Michael Carabello

Carabello was born in San Francisco and has Puerto Rican ancestry;[1] he grew up in the city's Mission District.[2]

He joined Santana in 1968 shortly before the band signed with Columbia Records,[3] and primarily played congas for the band while occasionally playing piano.[4] He appeared on the albums Santana,[5] Abraxas,[6] and Santana III,[7] all of which were internationally successful, and he is also depicted with the band in the Woodstock film.[8] He co-wrote several songs on those albums, and is the sole writer for the percussion-oriented track "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts" on Abraxas.[4]

Carabello left Santana in 1971. In 1998, Carabello was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Santana.[9] He is the only member of the Hall of Fame whose primary instrument is congas. In 2016, Carabello participated in a reunion of the classic-era Santana lineup for the album Santana IV.[10] It was the first time he had recorded with Carlos Santana and some other former bandmates in 45 years.[11]

He formed the short-lived jazz band Cobra in 1975, and then settled into a career of teaching and art.[2] He appeared on Tattoo You by The Rolling Stones in 1981.

• Mike Carabello on Allmusic
• Michael Carabello at IMDb
• Michael Carabello discography at Discogs