Solo album from Santana/Journey's guitarist which takes you back to the late 60's or early 70's, with guests Neal Schon & Alphonso Johnson.

Before the arrival of Carlos Santana's eponymous band, the San Francisco rock scene drew the inspiration for its jam-oriented music mainly from blues, rock, and Eastern modalities. Santana added Latin music to the mix, forever changing the course of rock & roll history. On their groundbreaking debut album, the group mix Latin percussion with driving rock grooves. Santana's unique guitar style, alternately biting and liquid, vies with the multiple percussionists for the sonic focus. Unlike later efforts, Santana's first album features an abundance of loose, collective compositions based on a couple of simple riffs ("Jingo," "Soul Sacrifice"). This approach allows for Santana and his bandmates to flex their improvisational muscles to fine effect. The high-energy level on Santana is infectious – the laid-back feel of other '60s San Francisco groups was clearly not for Carlos and co.

Combined with 40 years of hits, Santana performed many of the songs from his double-platinum US Latin-certified and critically-acclaimed album CORAZÓN at a once in a lifetime concert event in December 2013, accompanied by many of his album special guests, all celebrating their Latin music heritage in Guadalajara, Mexico (in his native state of Jalisco). The CORAZÓN project brought Carlos back to his birthplace and celebrates Carlos’ love of his musical heritage, as well as showcases Carlos’ own personal influence on Latin music and on today’s generation of Latin superstars. Superstar guest performers who joined Santana at the concert event captured on this CD include Elan Atias, Chocquibtown, Lila Downs, Gloria Estefan, Juanes, Miguel, Fher Olvera (of Maña),Niña Pastori, Samuel Rosa (of Skank), Cindy Blackman Santana, Salvador Santana, Romeo Santos, Soledad, and Diego Torres.

The time that has flown is Smokey's 50 years in the business, but it could just as well refer to the number of years since Robinson has released a smooth soul album: almost 20 full years! Smokey, of course, has stayed active during the interim, both on-stage and on record, but Time Flies When You're Having Fun marks a return to the coolly simmering quiet storm that was his stock in trade during the '70s and '80s. Apart from production techniques, not much has changed in Smokey's music during the time off, either: this is still smooth, unhurried soul that vacillates between elegance and supper-club classiness. Of course, since these are two sides of the same coin, they fit together seamlessly, with the only question being whether the immaculately polished music veers toward the corny, but whenever it does, Smokey's impeccably tailored vocals steer it back to toward the sweetly romantic. After all these years, Smokey still makes it all seem easy – so easy that it's puzzling why he hasn't made a record like this in so long, because as this comforting, velvety album proves, nobody does it better than he.

Drawing on rock, salsa, and jazz, Santana recorded one imaginative, unpredictable gem after another during the 1970s. But Caravanserai is daring even by Santana's high standards. Carlos Santana was obviously very hip to jazz fusion – something the innovative guitarist provides a generous dose of on the largely instrumental Caravanserai. Whether its approach is jazz-rock or simply rock, this album is consistently inspired and quite adventurous. Full of heartfelt, introspective guitar solos, it lacks the immediacy of Santana or Abraxas. Like the type of jazz that influenced it, this pearl (which marked the beginning of keyboardist/composer Tom Coster's highly beneficial membership in the band) requires a number of listenings in order to be absorbed and fully appreciated. But make no mistake: this is one of Santana's finest accomplishments.

Before the arrival of Carlos Santana's eponymous band, the San Francisco rock scene drew the inspiration for its jam-oriented music mainly from blues, rock, and Eastern modalities. Santana added Latin music to the mix, forever changing the course of rock & roll history. On their groundbreaking debut album, the group mix Latin percussion with driving rock grooves. Santana's unique guitar style, alternately biting and liquid, vies with the multiple percussionists for the sonic focus.
Unlike later efforts, Santana's first album features an abundance of loose, collective compositions based on a couple of simple riffs ("Jingo," "Soul Sacrifice"). This approach allows for Santana and his bandmates to flex their improvisational muscles to fine effect…

Santana is the primary exponent of Latin-tinged rock, particularly due to its combination of Latin percussion with bandleader Carlos Santana's distinctive, high-pitched lead guitar playing. The group was the last major act to emerge from the psychedelic San Francisco music scene of the 1960s and it enjoyed massive success at the end of the decade and into the early '70s. In 1998, Santana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band has earned nine Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards, the latter all in 2000. Carlos also won a Grammy Award as a solo artist in 1988. Santana has sold more than 90 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling groups of all time.

Arriving at the twilight of the 1960s, Santana were psychedelic pioneers who ushered Latin rock into the mainstream with their first three albums: Santana, Abraxas, and Santana III. Thanks to their appearance at Woodstock, their eponymous album was a smash hit right out of the gate, with its single "Evil Ways" making it into the Billboard Top Ten in 1969. They remained at the top of the charts until 1973, when leader and namesake guitarist Carlos Santana began exploring esoteric, spiritual jazz fusion on his own. Carlos may have wandered away from the band who shared his name, but he always returned to the group, sustaining them through years both productive and fallow. Through it all, Santana maintained a loyal classic rock following, but their popularity exploded in 1999 thanks to Supernatural, a splashy comeback masterminded by Clive Davis and featuring the Rob Thomas duet "Smooth."

On Blessings and Miracles, his twenty-sixth studio album, music legend and guitar master Carlos Santana delivers one of the most ambitious, inspired and flat-out magical records of his storied career. There’s thrilling feats of bravura musicianship that pair the guitar master with fellow icons like Chick Corea and Steve Winwood, knockout rockers with Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and Living Colour’s Corey Glover, and genre-bending, hook-filled celebrations featuring Rob Thomas, Chris Stapleton, G-Eazy, American Authors and Ally Brooke, among others. The record also features bravura performances from members of Santana’s touring band (including drummer Cindy Blackman Santana and singer Tommy Anthony), as well as impeccable vocals and keyboards by the guitarist’s son, Salvador Santana, and stunning lead vocals by daughter, Stella Santana.