News Update for Friday February 10th, 2012

Hi folks,

Well, as you can see the updates have been sporadic ... Sorry, but with this sickness going on and trying catch up with getting some review to you, it's pushed me back a little, anyway, on with the news today starting with the Black Sabbath story that I heard a couple of days back now and it just slipped by me to get it posted ... Doh!

Have a great weekend folks!

Cheers, Al

Black Sabbath give Bill Ward the 'heave ho' and continue without him

Black Sabbath November 2011:

L2R: Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi

Yes, sad indeed that differences cannot be resolved.

After Bill Ward's outbreak last week about an unsignable contract - Sharon Osbourne's doing no doubt! - the other three members announced that they are letting Bill Ward go and will continue on recording and playing without him as a part of the reunion ..., that clearly is no longer ..., a reunion!

BLACK SABBATH RECORDING UPDATE

'We were saddened to hear yesterday via Facebook that Bill declined publicly to participate in our current Black Sabbath plans...we have no choice but to continue recording without him although our door is always open... We are still in the UK with Tony. Writing and recording the new album and on a roll... See you at Download!!!

– Tony, Ozzy and Geezer'

Story source:

http://www.blacksabbath.com/

Sad indeed.

Bill, good luck mate with whatever path you take now.

http://www.billward.com/

Magnum provide brief new album update

After last years 'Evolution' album from Brummie rockers Magnum, that contained re-recorded versons of their classics, the band are back in the studio again and have shared this update. 

'This week we are back at M2 studios and all set to record the new album due out later this year.

We do have a title and will let you know what it is very soon.

We have just spent a week putting down guide vocals and some guitar parts and it`s sounding really powerful once again.

If the early song titles have anything to go by the album will tick all the boxes for all the fans.
Keep checking back for some very exciting news.

We have uploaded "Eyes Like Fire" without the DVD edit in the middle. Enjoy!'

For download go to:
http://www.magnumonline.co.uk/

ANNOUNCING RINGO STARR AND HIS 13th ALL STARR BAND

Featuring Steve Lukather (Toto), Gregg Rolie (Journey, Santana), Richard Page (Mr. Mister), Todd Rundgren, Mark Rivera and Gregg Bissonette

Ringo Starr has announced his 13th All Starr Band, which will launch June 14, 2012 from Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ontario and conclude July 21, 2012 at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, California. New to the All Starrs are Steve Lukather (Toto) and Gregg Rolie (Santana, Journey) who will join All Starr alumni Richard Page, Todd Rundgren, Mark Rivera, and Gregg Bissonette.

The tour is being produced by Dave Hart and as always fans can expect to hear a jukebox worth of hits. Ringo classic’s such as “It Don’t Come Easy”, “Photograph”, “Little Help From My Friends”, “Yellow Submarine” and “Wings", from Starr’s just released 17th solo record, Ringo 2012 (Hip-O/Ume). All Starr’s hits include “Rosanna,” “Broken Wings,” “Hello It’s Me,” “Black Magic Woman.”

Ringo will spend his birthday on the road, with a performance at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on July 7. Following in the tradition of the last few years, at Noon from the Hard Rock Nashville, Ringo will ask anyone anywhere, and everyone everywhere, to join him in a wish for Peace and Love.

The confirmed dates are as follows:

June 14, 15 – Fallsview Casino, Niagara Falls, ON

June 16 – Bethel Woods PAC, Bethel, NY

June 17 – Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT

June 19 – Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA

June 22 – Jones Beach Ampitheater, Wantagh, NY

June 23 – Ceasar’s, Atlantic City, NJ

June 24 – Meyerhoff, Baltimore, MD

June 26 – State Theater, Easton, PA

June 27 – Mayo Center, Morristown, NJ

June 29 – St Augustine Theater, St. Augustine, FL

June 30 – Seminole Hard Rock Arena, Hollywood, FL

July 1 – Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, FL

July 3 – Tuscaloosa Ampitheater, Tuscaloosa, Al

July 4 – The Wharf, Orange Beach, Al

July 6 – Fox Theater, Atlanta, GA

July 7 – Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN

July 8 – Horseshoe Casino, Hammond, IL

July 11 – Usana Ampitheater, Salt Lake, UT

July 13 – Northern Quest, Spokane, WA

July 14 – St Michelle Winery, Seattle, WA

July 15 – Edgefield, Portland, OR

July 17 – Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA

July 19 – Humphrey’s, San Diego, CA

July 21 – The Greek, Los Angeles, CA

More dates to be announced soon.

