Welcome to The Opus - Season 11: Santana's Abraxas

Published: Nov. 18, 2020, 5:16 p.m.

Consequence Podcast Network and Sony\u2019s The Opus is back for Season 11 with a new host and a new classic album to explore. Beginning November 19th, host Jill Hopkins (The Moth Chicago, Making Beyonc\xe9 podcast) will conjure the enduring legacy of Santana\u2019s landmark Abraxas. 

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Following the release of their self-titled debut and their subsequent performance at Woodstock, a world of possibility was opened to Santana for their sophomore record. Band leader Carlos Santana suddenly had the means to make the album he\u2019d always dreamed of \u2014 but with that came added pressure. With his band of virtuosos around him, Santana set out to find new ways of blending rock music with jazz experimentation,  resulting in an effort unlike anything that had come before, and something that many have striven to emulate since.

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As Hopkins traces the story of Abraxas from the summer of \u201969 to today, she\u2019ll be joined by Carlos Santana himself and band drummer Michael Shrieve. Other scheduled guests include musicologist Mark Brill, D\xe1vila 666\u2019s AJ Davila, and many more.

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\u201cI\u2019m excited to help tell the story of an iconic album that has followed me from snuck-in listens at grown-up parties to full album immersions through headphones I probably paid too much for,\u201d says Hopkins. \u201cAbraxas sounds just as passionate, percussive, and pervasive to our shared culture as Carlos Santana meant for it to when he and his band of equally talented players stepped off of the Woodstock stage and into musical immortality.\u201d

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The Opus: Abraxas premieres November 19th, and you can subscribe now.

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Theme music by Tony Piazza.

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