LISTENING IN: Oy Como Va, Santana with Playing for Change

Regular readers will know how much we love Playing for Change, an organization that promotes peace through music with songs (and concerts) that provide a fresh look and listen to familiar fare through a unique collaboration of global artists that are often led by, or feature, cameos by the original artists.

One of the newest PFC efforts is “Oy Como Va” (approximately translated as “How Goes It”), the now classic 1970 Latin-infused rock song by Santana. The 1962 original, a cha-cha by Latin-American jazz great Tito Puente, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.

In this recent effort, Carlos Santos, joined by his wife and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana, leads an inspiring PFC cast that spans the globe, from California to Colombia and Bahrain to Uruguay.

As you’ll see, it goes well!