By Bill Vaughan
Entertainment Writer
“Carlos,” a feature-length documentary film about legendary guitarist and global icon, Carlos Santana, directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Rudy Valdez, is launching in theaters this weekend with a three-day premiere event.
Executive produced by Academy Award-winning producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, the film is having its global premiere Sept. 23, 24 and 27 with exclusive introductory content featuring Santana and Valdez (“The Sentence,” “We Are: The Brooklyn Saints”) before its general theatrical release on Sept. 29. For ticket information, visit www.santana.com.
Premiering earlier this year at the Tribeca Festival, “Carlos” combines new interviews with Santana and his family; extraordinary, never-before-seen archival footage, including home videos recorded by Santana himself; concert footage; behind-the-scenes moments; interviews with music industry luminaries and collaborators, such as Clive Davis, Rob Thomas and more.
A music industry legend for 50 years and a 10-time Grammy-winning global sensation, Santana continues to be one of the music world’s premiere artists, blending jazz, blues and the mariachi sound with a rock n’ roll spirituality and a sense of connection to music’s primal connection to our deepest emotions.
He is considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time and has joined the Rolling Stones as one of only two bands to have an album reach the Top 10 in every decade since the 1960s.
This weekend also provides a chance to see him live as Santana will be a part of Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival 2023 (Sept. 23-24) along with Buddy Guy, Gary Clark Jr., H.E.R., John Mayer, Keb’ Mo, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Robert Randolph, Jimmie Vaughan, Joe Bonamassa, Sheryl Crow, Taj Mahal, Los Lobos, Eric Gales and ZZ Top, to name a few, at Crypto.com Arena.
TAG TEAMING: L.A.’s longest-running variety show Lucha VaVOOM (featuring world-class lucha libre-style wrestling, burlesque, aerialists, comedy and more) returns to the Mayan Theatre Sept. 22 with a special tribute to their biggest star Cassandro.
The event to laud The Queen of the Ring coincides with that evening’s debut of “Cassandro,” a biopic on Prime Video starring Golden Globe winner Gael García Bernal and Grammy winner Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio aka Bad Bunny. The film is directed by Academy Award winner Roger Ross Williams.
TICKET WATCH: Erykah Badu, Herbie Hancock, Questlove, Robert Glasper, Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington, Fred Armisen and more were just announced for the LA3C Music & Food Festival (Nov. 10-12). Weekend tickets at $75 go on sale Sept. 22 at LA3C.com.
TASTY QUIP: “My gratitude towards everyone who watched ‘American Fiction’ [and] discussed it afterwards among friends and colleagues is endless. The film is now in your hands and I’m so grateful that it was embraced in this way.” – Writer/Director CORD JEFFERSON on his satirical dramedy starring Jeffrey Wright, Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross, Sterling K. Brown, Erika Alexander and Leslie Uggums winning the Toronto Film Festival’s lauded People’s Choice Award making Oscar nominations likely
CLIPPETTES: Tim Meadows brings his comedy to the Wallis Center Sept. 22, while Nollywood in Hollywood is back at the Aero Theatre with three top Nigerian films, and Ed Sheeran performs at the more intimate Shrine Auditorium in advance of his date the following night at SoFi Stadium …
Amiri Baraka’s “The Dutchman,” his classic work adapted as a play and 1966 movie short with Al Freeman Jr. and Shirley Knight, is being remade as a feature film to star Andre Holland, Kate Mara, Zazie Beets and Stephen McKinley Henderson …
Hubert Laws, Eloise Laws, Sean Jones and the Billy Childs Quartet are some of the artists set for the Central Avenue Jazz Festival (between MLK Boulevard and Vernon Avenue) on Sept. 23. Later, Grammy Award winning vocalist Samara Joy is at Long Beach’s Carpenter Performing Arts Center and John Legend plays the Hollywood Bowl joined by a full orchestra and gospel choir …
Stephen Marley comes to The Roxy on Sept. 24 to perform selections from his new album “Old Soul” and to pay tribute to his father Bob Marley’s 1976 live album recorded at the venue. Meanwhile, Snarky Puppy is at the Orpheum Theatre, and Luis Miguel returns to The Forum prior to his show at Toyota Arena on Sept. 27 …
On Sept. 28, Rick Ross performs at the House of Blues, Gunna is at YouTube Theater, Japanese Breakfast is at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Charlo Crossley sings at Catalina Bar & Grill, That Girl Lay Lay headlines the Scream Tour 2023 at the Peacock Theater, and popular NPR game show “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” tapes at The Greek.
