Carlos Santana

MOSTLY UNISPIRED INSTRUMENTALS.
THIS REALLY ISN'T A CARLOS SANTANA SOLO ALBUM. IT IS A SANTANA BAND GROUP EFFORT (EXCEPT FOR 2 TRACKS).

Released in 1987, this is a collection of odds and ends. There are alternate takes, live tracks and a few tracks of Santana fooling around. It is 44 minutes long and the sound quality is very good.

I don't konw why this is listed as a Carlos Santana solo CD. All but 2 tracks were performed by the "Santana" band during that time. And the remaining 2 tracks were performed by about the half the group.

The 1980's was not the best decade for Santana. His studio albums had a stripped down sound that conformed to the tastes of the time. His music was more pop oriented. There is nothing wrong with that, except that many of the songs were not very good. But, he continued to be very good in concert.

The music on this album, has the same feel as the rest of Santana's 1980's output, only it is better than most. This is partly because some of the tracks are live. Other tracks are studio reproductions of jams they did in concert.

Much of the music reflects the sound of the eighties. There is the sharp drum notes that were popularized by Dire Straits on Money For Nothing. It was the beginning of digital recording and people were playing around with sonic improvements and wider dynamic ranges. There is also the annoying synthesizer sound that populated much of the New Wave and Disco music. I like synthesizers, but they were poorly used in the eighties.

Two of the tracks on this CD are alternate takes of done during the recording sessions from Freedom and Zebop! The version of Deeper, Dig Deeper here is much better than what was on Freedom. Here it is an instrumental with some manic and funky guitar work from Santana.

The best track on this album is Mingus, which has some interesting synthesizer work from Chester Thompson. Unforntunately, it is less than 2 minutes long.

There is nothing bad on this album (unlike the rest of the Santana albums from the eighties), but most of the music is bland. On the Santana albums from the eighties, I have been pulling off the 2 to 4 good tracks and have been getting rid of the CD's. With Blues For Salvador, I will keep the whole CD. But, if I were ever to lose this CD, I probably would not bother to replace it.

I don't think Santana fully recovered from Festival (1977) until 1990, with Spirits Dancing in the Dark.

Is there any doubt that Carlos Santana is one of the greatest guitar players ever? I saw Santana several times during the "Welcome", "Love Devotion and Surrender" and "Caravanserai" years. Carlo's playing has always touched a very emotional chord with me. The playing is so lyrical and energetic.

I bought Blues for Salvador based on the recommendations off Amazon and have been very pleased as the guitar playing is as good or better than anything Carlos has ever done. Blues for Salvador is wonderful!

"Blues for Salvador" may not have the peacock-strutting panache of "Abraxas" or "Santana III", but there are more than a few moments of genuine latin guitar fire to whet the appetite of any SANTANA fan. The low-key blues charms of "Hannibal" and "Blues for Salvador" both find Carlos taking off with plenty of barnstorming licks. The blues hooks and subtle synth accompaniment starts tugging at your mind after only a couple of spins. Plus the opener, "Bailando/Aquatic Park" is a fantastic; upbeat and tasteful. Fans of anything by ERIC JOHNSON could do much worse than this underrated disc.

We all know Santana best from the classics, 'Oye Como Va' and 'Evil Ways'. This late 80's release by Carlos Santana takes the listener in a whole 'nother direction. The title of this review says it for me as far as this CD goes. Interesting. In a good way of course

Admittedly there are at least three tracks on Blues For Salvador that have a really outdated 80's pop rock commercial feel for the time. But the rest of the set is purely heaven sent and timeless !
There is an experimental quality with Blues For Salvador that was not really felt or expressed with Santana's other pop sounding projects or efforts from the 80's. At times there is a slight underlying new age or ambient feel to some of the instrumentals such as Mingus. The Latin, rock, jazz fusion sound is still there and umistakeably Santana's trademark sound.
Like I said, forget about the few pop-like tracks, while a bit catchy (I'm Gone, 'Trane, Deeper Big Deeper) and concentrate on the majority of excellent material that is here !

I was going to give this recording only 4 stars but because Bella is one of the most beautiful instrumentals Santana has ever written I have to bump it to 5...

