Africa Speaks

It’s a little limiting to frame *Africa Speaks* as a Santana tribute to the music of Africa—at least, it’s no more useful than calling his groundbreaking ’70s albums tributes to the music of the Americas. Conceptual marketing aside, *Africa Speaks* is some of the most vital music he’s made in years, not to mention a graceful cap on a decade-long pivot away from his crossover 2000s work toward the kind of jammy, intensely felt fusion on which he not only built a reputation but forged a legacy. The songs cohere (the hip-hop-ish cumbia of “Breaking Down the Door,” the rolling polyrhythms of “Oye Este Mi Canto”), the jams accrue enough momentum to take you way out—or deep in, as it were—in about five minutes or less (“Bembele,” “Batonga”). And as expressive as Santana’s guitar work is, he finds his match in the Spanish singer Concha Buika, whose voice is powerful as a jackhammer and pliable as a blade of grass.

Rolling Stone reviews Santana's new album, 'Africa Speaks,' which finds them exploring new freedom led by Carlos Santana's guitar.

No matter the numerous musical terrains Santana have traversed since the late 1960s, their trademark Afro-Latin sound is so recognizable it often dominates the band's material.

The legendary guitarist gets personal and has fun doing it, review by Barney Harsent