www.RingoStarr.com

UK rockers Nazareth announce UK live dates while

Salvo / Union Square releases 2 CD Best of Nazareth - The Singles



Lauded for a lengthy series of classy albums as well their consistent live prowess, Scotland’s finest Nazareth have also enjoyed major success as a singles act, most notably in Europe and the Americas.

This 'Singles' collection draws together their finest 45s (and the odd CD single), fully demonstrating their facility with a wide range of styles. And it must be said that selecting two discs from three decades of releases was no easy task because Scotland’s premier rock group turned out a wealth of singles that hit the gold standard.

Perhaps the secret of the Dunfermline band’s success was singer Dan McCafferty’s versatile voice, which ranged from a tender croon to a blues-soaked wail, hitting all points in between. Maybe it was Manny Charlton’s mastery of the guitar, which covered hard rock territory as easily it encompassed balladry - and don’t forget the deft rhythm section of bassist Pete Agnew and the late drummer Darrell Sweet, who gave the music so much groove. What we can be sure of is the fact that from their beginnings as a group finding its sonic feet, via the stadium years and on to their current status as veterans, Nazareth have always delighted the faithful with their singles.

http://www.unionsquaremusic.co.uk/index.asp

Also, Nazareth's current line up of:

Dan McCafferty - Lead Vocals

Lee Agnew - Drums

Jimmy Murrison - Guitar

Pete Agnew - Bass

will play UK live dates.

Following their powerful performance at Dunfermline’s Alhambra Theatre on 14 January, Nazareth will embark on an 10-date UK tour in March. Details as follows:

Saturday March 10 - Classic Grand - GLASGOW

Sunday March 11 - Ironworks - INVERNESS

Tuesday March 13 - Dexters - DUNDEE

Thursday March 15 - The Grand - CLITHEROE

Friday March 16 - BEDFORD - TBC

Saturday March 17 – YORK - TBC

Tuesday March 20 - O2 Academy – NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE

Wednesday March 21 - The Brook - SOUTHAMPTON

Friday March 23 – The Assembly Rooms – DERBY

Saturday March 24 – The Robin 2 - BILSTON

You can see all the releases in Salvo’s exhaustive and highly acclaimed Nazareth reissue campaign here.

Official website:

http://www.nazarethdirect.co.uk/

Def Leppard say tour with Poison is officially on ....!

Yes indeed Def Leppard have confirmed what Rikki Rockett (Poison) had recently leaked a couple of weeks back on Facebook that Def Leppard and Poison would indeed be back out on the road again this summer.
What they fail to do though, is provide any live dates information ... At this time.

Over at their website, this is what they have shared ...


Massive Summer Tour With Special Guest Poison!



It's now official!
Def Leppard will be touring with special guest Poison this summer!
Continue to check back with DefLeppard.com for more announcements and all tour details!

That's all we get for now from the band, my best suggestion to you though folks, is to keep checking www.Pollstar.com for dates, as they often get hold of them early and sometimes leak them, before the official press release comes, so you can at least have a clue what day of the week your nearest venue on the tour will be.

Official website is:
www.DefLeppard.com

Joe Matera – Slave To The Fingers EP review

Joe Matera – Slave To The Fingers EP review

Released through: W.A.R. Productions Release date: Available now

Joe Matera is an Australian guitarist, who is creating some ‘thunder down under,’ to coin a phrase.

