The Band

Mike Castillo - Bass/Vocals

I was born and raised on the Southside of Fort Worth, Texas. His love for music started at the early age of seven due to the fact that he grew up living next door to his grandfather who was musically inclined. He would sit and watch his grandfather, along with a few of his aunts, play different types of instruments and play different genres of music ranging from classical music, jazz, country, and early rock and roll. He later found out that he had a talent for playing music and learned very quickly that he could play just about any instrument he picked up. But it wasn’t until the age of twelve that he developed a strong passion for the guitar. His great grandfather had purchased him a guitar from Mexico that had been put away in a closet but was soon found and reunited with Michael. In the years to come Michael would finally form a rock band with some childhood friends where he then switched to playing the bass guitar thumping out some tunes from bands that included Santana, Journey, and Jimmi Hendrix. Michael would later start performing at gigs with a variety of different bands around the Dallas/Fort Worth area which included a wide genre of music from rock, blues, country, gospel, and heavy metal. At the present time, Michael was invited to join the musical group Milagro Texas and has strived to play the music of Carlos Santana to the best of his ability in order to pay tribute to Carlos and also to give the fans of his music an experience that would have them inspired and to give them the experience as if they were listening to the legend himself.

George Cortez - Congas/Timbales/Vocals

Born and raised in Dallas, Texas on February 22nd, George has been playing percussion for over 5 decades. A self-taught percussionist who credits his older brothers for introducing him to the Conga, Bongo and Timbales, George has played in numerous Bands throughout the DFW area.

Along with being introduced to the drums, his brothers also brought the sound of Santana into his life at an early age. “Listening to and playing along to Santana music was an everyday thing at home, and still is Today.” George recalls seeing his first Santana concert vividly. “My first concert was in 1976 in Austin, Texas,  the

Amigos tour at Sunday Break a Rock Festival. “I was hooked onto the rhythm section”. “Santana has always had the greatest rhythm players: Chepito, Orestes Vilatô, Armando Peraza, Karl Perazzo, Mingo Lewis, and the great Raul Rekow”. “I’m the happiest when I’m playing Santana music. I feel I’m playing homage to Carlos Santana and to Raul Rekow. "I enjoy sharing the Santana experience – for the love of music.”

Maurice Saenz Jaurigui  - Timbales, Congas,  Vocals

Music has been a part of my family upbringing. Coming from a musical family I was introduced into music at an early age of 9. My first concert ever was seeing Maynard Ferguson and his Big Band perform. They opened up with Rocky theme song seeing his orchestra perform that song live was life changing I knew I had to be on stage. My Uncle taught me how to play an Upright Bass, learning cords, learning patterns and knowing my scales. I began to perform in small Trio/ Quartet gigs. I started receiving music lessons from different DFW Latino artists in learning Latin Percussion instruments such as Bongos, Congas and Timbalé . While learning these instruments I learned different styles of music such as Latin Jazz , Salsa , Afro-Cuban , Merengue , Mozambique & Artists such as Tito Puente - Celia Cruz - Willie Colon- Arturo Sandoval - Dizzy Gillespie and Ruben BladesI would go to Drummer/Percussion Clinics to learn from the best artist like Sheila E , Alex Acuña , Giovanna Hidalgo, Karl Perazzo , Raul Rekow and Poncho Sanchez. I have collaborated with drummers such as Buddy Miles (Jimi Hendrix & Carlos Santana), Tito Puente Jr  and Ricky Reyes (Grammy Winning Drummer / Hall of Fame drummer).  In 2001, my Family band was chosen to play for George Bush’s Presidential Inauguration in Washington DC, other music artists in attendance were Emilio Estefan & Jon Secada.  Drumming has always been my passion, I started playing drums in the Middle school band and carried over to playing in the High School Jazz Band . After high school I attended Weatherford College to play drums on a Jazz scholarship.Over 29 yrs of playing drums & percussion, Carlos Santana and his Band has been a huge influence in my career and my style of playing throughout the years. It’s crazy how his music blends the style of Rock ,Soul , Afro-Cuban , Sàmba and Cha Cha.  It’s really a beautiful art of music that I enjoy playing.