This cd contains some of the most inspiring and electrifying music I have ever heard. Let Us Go into the House of the Lord is absolute perfection and is alone worth the price. It's beautiful, moving, and engenders a wonderful optimism. It's by far the single tune I've listened to most over the past three years or so. The Life Devine and Love Supreme are stellar as well. I like the bonus Love Supreme track better than the original. I give the cd only 4 stars as it's slightly uneven. Naima is quite ordinary (sorry Coltrane) and Mediation is very nice but somehow out of place. If you like this stuff, check out Flame-Sky on Santana's Welcome too, on which Johnny Mac appears. Also, the excellent Promise of a Fisherman on Santana's Barboletta is clearly influenced by these sessions.

My college roomate played this for me in 1974 and I was instantly converted. The music and total package of the original album would just send me to some unknown quarter. Yes,
I worship at the altar of Love, Devotion, & Surrender. Roll your eyes and call me a cult member or whatever, I don't care. All I know and feel is that this is great music by great musicians.
And I'm no Sri Chinmoy devotee either. You have to marvel how such beautiful sounds can appear in a world filled with violence and hate. Definitely not for the casual listener.

This is one of the first albums I bought in my first tenative explorations of jazz. I was none to please with it either. For the most part, I was unhappy with the dense cacophony of notes. I was, as I remember, quite drawn to "Naima".

Now, some thirty years later, my perspective has changed. What appeared to me to be a grab bag of notes thrown in and given a song title are now quite logical and expressive "conversations" among gifted musicians. It also is more "rock" oriented than I perceived it to be thirty years ago. Such is my taste after all these long years in the "school of jazz".

Still, we have to address that album in context and why it got such a bad rap at the time. Jazz purists hated it precisely because of its "rock" structures. As with all "fusion", jazz heads hated and rejected all that Miles Davis hath wrought in his quest to update and incorporate new sounds into the jazz vocabulary. Miles and his disciples (and would-be disciples) were very much seen as the bratty, trust fund, rich boys who were lost in dissipation and squandering the wealth their forefathers built up over the years.

The "rock" standpoint was more complicated. As any brief survey of rock music in the first half of the 1970's shows, most jazz-rock had very little appeal to those coming of age at the time. If you popped the cork out of the bottle and took enough drinks, the unkind assessment that jazz musicians were desperately trying to increase dwindling record sales and live gigs by bastardizing rock and roll would rise to the surface. There was also anger that one of the freshest and most promising "sounds" to come out of the late 1960's was being lost. Carlos Santana's flirtation with jazz was seen as devastating to his talent and "voice".

But more than all the above, the pictures of Carlos Santana standing next to his guru and John McLaughlin-dressed in white, chastised of his long locks of hair, so rigid and anxious like a little boy who had been taken to the wood shed-tapped a generational primal fear. Santana has this pitiful look on his face as if to say "No, don't spank me anymore. I promise to be good. Really, I will." This photograph communicated everything us pagan baby-boomers feared so much in religious conversions among our contemporaries. Whether those conversions were Christian or one of a myriad of Eastern religions, the transformation of independent and freedom loving individuals into constrained and "soul-less" beings terrified us. In spite of the fact that these new converts testified to new freedom and peace, at bottom we were certain it was not true. Baby boomers loved to talk about how "spiritual" they were; but actually conforming to a discipline went against the gospel of freedom. After all, in the common folklore of my generation, why would you break free of the stifling prison of our parents' suburban lifestyle only to enter another prison of religious hypocrisy? (We were certain all those religiously observant were hypocrites underneath: every Billy Graham was secretly an Elmer Gantry.) Whatever kisses we placed on the altar of pluralism, we were certain that "authentic" people would be just like us.

The passing of the years has not been kind to our youthful idealism. Life's adventures and misadventures has generally led us to look more kindly on those who did not insist on "total authenticity". Still, even after all these years, the pictures on the album cover continue to make me uncomfortable. Santana himself has moved on and has gone under several transformations. The fact that Santana has gone through several lead singers-never taking on that chore himself-has tended to obscure his image and push him off the popular radar screen. In terms of instrumental magic, everything he has done since 1973's CARAVANSERAI simply pales. Indeed, CARAVANSERAI is a much better album than LOVE DEVOTION SURRENDER. Spiritual considerations aside, Santana did not need John McLaughlin to garner legitimacy for himself.

