The crowd was electrified. Jose Feliciano, one of the most influential guitarists of the 1960s in Latin America, had the throng literally eating out of his hands at the Johnnie Walker One Tree Music Festival at Ambedkar Bhavan on Thursday evening.

Strumming away the acoustic guitar, Jose belted out all those classics that have made him a cult: Everything from The Old Turkey Buzzard to Light my Fire to Soul Sacrifice.

Feliciano is known to interpret standards in his inimitable acoustic jazzy style. This hardcore Latin musician has experimented and redefined classical moulds of tradition.  He is at ease with both Spanish music and English rock and roll.

Popular for forging a new style by virtually defining the fusion of classical and pop, he performed, Sunshine of your eyes, Mystery Train and Bomboleo, all fast tracks, to perfection and had the audience singing and humming along.

Playing an Indian classical raaga doesn't come easy on a guitar. But not for Feliciano. He played an improvisational Indian classical music on his guitar, especially composed and tuned to the Indian ear.
Ain't no sunshine, She's in my blood and Rain, all love songs, were truly a mesmerising experience for music aficionados. The accompanists fell in tune, not a note was out of place.

Feliciano was the first to become a part of the English music scene, with his version of the Doors' Light My Fire in 1968. In the same year, he was invited to play the American national anthem at the Tiger Stadium. He played a slow Latin American version Feliciano's Star-Spangled Banner that stayed on the Billboard charts for five weeks.
By this time, he had already released three Spanish albums and won two Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Pop Song of the Year for his English album Feliciano. He was 23-year-old then.

Feliciano has won six Grammy awards and has 16 nominations to his credit. He also wrote the popular Christmas number Feliz Navidad which is one of the 25 most played Christmas songs of all time.