Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana is a guitarist, composer, singer and band-leader who helped to shape the concept of "world music" by his experiments with blending many styles of music from a multitude of ethnic sources. He was born Carlos Augusto Alves Santana on July 20, 1947, in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico. He is one of six children born to Jose Santana and Josefina Barragan. From the age of 5 young Santana learned the violin from his father, a professional mariachi violinist. He switched to guitar at the age of 8, when the family moved to Tijuana. During the late 50s he was playing gigs at clubs and bars with various bands up and down the Tijuana Strip. In 1961 he moved to San Francisco, California, joining the family, which moved there the previous year. In 1966 he made his debut with the newly formed Santana Blues Band. In 1968 Santana was promoted by Bill Graham to play at the famous Fillmore West in San Francisco. The first album, self-titled 'Santana', was released in 1969. Santana sho