He has worked as a guest with a number of other acts, as well as being a contributor to Guitar World magazine and many others globally, but his name came to my attention last year, when someone shared a cover song with me, that featured his playing.

The cover song was Thin Lizzy’s Cold Sweat - Ha ha! It must be obvious my love of Lizzy! - by metal band Atomkraft and I thought Joe’s playing was certainly worth checking out further, which sadly is more than I could say about Atomkraft’s impact on me!

Cue this EP, ‘Slave To The Fingers,’ which is Joe’s second official solo release, following 2010’s acoustic ‘Travellin’ West’ release.
I must make this clear though, this is all, purely instrumental, no vocals folks!

Joe gets back to the rock with this new one, that has a very brief 'interlude' intro track, literally just about thirty seconds, before title cut, ‘Slave To The Fingers.’

‘Slave To The Fingers’ is pretty solid rock fare and his style perhaps captures many influences. Seriously, many names come to mind, from listening to this E.P., including even thoughts of The Shadows if you ask me, maybe a nod toward, Allman Brothers, Wishbone Ash, Clapton and Mark Knopfler too.

The title track at just over three and a half minutes is a pretty steady mid to up tempo piece.

Next tune, ‘Cruise Control’ takes a slight step back in places reminding me of the sound of mid 70’s era Thin Lizzy, think ‘Nightlife’ and even ‘Fighting.’ Not bad at all.

‘Out of the Blue’ is next and it starts to creep up on you and maybe not on quite the same production level, but I’d say it has a very slight hint of some of the more melodic N.W.O.B.H.M. (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) acts sound.

Possibly even at times a more melodic Saxon or (Judas) Priest, remember though that this is all instrumental, with no vocals to be had anywhere, although I could quite easily imagine lyrics and vocals being added to this material.

It’s ‘Face Off’ next, which clocks in at just under three minutes and is a mid to upbeat steady rock number, that here and there makes me strangely in places of .38 Special. That said as I listen to Joe’s tone more and more, I realise that it’s very unique to be honest, but I will add that it does sound a little like Brian Roberston’s tone during his Wild Horses era.

Overall the EP is under fifteen minutes long or should that be short ..., but that said, I think there's a lot of promise here. It'll be interesting to see where Joe fit's into getting a full album under his belt either solo or with another act.

Nice work, very respectable stuff indeed. Pleasant probably best describes it.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5

Official website:

http://joematera.com



You can pick this up, either through Joe's site directly - Link above - or here at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Slave-Fingers-Joe-Matera/dp/B006JSXYZ0/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1328838510&sr=1-1

or here on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/slave-to-the-fingers-ep/id477164240

Mecca – Undeniable album review

Mecca – 'Undeniable' album review
 

Released on: Frontiers records. Release date: Available now

 

This is a funny one, as this album was actually made available over in Europe around the middle of last year, yet was not released here in the US until just last month, weird?

Led by the masterful lead vocals of Joe Vana, the second Mecca album ‘Undeniable’ is exactly that, undeniably good, certainly for the most part. Excellent in places, different in one spot and  …, well you read it for yourself!

Joe on the first Mecca album in 2002 had pulled in some strong players from the world of AOR with the likes of former Toto player’s in silky smooth vocalist Fergie Frederiksen and David Hungate (Bass) former Survivor founder and friend, Jim Peterik (World Stage, Pride of Lions) to create a very special record.

Come forward ten years and finally a new Mecca release is upon us! I say finally, because apparently this album’s beginnings kicked off around 2005, when vocalist Joe called upon Swedish guitarist by the name of Christian Wolff to help Joe write new material before he then called upon another Swede, in much travelled player Tommy Denander to help as well.

The result is clearly a very classy album, but …. I am still mystified by a certain something and that is, in the press release for this, the Mecca ‘band’ was identified with another six players alongside Joe.

That’s not what’s confusing … What is, is the list of players that apparently are on here too!

