Jazz Articles about Carlos Santana

About Carlos Santana

Album Review

Cindy Blackman Santana: Coherence

Read "Coherence" reviewed by Kyle Simpler

by Kyle Simpler
July 29, 2026

Some musicians communicate their passion almost before they ever play a note, and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana is one of them. Whether performing jazz, rock, soul, or world music, she approaches each style with the conviction that music ultimately transcends categories. Coherence is possibly her clearest statement of that philosophy. Blackman Santana's broad musical perspective comes naturally. She began busking on the streets of New York during the 1980s before quickly moving onto major stages, performing with jazz ...

Album Review

John Lee Hooker: The Best of Friends

Read "The Best of Friends" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
July 20, 2024

In contrast to his often (always?) irascible peer Chester Burnett, aka Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker has long been amenable to collaborations, reciprocal and otherwise. Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos, Charlie Musselwhite and Carlos Santana, among others, appeared on The Healer (Chameleon,1989) and all those artists also populate the credits for The Best of Friends. (Santana, the Mexican-born guitar hero, appears with two different iterations of his band). Fittingly titled, this anthology is a suitable companion piece to Whiskey ...

So You Don't Like Jazz

Top Ten Kennedy Center Musical Moments

by Alan Bryson
July 10, 2021

It's a good bet that most of us have heard people say they don't like jazz, or even worse, drop the H-bomb: “I hate jazz." If you choose to engage them, the key is to tread lightly and tailor an approach that considers their tastes and sensibilities. This So You Don't Like Jazz column explores ways to do just that. One particularly effective approach is to ignore labels and concentrate on the joy of music. To that end, ...

Reassessing

For Those Who Chant

by Peter J. Hoetjes
April 24, 2020

Luis Gasca was one of the hottest trumpet players in California during the 1970s, recording a handful of albums fueled by the drugs, the culture, and the excitement of that time and place. Though they all featured large ensembles, only one of them allowed some of the era's most legendary musicians to blur the lines separating jazz, latin, and rock and roll. “Everyone should have two favorite cities; their own and San Francisco," claimed Gasca. It was there, ...

Film Review

Santana Live At US Festival

by Doug Collette
September 7, 2019

Santana Live At US Festival Shout! Factory 2019 The Carlos Santana appearing at the US Festival in 1982 is not the same hungry street urchin transformed by the music he made early in his career with the band under his name. Since the galvanizing breakthrough at Woodstock in 1969, the group had changed with its leader, navigating through a jazz fusion landscape only to return, by this time over a decade later, to a more ...

Extended Analysis

Light of the Supreme: Carlos Santana’s Devadip Trilogy

by Rob Caldwell
August 15, 2015

To the casual music fan in 1971 Carlos Santana appeared as if he was on top of the world. His band's appearance at Woodstock two short years earlier, plus their cover of Fleetwood Mac's “Black Magic Woman" had catapulted him to stardom. Yet, behind the scenes, his band was splintering. Different musical and personal objectives, plus the increased usage of hard drugs by some band members were getting in the way. By the end of the year, bassist David Brown, ...

Reassessing

Welcome

by Jeff Winbush
August 4, 2012

Once upon a time there was a guitar god who had grown bored with all his fame, riches and glory. He longed for something more than another multi-platinum selling record. He desired not simply acclaim, but respect. He knew to get it he would have to walk away from the distinctive style that made him popular and wealthy. It was a risk to confuse his band and his fans by making a radical change in his musical direction. But he ...