But taken on its own terms, LOVE DEVOTION SURRENDER is a love letter to John Coltrane and Miles Davis-not just as musicians but a kind of spiritual acolytes to the sacred beyond. What appeared to me a confused jumble of notes now sounds like baskets of joy offered one after the other. "A Love Supreme" rings with the proclamation of divine faithfulness. It is not as sublime as Coltrane's original; but the interplay between the two guitarists makes it more intense. "Naimi" remains the quiet and gentle thing it is-but it does not grab me as much now as it did thirty years ago. (Much the same thing can be said for the album ender "Mediation".)

"The Life Divine" just falls flat for me. It did thirty years ago and now-with my more educated ears-it still does. I don't know whether it was the "moment" or the actual structure of the piece, but it just doesn't "build".

The real centerpiece of the album is the fifteen minute "Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord". Based on the same-named Christian hymn, Santana and McLaughlin appeal to images in the Western imagination to mirror an Eastern dissolve into blessedness. The old hymn was based on Psalm 122 and calls forth a double meaning of entering the Lord's house here on earth and being received into God's heavenly house in the "days to come". Some may feel it is overly long, but its length is not unusual for either jazz or rock. Many of us dread worship services of any kind due to the tedious "Mickey Mouse" modern liturgists are sure we demand. But as the ancients knew, it is in the lifting up and offering of praise that God gives Himself to those who love Him. Whether you believe this or not, Santana and McLaughlin clearly do. This is a sweet ride that goes from simple statements to almost ecstatic exchange at the end. You may prefer the more earthy (and shorter) Clapton guitar solo on Cream's version of "Crossroads"; but the delight the listener experiences is undeniable.

In the end, no matter how "rocky" this album is in basic musical structure, this CD will appeal mostly to jazz fans who have a particular taste for the "fusion" period of the 1970's. This is not everyone's cup of tea. If you're a rock fan whose taste settles in Led Zeppelin -or James Taylor for that matter-this is not the place to expand your horizons. Even if you like Paul Simon's "cocktail jazz" stuff, this is still not your bag. And don't think if you are especially "spiritual" in your soul this is for you. But to those few can appreciate that brief window when jazz was learning a new vocabulary for itself ("rock" that is-"funk" is a different story altogether) this is a beautiful if short experiment.

A good album by Carlos and John (fellow Chinmoy followers at the time). The problem with the album is it is directionless and realy lacks the melody or the explosiveness of the other projects by these two at the time.

If you wan't a mellower jazzy feel to this claboration go for 'Welcome' by Santana with John which BTW has an excellent track titiled 'Love Devotion and Surrender'. Welcome is a far superior album with great tunes and classic fussion in 'Flame sky' where the guitar duel between Carlos and John is yet to be surpassed.

If you like the fast and fussion side of the musicians then as a lot of the other reviewers have said go for 'Inner Mounting Flame' with The Mahavishnu Orchestra.

All in all this one was slightly disappointing for me as I was hoping it would be similar to 'Welcome'.

Buy it!
If you are a guitar student or an expert ...see the two finest guitar players of the 1970's and maybe all time reach "Nirvana"
This is the guitar album to own!
Listen to the tone of Carlos and Johnny Mac it is unbelievable!
I strongly suggest purchase of this cd as well as Mahavishnu's " Inner Mounting Flame " own these two cd's and you will attend the finest guitar university known to man!

I picked it up today for $8 bucks NEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What kind of ripoff is going on here at Amazon?

As for the review,Carlos wasn't an Al DiMeiola or John McLaughlin on this album ,so it is at best,a so so effort.
Sorry ,but Carlos ain't got them kinda chops.

Listenable,but forgettable.

For 8 bucks it's worth a shot,but for $199,you'd be better off buying at least 8 or 9 hundred better fusion albums from the 70's or 80's.

Needs a remaster badly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is difficult to rate this album and be fair to all the review readers.
To start, yes this is a Santana album. The guitar and the mood is all of a Santana album; yet "The swing of delight" is a total swing from Santana's previous releases. It is not Rock; it is not Rock- Jazz -Fusion either, but a pure Jazz album.
Featuring great Jazz musicians like Ron Carter, Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock.
How wrong can you be, buying a Jazz album with all these musicians playing in it? Not much.
If you are a ROCK Santana Fan, then stay away from this album.
If you are into Jazz music and want to hear Carlos Santana perform with some great Jazz musicians, this is your only chance.

