Carlos Santana -dob 7.20.47- is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 60s/early 70s with his band -the eponymous Santana- pioneering a fusion of rock, salsa and jazz. The band's sound featured his melodic, blues-based guitar lines set against Latin percussion such as timbales and congas. Santana continued to work in these forms over the following decades. He experienced a sudden resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 90s, and Rolling Stone placed him at #15 on their 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2003.
Carlos Santana has won 10 Grammy Awards... born in Autlán de Navarro/Jalisco, Mexico, his father was a mariachi violinist, and Carlos learned to play the violin at age five, then on to guitar by eight. Young Carlos was heavily influenced by Ritchie Valens at a time when there were very few Latinos in American rock and pop music. The family moved from Autlán de Navarro to Tijuana, the border city between Mexico and California, and then San Francisco.
Carlos Santana has won 10 Grammy Awards... born in Autlán de Navarro/Jalisco, Mexico, his father was a mariachi violinist, and Carlos learned to play the violin at age five, then on to guitar by eight. Young Carlos was heavily influenced by Ritchie Valens at a time when there were very few Latinos in American rock and pop music. The family moved from Autlán de Navarro to Tijuana, the border city between Mexico and California, and then San Francisco.
Santana's catalogue is indeed impressive... including the best of his early career's immortal hits like Evil Ways (1969), Black Magic Woman (1971), Oye Como Va (1971), Everybody's Everything (1971), No One to Depend On (1972), She's Not There (1977). Santana's later comeback produced substantial commercial succes, i.e. Maria Maria and the duet with Michelle Branch, 2002's The Game of Love.
I did myself meet most of the band in Miami following a show about ten years-ago, managed to get backstage passes and my friend knew them- but Carlos didn't come around as he was having a birthday and had another party to get to. Great show, though... and not the only instance I've seen Santana play, first time was almost 30 years ago... and he's still great.
Back in 1976, Santana formed yet another version of the band -adding vocalist Greg Walker for the album Amigos- which featured the songs Dance, Sister, Dance and Let It Shine- the album also received considerable airplay on FM album-oriented rockstations with the instrumental Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile) and re-introduced Santana back into the charts. Europa however was not actually released as a single in any market, so not as well known as most of their classics... here's Santana playing Verona, Italy on their 1977 Moonflower Tour- Europa (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile):