The Gregg Rolie Band Kicks Off Spencer Theater's 2012 Summer Season in NM Tonight, 5/26

The Gregg Rolie Band kicks-off the Spencer Theater's 15th Summer Season of shows tonight, May 26 at 8 p.m. Packed with festival feel, this will be an outdoor concert packed with Santana hits and hefty riffs of era favorites. Enjoy lawn seating ($49) and table seating ($59). Outdoor cash bar service will be available, as will a pre-show Enchilada Buffet ($20) starting at 6 p.m. Bring blankets or chairs. Call the Box Office at 575.336.4800 or go to www.spencertheater.com for tickets.

Gregg Rolie is a constant and steady force in the evolution of rock & roll -- that heart-throbbing, shoulder-shimmeying genre of music that's captivated listeners for over 50 years. Together with Carlos Santana's searing electric guitar work, it was Gregg Rolie's compelling baritone and keyboards in "Black Magic Woman" that sent the historic tune's intoxicating rhythms to the tops of music charts around the world. That was in 1968, just one year after Rolie & Santana co-founded the Santana Blues Band, a wave-cutting formation that seized the massive Woodstock crowd with its epic sound.

The music world was never quite the same. Prior to Rolie & Santana joining forces, there had never been such a Latin-Blues infused rock & roll sound on the airwaves. The band, which thereafter shortened its name to Santana, carved the way.

Rolie was also the writer and arranger, lead singer, keyboardist & organist of the equally definitive Santana masterworks "Evil Ways," "Oye Como Va" and "No One To Depend On." His amazing vocals and extensive riffs -- together with Santana's mind-blowing guitar and fellow band members' percussion, timbales & congas -- thrust melodies like "Soul Savor" "Jingo" and "Europa" into the realm of musical perfection.