This is largely an album dedicated to Santana's guru, Sri Chimnoy, The tunes Phuler Matan and others with exotic titles are short modal mantras written by Sri Chimnoy (I have heard him perform them on his own albums, which is his voice accompanied by air organ only). Santana has taken the melodies and brought in the top fusion guys of the day to play them in an improvisational setting. The results are mixed, with Tony Williams pumping out rocky fusion beats over Herbie Hancock's sympathetic but a little harsh-sounding Rhodes. Mind you, in terms of clarity, the production on this album is superb, the best around at the time when I heard it. Also the original was a double-vinyl, with less than 15 minutes per side so that the groove spacing could be farther to allow for extended dynamic range during playback. Great idea but a lot of side-flipping...anyway the music is solid but the material is a little thin, melodically, and the ryhthms closer to rock or latin that to jazz. Mr. Santana thanks Hancock and Wayne Shorter and the other stellar players on this album as the culmination of a dream to make an album with those he considers the best musicians in the world. The rest of the album consists of Wayne Shorter titles such as "Shere Khan, the Tiger" and "Love Theme From Spartacus". I liked the album originally but now I don't listen anymore as I found it to be a little too pretentious, despite the star power.

This is one of Santana's greatest musical accomplishments as I see it. Though rough in a couple of spots, there are some amazing connections going on in this album, especially between Carlos and Herbie Hancock, who appear together on every track. In many ways, this is one of the better Herbie Hancock CDs as well. A great album for anyone who likes creative fusion and latin jazz when it was at the height of its brilliance.

The idea of Carlos Santana jamming with the likes of Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, et. al., is more brilliant in design than execution. Chemistry is somewhat lacking, and the whole thing never really gels. Still, "Swing" is better than Carlos' post-2000 duet output. Stick with "Caravanserai" and "Welcome": the New Santana Band was a tight crew on these albums.

As my title says, I consider this box set an overview...all in good reason, though. As a guitarist myself that has never really known where to begin when dealing with Jazz guitar, this set which was actually a gift was the absolute perfect place to start. It is the greatest open-door into the Jazz guitar world. I certainly wouldn't advise anyone to drop-anchor here though. It would be doing the people who put this box-set together a disservice. Branching out using this box-set as a springboard is the best thing you can do when building a Jazz guitar collection. I highly recommend it!

I've had this box set for more than a year now and really enjoy it. It has been a good way to explore many of the jazz guitar masters. I just picked up three CDs from artisits I disovered through this set; Al di Meola, Mike Stern and John McLaughlin. Id covers everything from early innovators through fusion masters.

Part of the fun of these kinds of anthologies is the grumbling over who was left out, what doesn't belong, etc. Taken as a whole however, this is a pretty compelling set of tunes.

I love disc one with some really good finds - like the hysterical Minnehaha by Sam Koki - maybe not the best playing but very fun. But, since these old tunes are so short shouldn't we have gotten more than one Django and Charlie Christian? Disc 2-3 have some nice tracks by players I've kinda ignored: Johnny Smith, Jimmy Raney, Lenny Breau for example. And Grant Green, who I had enjoyed on the old Blue Notes but had seen as a sort of Kenny Burrell lite, is surprising, fresh and swinging here. Good choices of tunes in almost all cases - Wes Montgomery, Hank Garland and others. (Did alot of these players let their chops slacken a bit over time?)

But, do we need Lee Ritenour on a jazz anthology? Jeff Beck? Santana?

Where are Egberto Gismonti, Bireli Lagrene, Stochelo Rosenberg, Sylvain Luc, Pierre Dorge, Scotty Anderson, Jimmy Bruno?

Its funny though, if you listen to one Derek Bailey or Sonny Sharrock tune, you don't realize that all of their solos follow the same frightening descent into hell. I actually like their playing if I hear, like one piece every year or so.

What a shame one never gets to hear Oscar Almen do what he does better
than just about any other Guitarist,Or hear enough Django,Charlie Christen
,Teddy Bunn,To really understand why they are more than just fine Guitarist....they are "Jazz Greats"

Thats because this Collection is more Intrested in getting
non jazz fans to buy this set.
There's a few odd things about this very good box set.The fact
that the cover of the Booklet(which is very nice)is a picture of a flattop
guitar,and there's plenty of Guitars and Guitarist that should be in a rock or pop collection

I guess when they were trying to update the fine two record set
50 years of jazz Guitar,They stuck with the one track pre artist.
This makes for a lot of space for many guitarists,Which is the main
problem with this set.Instead of giving you 2 or 3 cuts from real
jazz greats(not just fine Guitar Players)they fill the four
cds with Pop and Rock recordings that have no place in a jazz Guitar
collection.
I love Santana ,but he's not Jazz,Part of something being jazz in
improvisation,something that Santana doen't do much of .Which
doesn't make "Europa" any less great,.Also just because you
Improvise doesn't mean that a artist is a jazz also.Theres plenty
of Guitarists that have nothing to do with jazz on this set.Some
are jazz players who play pop(Earl Klugh),Others like Hendrix
or Jeff Beck aren't Jazz at all.The last pages
of the booklet are pictures of Strats and Les Pauls and even
a Classical guitar gets a double page spread how silly is That!

