THE LANGUAGE OF THE SOUL
When you’re dealing with a global population close to eight billion, it’s inevitable that for every musician whose sound is supposedly distinctive, there’s another few who come at least somewhat close to matching it – even if that means being inspired by the OG. But in the case of one Mr. Carlos Santana, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Though often imitated, the Mexican virtuoso’s tantalising blend of searing blues rock, polychromatic psychedelica, spiralling jazz and effervescent Latin flavours is one wholly unto himself. Perhaps the only thing more profound is that, across 32 albums over half a century of pouring his heart out into song, Santana’s eccentricity has never waned – each new album unearths a new side of his wizardly mind that had been waiting to show itself off.
Such is doubly true for his latest passion project, Africa Speaks: a rip-roaring collision of the red-hot rock ’n’ roll that Santana fans know and love, and the bright, bewitching whimsicality of traditional African music. As Santana rhapsodises, the hypnotic rhythms, thumping