  The Mecca band alongside Joe is apparently: Joey Vana (Guitars – Joe’s son), Brian Moritz (Keyboards), Paul Pisciotto (Synthesizers), Wally Hustin (Bass), Rick Vitek (Drums) and Mark Alano (Guitars).

Add to that other players listed in the press release Tony Levin (Bass), Pat Mastellotto (Drums) and Eric Ragno (Keyboards) alongside both the aforementioned Wolffe and Denander, so a complete mass of musical talent.

Sadly, with most review albums these days, they come as a download with no sleeve notes, so it’s anyones guess who plays where and on what??!

The opening track ‘Perfect World’ is so like Toto / Steve Lukather it’s uncanny, it is just so …um, perfect! Lush layering of classy musical interludes, this is pure class …, even if the phrasing in the chorus throws me, ‘In a Perfected World …’ Per-fect-ed World???

Killer guitar solo by the way.

Another sampling sound opens track two ‘Closing Time’ that reeks of prime time Mr. Mister meets Toto which is prime time slick pop rock, brilliant vocals from Joe, which continues with the poppy AOR come power ballad majestic ‘Ten Lifetimes.’

So rich a sound overall and once more, sweet guitar work, right out of the Steve Lukather guitarists manual!

‘Life’s Too Short’ starts in very funky manner and then … No, not rap?!!! Why?!!?

A sub-rap vocal kicks in briefly, then's into the main songline. Fortunately the rap line is pretty brief before the melodies kick in and then …, not again …??!

Yes, there’s more … Don’t like it at all.

Shame, real shame as the rest of the song is perfectly executed.

Oh dear, I was enjoying the intro to ‘I Know,’ then I realized as the verse got going it reminded me of something – Tell me you don’t think it sounds like Time of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes? I think it certainly has elements of 'that' tune there for sure! – fortunately the chorus takes it in a different direction, but then the verse reeks of it again, even with Joe's uplifting vocals.

It does then take a classy Toto like direction, which is pure magic. Nice playing guys!

‘Did It For Love’ is the albums clear big old AOR power ballad and a fine example it is too.

Once more the Toto sound is more than present in ‘From The Start,’ although Joe almost hits Sting like phrasings in places.

Nice track that then captures some of those staggering type rock moments, that Mr. Mister seemed to enjoy.

‘Deceptive Cadence’ up next brings something different, with its piano, bass and string driven sound, that then picks up towards the end with a musical diversion. Interesting track.

A pretty basic hard rocking guitar riff drives ‘W2W’ next, clearly avoiding the softly, softly touch here, as the guitar rips up a class solo in the brief rocker.

  Album title track ‘Undeniable’ is a twisting and turning Toto like slow to mid paced track, that consists of light and dark type effects throughout. Some nice gentle keyboard touches before steady, then gritty guitar leads into another nice solo, before the track stops abruptly.

To close the album is the gentle ‘As I Walk Alone.’ It’s a piano and vocal track, with some strings here and there and even a hauntingly good guitar solo.

So, will this album set the world on fire? Probably not, but there’s clearly a lot of prime time AOR on show here, played by craftsman and sung so well.

Some of the sampling intros became a little predictable; the rap element – To me – really wasn’t needed and kind of spoilt that track for me. Overall though it’s not too bad at all, generally an enjoyable album.

Rating: 4 out of 5

 Sadly, there is no official Mecca website or for that matter, one for Joe.

There is an old MySpace site for Mecca, created sometime ago, but not update since 2009:
 

http://www.myspace.com/meccaofmusic

Album link at the label Frontiers here:

http://www.frontiers.it/album/4945/


 

  

Slight Update for Tuesday 7th February, 2012

Well today it's been a rough day ..., kind of.

Stayed home to watch our daughter who was sick at school yesterday and asleep by 6.30pm last night.

About 25% of the people at my work yesterday were either off sick already or were hacking or sneezing pretty good in our place ... Nice ...

