In 1967 a group of musicians got together in San Francisco and formed a band.  Musician union rules required they designate a band leader.  For no other reason than that they had to pick someone, Carlos Santana was chosen.

The band was named Santana and issued their first album, eponymously  named, in 1969.    The band went on to phenomonal success issuing a total of 24 albums to date, many with gold or platinum level sales.

Four of the founding members plus two additions formed the “classic” line up of the band – 1969 to 1971.  This period covered the issuance of the first three albums.  Since that time Carlos was the focus of the band with a largely revolving door of other musicians.

Classic era members went on to found hugely sucessful bands like Journey and fusion band Go.

 Nostalgia Reigns

The bands first three albums were titled Santana, Abraxas, and III.  On April 14th, 2016, the classic lineup issued a new album – IV.  This lineup had not played together since 1972 and included all but the bass player (he died)

As is often the case with exceptional rock bands (e.g. the beatles, stones) you can hear them mature and grow musically through their first 3 or 4 albums .

Amazingly the new Santana album sounds just like what the fourth album would have been in 1972 if they had not separated.  It is complex and powerful but true to the chemistry of the original players.

Often classic lineups reunite but the fire is gone and music stale.  This is not the case for Santana IV.  I strongly recommend giving it a listen if you enjoy the latin rock fusion genre at all.  This album is five star.