Guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana and wife Cindy Blackman Santana are putting together a jazz fusion super group dubbed Supernova. The band will include saxophonist Wayne Shorter, keyboard player Herbie Hancock and guitarist John McLaughlin. Santana tells Billboard that they will “definitely” be recording in the Spring and then a possibly touring Europe and America in the Summer.

Santana goes on to say, “It’s kind of like playing with, sharing music with Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, ’cause Wayne and Herbie, they’re at that level of genius, genius, genius, genius. I’m just grateful that they accept it and want to do it. And every time I play with Cindy, it goes viral. People go crazy. The energy between Cindy and I is very, very supernova.”

In addition, Santana is readying his Santana IV project that will reunite members of his 1971-72 band, featuring original members Greg Rolie, Marcus Malone and Michael Carabello, as well as drummer Michael Shrieve and Neal Schon who played with Santana between ’71 and ’72 before departing for Journey. The group will be mixing their new album this September and have plans to take it out on the road in early 2016. 

All in all, Santana is in a great place these days, as he informs Billboard, “This is fun. It’s not work. It’s not a labor…It’s a joy to do all these things and show up and be there…I have a real thirst for adventure, so I’m offering gratitude for having energy, having innocence and curiosity to keep finding these new things to do.”

[Via Billboard]