This morning I wasn't 100% but knew I'd be home watching our girl and as the day has gone on, the sinuses are feeling blocked, my head is just thick with cold and I have the lousiest headache ... Aches and pains too, not good, time to throw some meds down the gullet!

Not much new to share really either anyway, except I'm sure the curious among you have already picked up the new Van Halen that got it's US release today ... Not me, I don't have it ...

Don't have a management contact there either, so a review is unlikely. - We're watching the cash right now ... - Various reasons. - so I'm not likely to pick up a copy at this point either, anyway, plenty of other stuff to get through as it is!

Cheers, Al

Brief update notes only, Tours 2012 ....!

Rikki Rockett has confirmed Poison will tour with Def Leppard this summer ... Should be fun.

No dates revealed at this time though ....

http://www.poisonweb.com/

http://www.defleppard.com

http://www.facebook.com/RikkiRockett

http://www.rikkirockett.com/

Joe Perry announced that Aerosmith will tour this summer too, but not until after frontman Steven Tyler finishes up his duties as ‘American Idol‘ judge. “AEROSMITH U.S. TOUR STARTS IN JUNE! tickets on sale in March,” Perry tweeted on Monday night. 

Nothing else about the tour though — including dates, venues, opening acts and length — has been revealed. It seems like the run could sync up nicely with the new Aerosmith album, which Perry recently said “has a feel like some of the early stuff” because they’re once again working with producer Jack Douglas ( who worked with the band on ‘Toys in the Attic,’ ‘Rocks’ and more).

We'll see:

http://www.aerosmith.com/

Meanwhile after all the rumours on Kiss with Motley Crue, there's no further update ...

Hmmm ...

I also believe Metallica will tour the US this summer too,  European dates have already been confirmed and they have just made their new EP available as well:

http://www.metallica.com/

If you're a Steve Miller Band fan, he's got dates being lined up too:

http://www.stevemillerband.com/

Toto slight update

In my conversation with Toto's David Paich last weekend, he did tell me that while there are no plans for a Toto album of new material, it's possible that they could do something with some special guests that may even include some previously unreleased material.

David has also shared this on Facebook about the whole MusiCares project he's been working with Paul McCartney on:

'The MusiCares concert is coming along great! The final line up is: Foo Fighters, Alicia Keys, Alyson Krauss, Tony Bennett, Neil Young, Katy Perry, Norah Jones, Sergio Mendes, Coldplay, James Taylor, Diana Krall and of course the man of the night - Paul McCartney. I'll try to get my nephew to take some pics or vids of the rehearsals for you guys. Have a great week everyone!'
http://www.grammy.org/musicares

They are also hopeful that they can line up some US live dates, which I was very pleased to hear, although as of right now, there's just a couple that are almost confirmed, one is at a big event in Denver, Colorado ...

I also hope the discussed possible US double bill that sounded a great idea, comes off too ...

Not really a hard rock act, but possibly a good match with Toto ... I'll go! 

Keep up with Toto news here though:

http://www.toto99.com

UK rockers Newman live stuff for 2012

Wrapping up, for UK and European fans of the band Newman - Yes, my old mate Steve Newman! - he said that he doesn't currently plan on releasing any new album this year - At this point in time. - after last year's classy 'Under Southern Skies' studio album the limited edition, 'Another Step Closer - Live at Firefest' CD, the Newman band's focus is going to be on live appearances.

Right now there are just four dates confirmed, but more are - Hopefully - being worked out ....

Official website:

http://www.newmansound.com

  

News Update for Monday February 6th, 2012

Hi folks,

Well, here's another new week starting up and boy, where did January go?!

February 6th 2011 will sadly be remembered for when the world lost a huge talent in Gary Moore, so spare a thought for the man on the first anniversary of his passing. RIP Gary, your music will live on.

Other info to share, this past weekend I had the great pleasure of interviewing legendary Toto man, David Paich, which was an absolute pleasure.

