Carlos Santana
Born in 1947, Mexico, Carlos Santana is a Mexican-American musician who first rose to prominence in the early 1970s. His band Santana had a unique and distinctive sound that fused his virtuosoA highly skilled performer. guitar playing with LatinMusic that originates from Spanish or Portuguese speaking countries, in particular, those in the Caribbean and United States. Strongly influenced by dance styles, rhythmic grooves and loud brass accompaniments. and African-based rhythms, as well as influences from rock, R鈥檔鈥橞, jazzA genre of music that has swing and syncopated rhythms, and extended chords. and blues. The music featured lots of percussion instruments such as congaThe term is used to describe the ensembles of Cuban musicians and performers. and timbalesA highly tuned shallow-headed drum. , which were not normally found in rock music at that time. He developed a highly distinctive sound characterised by long improvised solos, pitch bendWhen the pitch played slightly rises or falls but returns to original pitch., ornamentsNotes added to decorate a melody. and runA long collection of notes being usually played in a scale, often a chromatic scale..
The music featured lots of percussion instruments such as congaThe term is used to describe the ensembles of Cuban musicians and performers. and timbalesA highly tuned shallow-headed drum. , which were not normally found in rock music at that time. He developed a highly distinctive sound characterised by long improvisationComposing music on the spot or during a performance. solos, pitch bendWhen the pitch played slightly rises or falls but returns to original pitch., ornamentsNotes added to decorate a melody. and runA long collection of notes being usually played in a scale, often a chromatic scale..
Carlos Santana came from a musical background. His father was an orchestral violinist and a Mariachi - a performer of traditional Mexican music. Santana began playing the violin aged five, before taking up the guitar aged eight. His family moved to Tijuana, a city on the Mexican and Californian border, before finally settling in San Francisco. During this time Santana was exposed to different musical cultures which influenced his own unique style of playing. He was influenced by blues players such as B.B. King, John Lee-Hooker, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Green, Mike Bloomfield and Hank Marvin.
Santana鈥檚 music grew less fashionable in the mid to late 1970s as the new genre punk rock began to dominate the music scene. The band had a revival in the late 1990s with the album Supernatural. It received nine Grammy awards and went 15 times platinum, selling over 25 million copies worldwide.