An interview I gave yesterday made me think about traditions and their place in the future. The theme of the article for a local magazine is the emerging sound of Santa Fe and it’s expansion of the latin sound….

I think it’s a lot like the Net and the blogging culture. Referencing a reference and such. I think the music of today should carry many such referrals, references and sign posts because we are no longer just born into a family that belongs to a village, a race, a tribe, a state, a country…no, we are all referencing lots of other cultures, e.g. a person born in Santa Fe may beside his/her “localized” upbringing with its local culture/traditions have an affinity for Japanese poetry, Chinese food, Italian design, French movies, Turkish coffee, British literature, American Jazz etc…and I feel that their art/music should reflect that, all of that. And as we all digest more and more cultural references they will become more subtle and more like tiny accents rather than a clear referral.

Carlos Santana: Mexican loves the Blues will turn into a next generation musician enjoying Santana (sub level: Latin rhythms + Blues), R&B singers, French rappers (sub level: Hip-Hop) and techno with Indian rhythms (tablas and such). The blues element might become more subtle and a little harder to distinguish because it is now one level removed.

Actually Santana has been around long enough to make an interesting subject for a study. How many artists/musicians from how many different cultures on different continents have been influenced by him and in how many different styles to they work…from folk to rock, from Jazz to R&B, electronica etc…..this would make an interesting chart!

I think rather than loosing any traditional accomplishments (plenty of people will make sure they are not gone plus everything has been recorded anyway!) we are creating new tentacles/limbs/towers arising from those traditions, new palettes of colors and references…like blogging! Referencing a reference and creating a large web of connected information/music….