Carlos Santana is one of history’s most respected guitar players, known for his psychadelic take on Latin music that he effortlessly transposed into the explosion of psychedelic rock that swept across Great Britain and the United States in the late 60’s/early 70’s. The band which bears his last name first played at Woodstock in 1969 alongside legends like Joan Baez, Grateful Dead, Sly & The Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix, CCR, The Who and countless more– it was that moment which put them on the map in North America and launched a legendary career for Carlos Santana himself. Most people in my age group will remember Santana most for his 1999 solo album Supernatural which featured Rob Thomas on “Smooth” (a song that was quite literally inescapable at the time), but guitar-heads like me love him most for Abraxas.
This is the album that defines Santana’s guitar playing for me– the effortless groove of “Black Magic Woman”, the infinitely danceable “Oye Como Va”, and (what I feel to be this album’s crowning achievement) “Incident at Neshabur”. The absolute journey this song takes you on is magic in audio form– the clave rhythm of the percussion section, the organ and guitar solos trading at a frenetic pace in the first half, and then the transition into a gorgeous slow waltz in the back half of the song that features some of the lushest piano and guitar interplay I’ve heard all year. This is what makes Santana great– his ability to transpose emotions into auditory experiences that leave you breathless, and all the while effortlessly flowing in between jazz, Latin, and psychedelic modes of transportation. It’s a journey well worth taking.
Standout Songs: “Incident at Neshabur”, “Oye Como Va”, “Mother’s Daughter”
