Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican and American musician who first became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered a fusion of rock and Latin American music. The band's sound featured his melodic, blues-based guitar lines set against Latin and African rhythms featuring percussion instruments such as timbales and congas not generally heard in rock music. Santana continued to work in these forms over the following decades. He experienced a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s. In 2003 Rolling Stone magazine listed Santana at number 20 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, however on my very personal list he is somewhere in the top 5! He has won 10 Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards.
Around the age of eight, Santana "fell under the influence" of blues performers like B.B. King and John Lee Hooker. Gábor Szabó's mid-1960s jazz/gypsy guitar work may have strongly influenced Santana's playing. Szabó's composition "Gypsy Queen" was used as the second part of Santana's 1970 hit "Black Magic Woman", almost down to identical guitar licks. Santana also credits Jimi Hendrix, Mike Bloomfield, Hank Marvin and Peter Green as important influences; he considered Bloomfield a direct mentor.
"The '60s were a leap in human consciousness. Mahatma Gandhi, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Che Guevara, Mother Teresa, they led a revolution of conscience. The Beatles, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix created revolution and evolution themes. The music was like Dalí, with many colors and revolutionary ways. The youth of today must go there to find themselves." — Carlos Santana
In 2012 Santana released an album Shape Shifter consisting of mostly instrumental tracks!
Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival (JJF) is one of the largest jazz festivals in the world and arguably the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere, held in Jakarta, Indonesia. The annual jazz festival is held every early March and was designed to be one of the largest jazz festivals globally. For more info visit www.javajazzfestival.com
On Friday nights we can, should and deserve to listen to a few more hours of quality music, so I proudly introduce to you one of my all-time favourite albums! Abraxas is the second studio album by band Santana. Consolidating the interest generated by their first album, Santana (released in May 1969), and their highly acclaimed live performance at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969, the band followed-up with Abraxas in September 1970. The album's mix of rock, blues, jazz, salsa and other influences was very well received, showing a musical maturation from their first album and refining the band's early sound.
In 2003 the album was ranked number 205 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
And I could have saved this for a Buddy Miles night, but no worries, there's much more from him coming soon on the air. Therefore, to honour Mr. Carlos Santana here is another masterpiece! In January 1972, Santana, Schon, Escovedo, and Lewis joined former Band of Gypsys drummer, Buddy Miles, for a concert at Hawaii's Diamond Head Crater, which was recorded for the album, Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live!. The performance was erratic and uneven, but the album managed to achieve gold-record status on the weight of Santana's popularity.
Time to say good night. I'll leave you with my favourite Santana moment from Crossroads 2004 and possibly my favourite live guitar jam!
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