WAR co-founder vocalist/keyboardist Lonnie Jordan.

Blending an irresistible mix of funk, Latin, rock, soul and jazz, the legendary band WAR returns to the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on Nov. 23 led by co-founder vocalist/keyboardist Lonnie Jordan.

With more than 50 million records sold, WAR created timeless hits from “Low Rider,” “The Cisco Kid” and the “World is a Ghetto” to “All Day Music” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”

Performing for more than 50 years, the band’s current lineup includes saxophonist Scott Martin, who spent years with the Pancho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band, and recorded with Ray Charles and Mongo Santamaria; bassist Rene Camacho, who spent years with Latin legend Celia Cruz; and drummer Sal Rodrigues, who toured with Duke Ellington and Jose Feliciano.

Still creating an intoxicating amalgam, WAR’s most recent album, “Evolutionary,” was packed with memorable tunes from the breezy “That L.A. Sunshine” (with the University of Southern California marching band and a Cheech and Chong cameo) and the reggae flavored “Mamacita,” featuring the Tower of Power horns and Eagles’ guitarist Joe Walsh,” to the 10-minute jam, “It’s Our Right/Funky Tonk,” and the rap updating of Edwin Starr’s classic anti-war anthem, “War.”

“I call it the universal street music,” Jordan says of their signature blend. “It’s got that mixed salad bowl. We came out of Long Beach, Compton, Watts, and San Pedro in L.A., and that was known as the ghetto. On the radio we had a lot of R&B and Latin music coming out of New York, or the blue-eyed soul of the Righteous Brothers, country and western music with Patsy Cline, and a lot of blues, a mixture of everybody. That was our environment, so we couldn’t help but mix a little James Brown with Hank Williams or Mahalia Jackson.”

The musicians of WAR first found fame performing with former Animals’ lead singer Eric Burdon. The veteran musicians met Burdon in 1969, when he was seeking a new backing band. “Eric introduced me to Jimi Hendrix,” Jordan recalled. “He hung out with us a lot and jammed with us at Ronnie Scott’s (Club) in England the night before he passed away.”

Their first album, “Eric Burdon Declares War,” featured the dreamy hit single “Spill the Wine.” Their second solo album sold close to 2 million copies and included the hits “Slippin’ Into Darkness” and “All Day Music.”

WAR really hit their stride on “The World Is a Ghetto,” which topped the charts and sold over 3 million copies, making it the best-selling recording of 1973. It also produced two Top 10 hits in the title ballad and “The Cisco Kid,” which was based on a popular TV show about a Mexican cowboy.

Success continued with “Deliver the Word,” which spawned the hits “Gypsy Man” and “Me and Baby Brother.” Then “Why Can’t We Be Friends?,” which sold more than two million copies, provided the gold-selling title track. NASA played “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” in outer space when Soviet cosmonauts and U.S. astronauts linked up in 1975.

The album also included their most famous song, “Low Rider.” The success of the funky hit – hailed as “the Chicano national anthem,” by comedian George Lopez — totally surprised Jordan.

“I never thought it would even play on the radio. I didn’t think any of our music would play on the radio, beginning with ‘Spill the Wine.’ It wasn’t the norm, it wasn’t what was on the radio. We promoted our own records; we didn’t depend much on the record label. ‘Slippin’ Into Darkness’ was a big surprise. No one understood it.”

After a few fallow years, by the 1990s, WAR’s potent music began to attract a new following with rap artists like Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Geto Boys, Eazy-E and Cypress Hill sampling their songs. The Latin Alliance released an updated rap version of “Low Rider” in 1991 and Hawaii’s Simplisity recorded a version of “Cisco Kid.”

Then “Rap Declares War” was released in 1992 and featured top rappers such as Ice-T, the Beastie Boys, De La Soul, Kid Frost, Brand Nubian and 2Pac, along with contributions from WAR’s musicians.

Two years later, the studio album “Peace Sign” found WAR delivering another spicy stew of jazz-influenced gritty funk and positive messages. Musician magazine noted, “this comeback sounds like a ripe nugget from their funkiest years.”

WAR recently released the four CD box set “The World Is a Ghetto: The Complete Sessions,” featuring the original album, with six bonus tracks from the original sessions.

Still delighting audiences today, a Telegraph review of their recent show at the prestigious Royal Festival Hall in London praised: “Their incredible playing, infectious enthusiasm and sinuous grooves proved irresistible. There is something about that steamy blend of saxophone and harmonica, jazzy organ, flaring guitar, fluid bass, dynamic drums, wild percussion and huge harmonies that is absolutely thrilling.”

Proud of his band’s influence, Jordan says, “I listen to a lot of rock groups today and I hear a lot of samples or simulation of our tracks. ‘Low Rider’ was so different, the bass line and the drums a lot of rock groups simulate that, or even the guitars on ‘Cisco Kid,’ I hear in rock.”

WAR will perform at the MACC’s Castle Theater at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 23. A dance floor in front of the stage is accessible to all ticketed patrons on the orchestra level. Tickets are $15, $40, $55, $65, $85 and premiere $125 seats plus applicable fees.