mmg.com.au

Delivered with a level of passion and soul equal to the legendary sonic charge of his guitar, the sound of Carlos Santana is one of the world’s best-known musical signatures.

For more than four decades — from Santana’s earliest days as a ground-breaking Afro-Latin-blues-rock fusion outfit in San Francisco — Carlos has been the visionary force behind artistry that transcends musical genres and generational, cultural and geographical boundaries.

Santana’s star arrived in the era-defining late 1960s San Francisco Bay Area music scene with historic shows at the Fillmore Auditorium and other storied venues.

The group emerged onto the global stage with an epic set at the Woodstock festival in 1969, the same year that its self-titled debut LP, Santana, came out.

Introducing Santana’s first Top 10 hit, Evil Ways, the disc stayed on Billboard’s album chart for two years and was soon followed by two more classics, Abraxas and Santana III.

Santana has sold more than 100 million records and reached more than 100 million fans at concerts worldwide.

To date, Santana has won 10 Grammy Awards, including a record-tying nine for a single project, 1999’s Supernatural (including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for the song Smooth).

In 1998, the group was ushered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, whose website notes, ‘‘Guitarist Carlos Santana is one of rock’s true virtuosos and guiding lights’’.

Santana’s latest album, Shape Shifter (2012), is the first for his new label, Starfaith Records.

The 13-song set is an instrumental tour de force long awaited by fans.

Comprising mostly original compositions that Carlos has been setting aside for such a project, the album’s sequence is as thoughtful as its track selection.

It has been reported that: ‘‘the songs flow together as the magical sustain of his guitar and the spirit behind every note makes music that defies all cultural and language barriers — the music of Santana’’.