Win a copy of 'Multi-Dimensional Warrior' by Santana

24/09/2008

 A decade after their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame (in January 1998), the hypnotic power of Santana continues to be one of the enduring and mysterious pleasures of the band’s music.  That meditative power has coursed through Santana’s recordings for four decades, but has never been the exclusive focus of any one collection – until now.

 

'Multi-Dimensional Warrior' is a unique project, with every track personally selected and sequenced by Carlos Santana to create an engaging journey through a soundscape of moods and feelings.  In an unprecedented concept, disc one comprises 14 vocal performances chosen from albums spanning the 1970s, ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s, while disc two comprises 14 instrumental performances from albums covering the same years.  Carlos Santana personally added guitar to ‘Spirit’ and ‘Right Now,’ Santana band member Chester Thompson contributed piano to ‘Let There Be Light,’ and Barbara Higbie added harp to ‘Praise’ and ‘Let There Be Light.’

 

History swirls around Santana: signed to Columbia Records by Clive Davis in late-1968, they began recording in January 1969 – although the follow-up sessions of May 1969 were the ones eventually used for their debut self-titled album.   That came out on August 19, 1969, the day after the end of the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair, where they performed on Saturday afternoon.  WARRIOR includes one of their oldest signatures, ‘Samba Pa Ti,’ the B-side of their fourth single, ‘Oye Como Va,’ from the second Santana album, Abraxas (1970).

 

At the far end of the Columbia timeline are the final three albums to bear the Santana name – and the only three albums on 'Warrior' to be represented by one track each on disc one and disc two.  Early 1987’s Freedom – which reunited original band members Gregg Rolie on lead vocals and keyboards (after his 1975-85 founding stint in Journey), drummer Mike Shrieve, and percussionist José ‘Chepito’ Areas – is the source for ‘Praise’ and two instrumentals, ‘Bella’ and ‘Love Is You.’

 

Santana had a brief but productive three-year stay at PolyGram, starting with the May 1992 release of Milagro. The album was dedicated to two close friends, Miles Davis and long-time Santana manager and booking agent Bill Graham (who died respectively in September and October, 1991) and contained tributes to four of Santana’s inspirations, John Coltrane, Gil Evans, Marvin Gaye and Bob Marley.  From that album, WARRIOR offers four vocals on disc one: ‘Life Is For Living,’ ‘Saja/Right On,’ and two Santana originals, ‘Somewhere In Heaven’ and ‘Your Touch.’

 

Attention focused on the Milagro album as Santana toured through 1992 and mourned the April ’93 death of César Chavez.  Later that year, Sacred Fire, a live album was released.  Santana returned in 1994 with a final PolyGram album, Brothers, essentially a trio collaboration by Carlos, his brother Jorge, and nephew Carlos Hernandez.  Three of its instrumentals are included on WARRIOR: ‘Blues Latino,’ ‘En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor,’ and ‘Luz, Amor y Vida.’

 

A five-year hiatus from recording followed, ending in 1999 with the release of Supernatural.  It was Santana’s first album for Arista Records, and a welcome reunion with Clive Davis, who produced the album with Carlos.  Supernatural was an industry phenomenon – 15-times RIAA platinum in the U.S. alone, where the album spent 102 weeks on the Billboard chart including 12 weeks at #1.

 

Most significantly, Supernatural generated an all-time record-breaking nine GRAMMY awards including Album Of the Year and Best Rock Album.  Among the instrumentals on Supernatural (and included on WARRIOR) is ‘El Farol,’ which won the GRAMMY for Best Pop Instrumental.

 

 

Mature Times has 10 copies of the CD to give away. For a chance to win a copy, just answer the question below.

 

 

In which country was Carlos Santana born?

 

 

Competition closes 24th October 2008