TASTY QUIP: “A lot of women, especially Black women, and I might get in trouble for saying this, but I will. In our society right now, Black women are making a lot more money, for the most part, than Black men. If you can find love, if that man works at whatever job and is a good man, and is good to you, and honors you, and honors the house, and honors his wife, and does what he can, because his gift might not be your gift, that is okay. That’s not somebody that’s beneath you. That’s somebody who came to love you at your worth.” – TYLER PERRY on “Keep It Positive, Sweetie”
TC ON TV: Sept. 22 – “iHeartRadio Music Festival (Hulu): Lenny Kravitz, Lil Wayne, Miguel, Public Enemy, Kane Brown, Sheryl Crow, Foo Fighters and more. “Still Up” (Apple TV+): A British comedy about a pair of friends (Antonia Thomas and Craig Roberts) who suffer from insomnia. “The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster” (AllBlk/Shudder): Chad L. Coleman (“The Wire”), Denzel Whitaker (“The Great Debaters”), and Laya DeLeon Hayes (“The Equalizer“) star in this adaptation of “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.” “The Continental: From The World of John Wick” (Peacock): The three-part event set in 1970s New York City will explore the origin behind the iconic hotel-for-assassins.
Sept. 23 – “Best In Chow” (A&E): “California State Fair & Food Festival” and “Smorgasbord Los Angeles.” “Sam Jay: Salute Me or Shoot Me” (HBO): Newly engaged, the comedian and writer takes the stage at Brooklyn Steel to get candid about life with her future wife and the unknown stresses of being “the man,” the grim reality of trash day, and more. “Hip Hop Treasures” (A&E): Run DMC, Naughty By Nature, SugarHill Gang and Soulja Boy (who plays The Regent this evening and The Observatory the next).
Sept. 24 – “Global Citizen Festival 23” (ABC): A one-hour special recapping performances from the day before including sets by Ms. Lauryn Hill, Red Hot Chili Peppers, D-Nice and more. To watch live Sept. 23, go to Apple TV, Hulu, YouTube, Prime Video for starters. “The Chi” (SHO): If Douda (Curtiss Cook) comes out alive in this finale it will be a head scratcher! “Yum & Yummer” (Cooking): Eddie Jackson is back tracking down the most delicious dishes from around the world.
Sept. 25 – “Monday Night Football” (ABC/ESPN): Tune in on time for the Rams vs. Bengals game to see the new theme: a cover of Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight” by Chris Stapleton, Snoop Dogg and Cindy Blackman Santana. “Kitchen Nightmares” (Fox): Gordon Ramsay’s hit series is back after a nearly 10-year hiatus. “The Irrational” (NBC): Jesse L. Martin (“Law & Order”) returns to television as a quirky world-renowned leader in behavioral science who lends his expertise to an array of high-stakes cases.
Sept. 26 – “Chappelle’s Home Team – Luenell: Town Business” (Netflix): The comic sounds off on bad seatmates, first-class feuds, sockless babies and more travel mishaps in this brash stand-up special. “The Victoria’s Secret World Tour” (Prime Video): Doja Cat introduces new music in this reimagined docu-show/shopping special. “Dancing With The Stars” (ABC/Disney+): Model Tyson Beckford, e-NFL player Adrian Peterson, “Bachelorette” Charity Lawson, singer Jason Mraz, and actors Mira Sorvino, Alyson Hannigan, Xochitl Gomez, Matt Walsh, Jamie Lynn Spears and “The Brady Bunch” star Barry Williams are among the hoofers.
Sept. 27 – “Survivor” “The Amazing Race” (CBS): Both series return upgraded to 90-minutes with the latter kicking things off at the iconic Hollywood Sign, before moving on to a tightrope at the historic Biltmore Hotel. After that, it’s on to Thailand! “$100,000 Pyramid” (ABC): Tiffany Haddish and Wayne Brady play on the seventh season premiere.
END QUOTE: “Cool means being able to hang with yourself. All you have to ask yourself is ‘Is there anybody I’m afraid of? Is there anybody who if I walked into a room and saw, I’d get nervous?’ If not, then you’re cool.” – PRINCE
As featured in the Los Angeles Wave and Independent, Tasty Clips is one of the leading entertainment columns in the nation, serving nearly one million weekly readers. Bill Vaughan may be reached at tastyclips@yahoo.com, via Twitter @tastyclips, or Instagram @tasty_clips.