After listening to this 4 cd set several times I've come to the conclusion that it could have been better condensed into 2 spectacular jazz cd's. First of all, cd 1 starts off with what sounds like banjo. Who's bright idea what it to include it on 100 years of jazz guitar? There are also songs that are dominated by saxophone and/or vocals with guitar as a background instrument.
If I wanted to hear vocals and sax I would have purchased cd's with vocals and/or Coltrane or Sonny Rollins, repectively.
There are only a few gems on cd 1 most notably Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian.
Cd 2 is probably the best with cd 3 close behind. However, can somebody tell me why Jimi Hendrix doing "Manic Depression" is on this cd? If you know the answer then perhaps you may also know why in the world Carlos Santana is on this collection as well.
And Derek Bailey's 1997, "Should Be Reversed" is just garbage!!! THIS IS NOT JAZZ!!! Who's bright idea was it to put this track on the compilation? I keep thinking, another Django tune, another Wes Montgomery, Pass, Ellis, Burrell tune would have been better suited to make this a better compilation.
All that 1970's distorted psuedo-jazz fusion racket by the likes of John McLaughlin and others dominate cd 4. Cd 4 contains all the "really want to play rock, but call themselves jazz guitarists."
There are some great guitarists and tasty licks on this cd package, but there is also NON jazz on this too. Be advised.

This is a 5 star affair but it would be nice to get a huge boxset of Santana's work. That said, the production is excellent and for a fan just starting out this is a fantastic overall view of Santana's output up through the 90s. He personally picked out the songs and that always seems to cause consternation among fans. Afterall, we all have our favorites and we expect that he would pick those songs. But it's great and the booklet has some nice insight into each of the songs and what made them, and continues to make them, special to Carlos.

Thankfully, there is nothing from Supernatural or Shaman.

Okay, Santana has been alive and recording long enough, that it would take a small loan from a bank to gather all his collective recording together for purchase (not that you could find them all at one source)... so, in an effort to condense them all, I would recommend getting this recording.

I suspect if you are buying this collection, you must already know something about Santana... so I won't go into every song on this outing, but some really good ones are the Woodstock playing of Soul Sacrifice... that is quite good. The drumming is good, if you enjoy drumming that is.. then the jam kicks in and it is quite enjoyable.

One of my favorite CS songs is Samba Pa Ti. This version is so clean and production so good, it sounds like heaven in the earphones.

Another great song is the tune (on the third CD) called Wings Of Grace. Sometimes I feel as though in an effort to make his songs sound so free, CS often gets clumbsy, but this song Wings Of Grace is so soaring.

Side Note: I saw CS in 97 before Supernatural made him the great comeback kid, and he opened up for Dave Matthews (who really gave CS a shot in the arm introducing him to an audience that helped spur the sales of Supernatural) and there were only a spotty bunch of us in the crowd that was not there to see DMB, but to see CS. It was fun.. we had the T Shirts on and kept yelling CARLOS inbetween songs. Roots opened up for CS that night, then it was on to DMB all three sets were great...

This fabulous collection of Santana's best (as of this collection's release date, anyway) is a feast for his fans and sure to attract new ones from the present generation. The tracks on Disc One alone make the set worth its purchase price with its splendid renderings of "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Va". Thanks, Carlos, for giving such a treat to your fans.

Although the packaging for this set is lavish, the sound quality of the earlier tracks is very disappointing. "Evil Ways" sounds like it's coming out of an AM radio station, and the tracks from "ABARXAS" don't sound much better.

Fans should skip this set and buy the first 3 Santana albums that were remastered in 1998 (which sound better than even the Mobile Fidelity CD's).

Those 3 CD's also contain extra live tracks from the era of the original album's release that make ownership a must.

