Santana – Africa Speaks

“All and everything was conceived here in Africa, the cradle of civilization…” Carlos Santana speaks with his voice instead of his guitar on the opening track of:
Africa Speaks
Which is the 25th studio album by the American rock band Santana.

On June 7 2019 Africa Speaks was released by Concord Records and Suretone
As of June 20 2019, it was the best-selling Latin album with 63,000 copies already sold.
In Jan 2019 Santana released Santana - In Search Of Mona Lisa, an Ep which Carlos Santana intended to serve as an introduction to Africa Speaks.

Rick Rubin produced this album at Shangri La Studios during which time (a 10-day session) Carlos Santana and his ten-piece band recorded a total of 49 songs, out of which "Breaking Down the Door" was the first single released from the album.
The album contained only 11 tracks, with 2 bonus tracks exclusive to the Target release.

Africa Speaks is Carlos Santana’s conception of African rhythms and the music from the continent and consequently his production is a unique interpretation of fusing rock & Latin with a sense of jazz. To that end he obtained Buika to be featured on the vocals.

Personnel:
Carlos Santana guitars, percussion & backing vocals
Concha Buika lead vocals
Laura Mvula additional vocals
Cindy Blackman drums
Salvador Santana keyboards
Tommy Anthony guitars, musical GPS
Benny Rietveld bass guitar
Karl Perazzo timbales, congas & percussion
David K. Mathews hammond B3 organ & keyboards
Andy Vargas backing vocals
Ray Greene trombone & backing vocals

Fifty years later, after making history with his raw inspiration “Soul Sacrifice” at Woodstock, Carlos Santana’s guitar playing spirit remains a force of nature as evident on Africa Speaks in 2019.