"Incident at Neshabur" | ||||
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Single by Santana | ||||
from the album Abraxas | ||||
Released | September 1970 | |||
Recorded | Spring 1970 | |||
Genre | Jazz-rock [1] | |||
Length | 4:57 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Alberto Gianquinto Carlos Santana | |||
Santana singles chronology | ||||
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"Incident at Neshabur" is the fourth track from the 1970 Santana album Abraxas . Co-written by pianist Alberto Gianquinto and Carlos Santana, the instrumental has several jazz-inspired rhythm and time signature changes.
As Carlos Santana stated, "Neshabur is where the army of Toussaint Louverture – who was a black revolutionary – defeated Napoleon in Haiti. So that's what it's about. I think by writing songs like 'Incident at Neshabur' and 'Toussaint L'Overture,' we felt we were our own kind of revolutionary [...] Alberto Gianquinto, our pianist on Abraxas , helped us a lot putting it together. The first part of the music is from Horace Silver's 'Señor Blues.' The slow part is [...] from Aretha Franklin's 'This Girl's In Love With You.'" [2] [3]
There seems to be no place called Neshabur on Haiti or associated with the Haitian Revolution, nor has there been a single event in which the French army under Napoleon (who was never in Haiti) was defeated by the rebels under Toussaint (who had by then died in a prison cell in France). Possible incidents serving as inspiration may have been the 1804 Haitian massacre, in which almost the entire white population of Haiti was killed, or the destruction and subsequent massacre of the entire population of Nishapur (also called Neshabur) in current day Iran by the Mongols in 1221.
As well as Abraxas , this song appears on several compilations such as Lotus , Viva Santana! , The Best of Santana Vol. 2 , Santana and Shorter at Montreux and Santana .
In the live album Fillmore: The Last Days which includes works from 14 different bands, Santana presents the song to critical acclaim. Allmusic describes the performance as "strong showing" and, despite negative review of the album, Hooterollin' Around writes that "only Santana really stands out, with 'Incident at Neshabur' and a unique version of Miles Davis's 'In a Silent Way.'" [4] [5]
The performance is shown in the music documentary film Fillmore released on June 14, 1972.
Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the rock band Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States with Santana, which pioneered a fusion of rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured his melodic, blues-based lines set against Latin American and African rhythms played on percussion instruments not generally heard in rock, such as timbales and congas. He experienced a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s.
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Santana is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1966 by Mexican-born guitarist Carlos Santana. The band has undergone various recording and performing line-ups in its history, with Santana being the only consistent member. After signing with Columbia Records, the band's appearance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 increased their profile, and they went on to record the critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums Santana (1969), Abraxas (1970), and Santana III (1971). These were recorded by the group's "classic" line-up, featuring lead vocalist Gregg Rolie, percussionists José "Chepito" Areas and Michael Carabello, drummer Michael Shrieve and bassist David Brown. Hit songs of this period include "Evil Ways", "Black Magic Woman", "Oye Como Va" (1971), and the instrumental "Samba Pa Ti" (1973).
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Fillmore — also known as Fillmore: The Last Days, and as Last Days of the Fillmore — is a music documentary film, primarily shot at the Fillmore West auditorium in San Francisco, California, from June 29 through July 4, 1971. It was released on June 14, 1972.
Fillmore: The Last Days is a live album, recorded at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, California from June 29 to July 4, 1971. It contains performances by 14 different bands, mostly from the San Francisco Bay Area, including Santana, the Grateful Dead, Hot Tuna, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the New Riders of the Purple Sage. It was released by Columbia Records in June 1972 as a three-disc LP. It was re-released by Epic Records in 1991 as a two-disc CD.
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