WHO’S NEXT:

SALVADOR SANTANA

Salvador Santana

HOMETOWN: San Francisco, Calif.

INFLUENCES: Bob Marley,
Thelonious Monk,
McCoy Tyner

ALBUM: Keyboard City, out Feb. 2

WEBSITE: salvadorsantana.com

THE SON OF GUITAR LEGEND CARLOS SANTANA AND grandson of blues pioneer Saunders King, Santana has music in his DNA. He began playing piano at age 6, and studied at San Francisco’s School of the Arts as well as Cal Arts in Valencia, Calif. He co-wrote the track “El Farol” on his father’s smash 1999 album Supernatural, and struck out on his own as leader of the Salvador Santana Band five years later. His solo debut, Keyboard City, finds him collaborating with hip-hop giants GZA, Del the Funky Homosapien and Money Mark. He plans to donate a portion of the profits from album sales to a variety of nonprofit organizations. “I want to use music in a positive way, and give back to people in need,” he says. “There can never be enough people who do that.”