Multi-Grammy Award-winning Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame guitarist Carlos Santana has announced that his passion-filled retrospective album, “Sentient”, will be released via Candid Records on March 28. The album is available for pre-order now. The record’s heavenly, soulful first single — a “‘Sentient’ version” of Smokey Robinson‘s “Please Don’t Take Your Love” — is out today.
“Sentient” is composed of 11 dazzling tracks — three of them previously unreleased — compiled by the virtuoso guitarist, remastered and sequenced in a way that allows a new and dramatic story to emerge. As is often the case when the spark of musical magic strikes, Santana was surprised, delighted and receptive. “I’m always driven by passion, emotion and inner instinct,” he says. “When I first heard these tracks floating around in the house, I said, ‘Why don’t we put these all in one place?'”
The songs that make up “Sentient” are complex compositionally, but they float by like a dream. There are brilliant collaborations with Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Miles Davis, Paolo Rustichelli, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Cindy Blackman Santana, but no matter the mood or genre — whether it’s lush pop or high-intensity cosmic jazz — it’s all part of a common thread. As Santana says, “From Stravinsky to James Brown, it’s all the same song, meaning it’s all connected to the umbilical cord of humanity and planet Earth.”
The album’s first single offers listeners a new view of “Please Don’t Take Your Love”, the heavenly slice of funky, soulful seduction that paired Santana with the incomparable Smokey Robinson. The original version, featured on Robinson‘s 2009 album “Time Flies When You’re Having Fun”, saw Santana contrast Robinson‘s shimmering vibrato with searing, soul-shaking soloing. The alternate take on “Sentient” is no less emotionally wrenching, but as Santana notes, it boasts a never-before-heard guitar performance. “I went to the studio and did my own thing,” he says. “I said, ‘Let’s just roll it.’ I did another take with Smokey sort of guiding me. Smokey loved them both, so he wound up combining the two. What’s on ‘Sentient’ is the first version.”
March 14 will see the debut release of a live instrumental cover of Michael Jackson‘s haunting ballad “Stranger In Moscow”, recorded in 2007 with producer and drummer Narada Michael Walden‘s band. It’s a devastating masterclass performance — Santana‘s guitar playing is by turns soulful and poetic, blitzing and blinding, and always breathtakingly imaginative.
“Narada knew that I loved the song, so he arranged it with his band,” Santana remembers. “I showed up and we played it with no rehearsal. I’m basically singing it with my guitar. I’m visualizing Michael Jackson and what he would do — I got pretty close. I think when Michael listened to it, wherever he is, he smiled and said, ‘Yeah, that’s it.'”
“Get On”, a jazz-groove masterpiece from renowned composer Paolo Rustichelli‘s lauded 1996 album “Mystic Man”, featuring the extraordinary collaboration of Santana with the iconic Miles Davis, will be officially released to radio for the first time on March 17.
Exceleration Music partner and Grammy-winning music executive John Burk, known for his work with legendary artists, shared his excitement about the project, saying: “Santana has always been a trailblazer in music, combining musical styles and cultures in ways that have forever changed the face of music. This amazing collection demonstrates his unique ability to transcend genres and lift our spirits through his music. It also highlights collaborations with a diverse lineup of musical trailblazers — including Michael Jackson, Miles Davis, Smokey Robinson and DMC — each, like Carlos, an iconic innovator, united on this album by the musicality, spirit, and passion of Carlos Santana at his finest.”
Santana‘s “Oneness” tour kicks off in Highland, California at Yaamava’ Resort & Casino at San Manuel on April 16 making stops in Phoenix, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; San Antonio, Texas; Sugar Land, Texas; Thackerville, Oklahoma; Tulsa, Oklaohma; and Nashville, Tennessee. The Europe portion of the tour begins on June 9 in Lodz, Poland with stops throughout Europe, ending in Copenhagen, Denmark on August 11.
For more than five decades — from Santana‘s earliest days as a groundbreaking Afro-Latin-blues-rock fusion outfit in San Francisco — Carlos Santana has been the visionary force behind artistry that transcends musical genres and generational, cultural, and geographical boundaries. To date, Santana has won ten Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards, with a record-tying nine Grammy Awards for a single project for 1999’s “Supernatural” (including “Album Of The Year” and “Record Of The Year” for “Smooth”). He has received the Billboard Century Award (1996),was ushered into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (1998),received the Billboard Latin Music Awards‘ Lifetime Achievement honor (2009),and was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors Award (2013).
Among many other distinctions, Carlos Santana has been cited by Rolling Stone as No. 11 on their list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time;” and has joined THE ROLLING STONES as one of only two bands to have an album reach the Top 10 in every decade since the 1960s. In 2018, he released his first “MasterClass”, and celebrated two epic milestones: the 50th anniversary of his legendary performance at Woodstock, and the 50th anniversary of his masterpiece “Abraxas”.
In 2024, he celebrated the 25th anniversary of his groundbreaking album “Supernatural”. Santana‘s most recent release, “Let The Guitar Play” (feat. Darryl “DMC” McDaniels),follows on the heels of his powerful, energy-infused “Blessings And Miracles” (2021) that features collaborations with Rob Thomas, Chris Stapleton, Steve Winwood, and many others. The epic feature documentary “Carlos”, produced by Sony Music Entertainment and Imagine Documentaries, is a celebration of Carlos Santana‘s life and career. It had its world premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival and is now available to stream worldwide. Santana has been in residency in Las Vegas for over 15 years and will continue to perform at House of Blues Las Vegas, where he recently celebrated his 10th anniversary in the intimate venue.
Source: blabbermouth.net