We discussed many things, including will there be a new Toto album? Will there be a Toto US tour

and much more.

So, as you know, getting these interviews typed up takes some time, due to the amount they need to be edited too.

Anyway, that one along with the chat I had with Howard Leese (Heart, Paul Rodgers, Bad Company) I'm sure you will enjoy reading as soon as I can get them done.

On with the news updates folks, cheers and here's hoping you have a great week.

Al

ICONIC SINGER/SONGWRITER JACK BLADES TO RELEASE NEW SOLO ALBUM: “ROCK N’ ROLL RIDE”

Much-beloved singer/songwriter/bass player extraordinaire Jack Blades is slated to release his brand new solo album, ROCK N’ ROLL RIDE, on March 23rd in Europe and March 27th in North America via Frontiers Records. The new album marks Blades’ second solo release for the label.

Hot off the heels of Night Ranger’s celebrated 2011 CD, SOMEWHERE IN CALIFORNIA, and a massive North American tour with Night Ranger as support for Journey and Foreigner last year, Blades shows no signs of slowing down with his buoyant new album. Of the new offering, Blades commented, “ROCK N’ ROLL RIDE is an extension of what my music has been for the last 30 years. It has been quite a rock n’ roll ride and I decided to lay it all down on a record!”

ROCK N’ ROLL RIDE features contributions from Blades’ Night Ranger bandmates Brad Gillis, Kelly Keagy, Joel Hoekstra and Eric Levy, as well as a special guest appearance by Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander.

The first single from the album “Back In The Game” will soon impact at radio.

 

Jack Blades is a frontman, lead singer, bassist, songwriter, and producer as well as a founding member of the highly-successful arena rock band, Night Ranger and supergroup Damn Yankees (along with Ted Nugent and Tommy Shaw from Styx) and the highly-regarded Shaw/Blades.

Throughout his remarkable career Blades has sold over 25 million albums, performed in front of millions of fans worldwide and collaborated with some of rock's most legendary artists. With a career spanning three decades, Blades has recorded with, penned songs and produced albums for some of the music industry's biggest names including Aerosmith, Cher, Ringo Star, Alice Cooper, Roger Daltrey, Journey, Ozzy Osbourne, Styx, Ted Nugent, Motley Crue and Vince Neil.

His music has been featured in movies such as Armageddon, Boogie Nights, Tommy Boy, television shows such as “South Park” and “American Dad,” the hit Broadway musical (and soon-to-be released major motion picture) Rock of Ages and the wildly successful videogame series "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero". With Blades’ songwriting, driving guitars, stage antics and on the strength of Night Ranger's songs “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me,” “Rock in America,” “Sister Christian,” “When You Close Your Eyes,” and “Sentimental Street”, along with the Damn Yankees hits "High Enough" and "Coming of Age", Blades' legacy continues to inspire generations while still being written.

“Rock 'n’ Roll Ride” trackisting includes:

Back In The Game Rock ‘N’ Roll Ride; Hardest Word To Say; Anything For You; Love Life; West Hollywood; Born For This; Don't Give Up; Say You Will; Rise And Shine; Hey Now

Musicians:

Jack Blades: Bass, guitar, acoustic guitar, lead and background vocals

Joel Hoekstra: Guitars and solos

Will Evankovich: Acoustic guitars, mandolin, add. guitars, Coral Sitar guitar, background vocals

Kelly Keagy and Brian Tichy: Drums

Eric Levy and Christian Matthew Cullen: Keyboards

Robin Zander : Chorus vocals on "Anything for you"

Colin Blades, Kelly Keagy: additional background vocals

Brad Gillis: additional solo guitar on "Say you Will"

Weblinks:

www.jackblades.net

www.nightranger.com

www.frontiers.it

YES Recruit New Singer (Again!)

Prog rock band YES were forced to cancel the last 3 shows of their European Tour in December due to the illness of lead vocalist Benoit David who has still not recovered.

