Description
Carlos Santana photographed by Jill Furmanovsky at the Wembley Empire Pool, London in 1972.
Jill recalls, “There was nobody else making the kind of rock-Latin music Santana made in the early 70’s. ‘Abraxas’ was the soundtrack to my art student days. Carlos pulls faces and grimaces when he plays making dramatic pictures for the photographers, but I have chosen this quieter picture of him tuning his guitar between songs for its elegance.” This shot was taken in November 1972
The Empire Pool concert came shortly after Caravanserai, the fourth studio album by Santana released in October 1972. It marked a major turning point in Carlos Santana’s career as it was a sharp departure from his critically acclaimed first three albums. The sound contrasted greatly with Santana’s trademark fusion of salsa, rock, and jazz, and concentrated mostly on jazz-like instrumental passages. All but three tracks were instrumentals, and consequently the album yielded no hit singles. The album is the first among a series of Santana albums that were known for their increasing musical complexity, marking a move away from the popular rock format of the early Santana albums towards a more contemplative and experimental jazz sound.
While Caravanserai is regarded as an artistic success, the musical changes that began on its release in 1972 marked the start of a slide in Santana’s commercial popularity.
This image is available as a 20×16″ silver gelatin print in an edition of 30. It is also available as a giclee print at sizes A1 or A0 from an edition of just 10. All prints are numbered, signed by Jill Furmanovsky and come with a certificate of authenticity.
