and DVD, plus a documentary film shot in different Mexican locales.

The track listing for Corazón Live From Mexico includes many of the artists featured in Santana’s original Corazón, including Juanes, Gloria Estefan, Miguel, Romeo Santos, Lila Downs, Diego Torres and Niña Pastori.

But it has also been expanded considerably to include new versions of his standards like “Black Magic Woman” and “Smooth” and collabs like “Corazón Espinado,” featuring Fher Olvera (lead singer of Maná) and Cindy Blackman Santana.

The set will be available for digital download and in three different physical packages: DVD, DVD/CD and Blu-Ray/CD.

Corazón debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart in April and spent six weeks at the top of the chart. It’s currently No. 6 on the chart and was the third top-selling Latin album for the first six months of the year, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

But the upcoming live version was conceived from the onset as part of the overall Corazón project. The album, with all its featured artists, was recorded in the studio and released last April, but a live component was always part of the proposal.

With sponsorship from Mexico’s Tourism Board, the live show was taped in December 2013 in Santana’s home state of Gaudalajara, a documentary was filmed in different locales and a special aired on HBO Latino both in the U.S. and Latin America in the spring.

Corazón was a seminal project on many fronts. The HBO airing marked the first time ever that HBO Latino (which operates in the U.S.) and HBO Latin America joined forces to premiere a concert event.