The Michael Shrieve Interview Set II

"Carlos (Santana) and I were meant to be together because we have the same sort of searching mentality. Always searching for the right note, right tone and he is a master of melody. He's like an encyclopedia of melodies and still Carlos' musical roots are deep, it's a deep well that he draws on because he listens to so much music from around the world. He's like a sponge so he's got a real sense of melody. That melody combined with his intensity. I loved playing music behind it, being the drummer behind it.

The reason I look the way I do when I play is not because of the drums it's because of the melody. I get to be on this river behind it keeping the rhythm. I love melodies so Carlos always brought that and we always shared an intensity in our listening habits. We we're all over the place and he and I found in each other someone they could share that intensity and that hunger and that thirst for what was going on and what was coming out when Miles was doing "Bitches Brew," we were all over it. Everything that was happening at that time, we loved and we soaked up. We also turned each other on to other kinds of things. We were big fans of the work Sergio Mendes was doing back than. All kinds of gems of albums.

We would take little bits of of those things and we would put them in our live show as a transitional piece. As this or that and it made for a very colorful tapestry and a weave of a live set musically.

He still moves me when he plays. I love that he loves and is so committed to the music. He brought that to me and it was really kind of a recognition. Like a soul recognition....."