Still Supernatural

Six decades into his career, Carlos Santana remains excited by the very thought of having a guitar in his hands. Below, he looks back on the music and gear that's soundtracked his one-of-a-kind life

- AMIT SHARMA

THERE ARE VARYING degrees of guitar hero, but Carlos Santana is a name you'd expect to find near the top of any list. Like Jimi Hendrix, Brian May or Slash, Santana has transcended guitar music and permeated his way into popular culture, immortalizing his name into legend on every corner of the globe. Of course, he's a tremendous player, but it goes way beyond that; he's a highly prolific composer and collaborator, the type of musician who can thrive in just about any musical environment, drawing from an impressively wide pool of influences to make his guitar speak to any kind of audience or listener.

His latest album, Sentient, serves as yet another reminder of these universal talents. It consists of 11 tracks, three of which were unreleased until now, and the rest reimagining some of his most famous partnerships over a storied career, from a moving live version of Michael Jackson's "Stranger in Moscow" to classic cuts alongside Miles Davis and Smokey Robinson. It's an impressive body of work that captures the breadth of his sound and imagination while taking the listener on an unforgettable journey that defies all notions of boundary or genre. And, as the chart-topping veteran explains to GW, it's mainly because his approach to music is a profoundly holistic one.

You're one of the most prominent faces for PRS, but you've played all kinds of guitars throughout the years.

Guitars are like crayons to me. Life is the canvas, and guitars are the colors you use to express your soul, your spirit, your heart, your passion and emotions. Those are the ingredients to create beauty, and guitars are the tools.

How many guitars do you own these days?

I don't know, but probably not more than 100 and not fewer than 75. I guess the Fender Strats and Gibson Les Pauls would be the oldest models in my collection. I've got Strats from 1954; some of my Les Pauls go all the way back to 1959.