Abraxas [Remaster]

Performer: Santana
Engineer: Dave Brown; John Fiore
Producer: Fred Catero; Santana
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Santana: Carlos Santana (vocals, guitar); Gregg Rolie (vocals, keyboards); Dave Brown (bass instrument); Michael Shrieve (drums); Jos� Chepit� Areas (congas, timbales); Michael Carabello (congas). Additional personnel: Rico Reyes (vocals, percussion); Alberto Gianquinto (piano). The San Francisco Bay Area rock scene of the late '60s was one that encouraged radical experimentation and discouraged the type of mindless conformity that's often plagued corporate rock. When one considers just how different Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, and the Grateful Dead sounded, it becomes obvious just how much it was encouraged. In the mid-'90s, an album as eclectic as Abraxas would be considered a marketing exec's worst nightmare. But at the dawn of the 1970s, this unorthodox mix of rock, jazz, salsa, and blues proved quite successful. Whether adding rock elements to salsa king Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va," embracing instrumental jazz-rock on "Incident at Neshabur" and "Samba Pa Ti," or tackling moody blues-rock on Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman," the band keeps things unpredictable yet cohesive. Many of the Santana albums that came out in the '70s are worth acquiring, but for novices, Abraxas is an excellent place to start. ~ Alex Henderson ABRAXAS, the second album by the original (and arguably most powerful) Santana line-up, proved the band's commercial breakthrough. The album's contains two of the group's biggest hits, "Black Magic Woman," a slinky, smooth-edged interpretation of the song written by Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green, and their take on Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va," which injects Carlos Santana's stinging guitar leads into a surging salsa groove. The band's unique, genre-blurring approach makes these singles--and everything else here--unlike anything that had been heard before. The opener, "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts," showcases Carlos Santana's passionate, soulful six-string mastery over a drifting, psychedelic backdrop. The album ranges in feel, encompassing furiously propulsive jams ("Se A Cabo"), low-key Brazilian grooves ("Samba Para Ti"), and jazzy instrumentals ("Incident at Neshabur"). All the elements that made Santana's debut dazzling--roiling, polyrhythmic percussion, dense, pancultural influences, virtuoso guitar work--are here--sharpened and painted with the rich, heady sound of late-'60s San Francisco (Santana was just as exploratory and innovative as their hometown cohorts the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane). ABRAXAS remains a seminal Latin-rock release, and one of the undisputed classics of the era.

Rolling Stone (12/24/70, p.54) - "...On ABRAXAS, Santana is a popularized Mongo Santamaria and they might do for Latin music what Chuck Berry did for the blues....a total boogie and the music is right from start to finish." Q (5/00, p.131) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Displays even more grace and power...[than their] fresh, fierce debut..." Vibe (12/99, p.156) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century Musician (7/98, pp.86-88) - "...Sony Legacy's sonic wizards have made...[Santana's] first three albums reappear, each appended with additional live recordings....epochal works...an explosive fusion of Hispanic-edged rock, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and interstellar improvisation..."

Carlos Santana is one of those rare guitarists whose sound is instantly recognizable. His fiery, soulful blend of rock, blues, and Latin music made his band, also named Santana, an international success. From 1960s San Francisco psychedelia to '70s fusion to enormously successful pop crossovers in the early 2000s, Carlos Santana has remained a respected and influential force in music. Though he scored hits with his band from the late '60s to the early '80s, Santana operated under the mainstream radar for much of the '80s and '90s until the multi-platinum 1999 "comeback" album, SUPERNATURAL, studded with pop-star collaborations, brought him (and the band) a whole new audience.

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