This silky smooth guitarist is this weeks addition to our series of posts devoted to Hispanic heritage month, following on from Danny Trejo and Mariano Rivera.

Born Carlos Augusto Alves Santana in 1947 in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico. Both Carlos and his brother Jorge became musical at a young age, as Carlos began playing the violin at 5 years old, while Jorge would become a professional guitarist. He and his family moved to San Francisco, here he attended James Lick Middle School and Mission High School, eventually graduating in 1965.

Santana is what most would call a guitar hero, a master of the six-strings, but unlike many other musicians of the day, his rise to superstardom was a fast and sudden affair. While working as a dishwasher and busking for extra money, Carlos would be a frequent attendee at music shows and events in the area, until he finally quit his job to become a full-time musician. It was 1966 when he formed the Santana Blues Band, they signed to Columbia Records, and before long, 1969 to be exact, the band released their first record, entitled simply ‘Santana,’ and played at the famous Woodstock festival.

That first album went double platinum, rather remarkable for a first effort, and for anybody thinking that was the height of it, they only had to wait one year until the second record, ‘Abraxas,’ which went quadruple platinum in 1970. Since then, the Santana band has released another 20 studio albums, among a number of live and compilation albums, Carlos himself has released several albums outside the band, and made numerous guest appearances on albums from other musicians and bands. To date his most successful album has been ‘Supernatural,’ released in 1999, which has gone 15 times platinum, selling more than 30 million copies and making it the best selling album by a Hispanic artist.

During his long career, Santana has become very spiritual, turning to meditation and becoming a disciple of Sri Chinmoy in 1973, he was given the name ‘Devadip’ in the process, meaning “The lamp, light and eye of god.” This development had an influence on his musical style, as he went on to collaborate with musicians of the same spiritual beliefs, including John McLaughlin of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Don Alias and Larry Young, who were known for performing on the Miles Davis classic, Bitches Brew.

Carlos Santana’s fusion of rock, Latin, jazz, blues, salsa, and African rhythms, has made his music instantly recognizable, forever unique, and impressively timeless. Classics including ‘Smooth,’ ‘Black Magic Woman,’ ‘Oye Como Va,’ and ‘Maria Maria’ ring out over radio and TV stations everywhere; I would be very surprised to meet someone unable to hum a line from one of his signature psychedelic guitar riffs.

Santana has gone on to sell millions of records, perform to sold out venues across the world, and is one of only two bands to have a top ten album in every decade from the 1960s, the other is The Rolling Stones, good company to be in. He is also an avid social activist and humanitarian, having created the Milagro Foundation with his family in 1998 to provide children support in the areas of arts, education and health.

Carlos Santana is an icon around the world because of his virtuoso guitar mastery, and an appropriate addition to our Hispanic Heritage Month series. Have you listened to much of Carlos Santana’s music? Better yet, Have you ever seen him perform live?