"I owe Michael a lot. He's the one who turned me on to John Coltrane and Miles Davis. I just wanted to play blues until Michael came. He opened my eyes and my ears and my heart to a lot of things. Some drummers only have chops, but Michael Shrieve has vision. Michael is like a box of crayons; he has all the colors."

– Carlos Santana



Michael Shrieve has written, played on, and produced albums that have sold millions of copies worldwide. Shrieve was the original drummer for Santana,whom he joined at the age of 19. With that band he became the youngest musician to appear at Woodstock, helping to write and produce eight studio albums with the group.



Michael Shrieve's recording credits are a veritable Who's Who of popular music, including Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones (on "Emotional Rescue"), Carlos Santana, Pete Townshend; Steve Winwood, Police guitarist Andy Summers, film composer Mark Isham and such musical luminaries as John Mclaughlin, Freddie Hubbard, Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Horvitz; Bill Frisell, Zakir Hussain and Airto Moriera.



Michael Shrieve has also composed music for film and television, working with the director Paul Mazursky on the film The Tempest and scoring music for Curtis Hanson's The Bedroom Window, as well as numerous television movies and shows.



Shrieve’s stunning work with Santana from 1969 – 1974 also earned him a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Currently, he makes his home in the Pacific Northwest and plays a regular Monday night gig with his jazz and Latin-tinged combo, Spellbinder, at White Rabbit in Fremont.