To avoid disappointing their fans on the forthcoming Australasian leg of their world tour, they have found a replacement singer.

Jon Davison will join YES as lead vocalist for the upcoming dates in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, and Hawaii.

YES really appreciate Jon Davison joining them for this leg of the tour and are sure this arrangement will satisfy all YES fans.

Current Yes lineup is:

Alan White - Drums

Chris Squire - Bass / Vocals

Steve Howe - Guitar / Vocals

Geoff Downes - Keyboards / Vocals

Jon Davison - Lead Vocals

Official website:

http://yesworld.com/

EAGLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT TO RELEASE SANTANA LIVE AT MONTREUX 2011

~ 2DVD SET AND BLU-RAY~

Santana Lands February 21 in a Captivating Set of Greatest Hits!

New York, NY--Eagle Rock Entertainment will release Santana Live At Montreux 2011 on a 2 DVD set and Blu-ray in a exhilarating set of jazz, Latin, funk, soul and rock 'n' roll. The 23-song show weighs heavily on the side of the songs that fans of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist (inducted in 1998) have loved over the years.

Filmed in high-definition and recorded in DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital 5.1 and LPCM Stereo, it's a total jam-packed evening of percolating percussion, soaring lead guitar solos and the kind of funky bass/drum action that has kept this band in the forefront of popular music for over 40 years.

Live At Montreux 2011 is a career-spanning show that covers all the bases: from Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va," Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman," Babatunde Olatunji's "Jingo" and Willie Bobo's "Evil Ways" to John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme."

Carlos Santana has always had a knack for making his cover versions become spectacularly his own. His interpretive flair reached its zenith with 2010's Guitar Heaven which contains his scintillating take on Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love." Add his numerous originals, including "Smooth" and "Maria Maria," his signature style of inspired and spiritual guitar playing and you have the kind of DVD that burns with intensity.

Extras include interviews with Carlos and Cindy Blackman Santana, and a very special peek behind-the-scenes. Guest artists include the husband/wife guitar team of Susan Tedeschi and Allman Brother Derek Trucks as well as drummer/wife Cindy Blackman Santana. Over three hours long, this is the Santana concert his fans have been waiting for!

For forty years and as many albums later, Santana has sold more than 90 million records and reached more than 100 million fans at concerts worldwide. To date, Santana has won ten Grammy® Awards, including a record-tying nine for a single project, 1999's Supernatural (including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for "Smooth"). In 1998, the group was ushered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, whose web page on their induction notes, "Guitarist Carlos Santana is one of rock's true virtuosos and guiding lights."

Among many other honors, Carlos Santana has also been cited by Rolling Stone as #15 on their list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." His last CD, Guitar Heaven ... The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time (Arista) was released in 2010. Celebrating that chart debut, Santana joined the ranks of the Rolling Stones as the only musical act in chart history to score at least one Top 10 album in every decade beginning with the 1960s. "Guitar Heaven" was Santana's 29th Billboard Top 200 charting release, 12th Top 10 album debut and third Top 10 debut in the past 7 years.

Track Listing:

Disc 1:

1) Spark Of The Divine

2) SOCC

3) Back In Black

4) Singing Winds, Crying Beasts

5) Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen

6) Oye Como Va

7) Maria Maria

8) Foo Foo

9) Corazon Espinado / Guajira

10) Benny & Cindy Solo

11) Jingo

12) Carlos Speaks / Novus

13) Europa (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile) / I Want You

14) Batuka / No One To Depend On

Disc 2:

1) Duende / Open Invitation

2) Make Somebody Happy / Right On Be Free

3) Evil Ways / A Love Supreme

4) Sunshine Of Your Love

5) Smooth / Dame Tu Amor

6) Soul Sacrifice / Dennis Drum Solo

7) Samba Pa Ti

8) Into The Night

9) Love, Peace And Happiness / Freedom

Official weblinks:

http://www.santana.com/

http://www.eagle-rock.com/