Santana Brothers - Santana Brothers (1994)

Carlos comes together with his brother Jorge and their nephew Carlos Hernandez to tear it up family-style on their monster guitar opus, BROTHERS. Released on Carlos's Guts & Grace imprint, BROTHERS is a relentlessly fiery barrage of hard, prog-guitar textures and grooves. Several of the cuts were co-written by Jorge, who is a prodigious guitarist-composer in his own right. For a rare and exciting change, the elder Carlos of the ensemble tries his hand on the drums (overdubbed), upping the ante on the thunderous "Transmutation/Industrial," which features all three six-stringers with their amps cranked to 11. The three again duel it out on the frantic, two-toned "The Trip," which affords a fun look at where their personal styles meet and diverge. "Thoughts" is a brisk metallic-melodic jaunt a la Steve Vai, penned by and featuring nephew Carlos on guitar with spare backup from the band's rhythm section. Jorge's gentle and lonely solo treatment of the misty instrumental "Morning in Marin" evokes the spirit of Stevie Ray Vaughan, or perhaps the young Ritchie Valens on "Sleepwalking." "Luz Amor Y Vida" was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in the 37th Annual Grammy Awards.