Salvador Santana was born in 1983 in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is an instrumentalist whose main instrument is the electronic keyboard. He sings and is a spoken word artist, songwriter and composer. He is the son of ten-time Grammy winning guitarist Carlos Santana and poet/author/activist Deborah Santana. His maternal grandfather, Saunders King, is an icon of American blues and his paternal grandfather, Jose Santana, is a violinist and mariachi bandleader. 　　Santana began playing piano at the age of five. He was instructed by Marcia Miget. He later went on to study music at Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts High School. He took up playing percussion and found a niche with the tympani drum. He also played piano in the school's award-winning jazz band. 　　In 1999, Salvador collaborated with his father on composing the Grammy winning track "El Farol" on the album Supernatural. 　　For higher education, Santana attended California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. 　　In 2004 Salvador established the Salvador Santana Band. Members of the group were Emerson Cardenas (bass), Quincy McQuary (vocals, keyboards), Woody Aplanalp (guitar), Tony Austin (drums) and José Espinoza (sax, percussion, vocals). With them Salvador played a fresh musical style incorporating elements of hip hop and jazz. His musical roots stem from a firsthand education from his grandfathers, Saunders King and Jose Santana, his father, Carlos, as well as the music of jazz artists John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, and Oscar Peterson and a healthy implementation of contemporary hip-hop acts like Atmosphere, Ozomatli.