In addition: Columbia/Legacy has released the first Santana album as a "Legacy Edition". Expanded to two discs, it delivers the first album, remastered again in 2004, with additional session tracks; the first, discarded recorded sessions for that album, plus for the first time, the entire Woodstock performance set.

Driving cross country last year, my brother picked out a dozen CD's to help me along my way. I didn't want any jewel cases to save space. Of these many disks, disk three of Dance of the Rainbow Sperpent was included. It has no track information on the disk and only the title "Spirit Disk 3". I had no idea who I was listening to until I returned home. I thought the CD was a best of various guest artists disk like John Lee Hooker and Vernon Ried. I also wondered why he gave me disk 3 only. There was a reason.

Frankly I loved disk 3, particularly "Mudbone" of which the sample listed here only hints at it's potential. The song builds in intensity with all the instruments coordinated such that I thought perhaps a single artist layed the whole thing up in a studio. I strongly recommend those reading this, at the very least, download this piece of music as an mpeg file.

I like Santana. Overall, I didn't think much of this CD. I'd rate disk 1 as a 3 or 4 (better to buy the LP Abraxis than this), disk 2 as a weak 2, and disk 3 as a very strong 5. Disk one included a live version of Soul Sacrafice that is weak compared to the studio edition. By the way, I'd rate Abraxis as one of the best LP of all time, so why include any of it here, when that LP stands so strongly on it's own?

All in all, I liked the rhythm and subtlety of the song Mudbone on disk 3, so much that I was tempted to rate this album a 5 for that alone. I listened to that song over an over on autorepeat driving through the desert. Two tracks on disk 3 inlude John Lee Hooker, "The Healer" and the excellent "Chill out (Things are Gonna Change)". "Every Now and Then" with Vernon Reid is excellent also. When you mix talent like this, something wonderful happens.

The question is this? Do you want to buy all three disks to get disk 3? If it was me, I'd say yes it's worth it. On the other hand, if you listen to mpeg files, you'd be better off paying for and downloading just those few songs.

The middle section of Carlos Santana's career saw the creation of numerous forgettable albums. Havana Moon is the gem in the midst of this detritus. It is a totally unique amalgamation of a wide variety of American musical styles. Where else can you hear Booker T., Willie Nelson, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jimmie Vaughn, Greg Brown, Chuck Berry, and Carlos Santana all on the same album? NOWHERE, MY FRIEND! And the best part is that all of the cuts are done well. This album presages Santana's current penchant for guest stars, but Havana Moon is done in a much more laid-back, mellow style than his current efforts. Get this, relax, remember, and wonder.

I have listened to all but 3 of Santana's original CDs. This one is atrocious. AVOID AT ALL COSTS! I was left wondering if a crappy radio station was playing.

Awarded 1 star since mandatory, more like a cosmic dump ...

Listen to Abraxas instead. You are forewarned!
:(

Excellent!!!, not to soft, not to loud, Carlos had equal parts of his smoother guitar work and the perfect combination of songs. It's the classic rock songs( "Watch your step";"Lightning"; "Who Do You Love" and of course, Chuck Berry's "Havana Moon",And Carlos has a way of sending you off to another place("Mudbone";"Ecuador"; " Tales of Kilimanjaro";"Vereda Tropical" with his Guitar work. There are only two songs done in the typical Santana(the group)Mexican folk feel that doesn't stay in form with the rest of the album "Daughter of the Night"; and "They All Went To Mexico" that just don't do anything for me( not that they are'nt fine songs)...

Unable to give this 3 1/2 stars, I lean towards 4. Those who rate this CD low miss the point. They're either unable to seperate Carlos' from his harder edged guitar laced rock music of old, or are "Supernatural" saturated comtemporaries who expect some current flash in the pan "star" to be present on any Santana music of value. Or, they simply didn't notice the title of this CD. I mean to say the song, "Vereda Tropical," is the worst song on the CD because it sounds like a marriacci night club band...um.. eh hem... THE CD IS NAMED "HAVANA MOON!!!" If anything this song is the most definitive- the perfect backdrop to the picturesque Havana Moon setting atop the water at night that graces the cover of the CD. Not to belabor the point, but this is a cover of a classic, old mexican ballad of a broken hearted man singing of his sorrow that only Santana could do as magnificently as he does on this CD. I guess remakes have to be of songs (or even movies come to think of it) that are not even old enough to be redone yet, or of songs so fresh on the minds of contemporary listeners that they even garner a listen. I chuckle at some of the more recent reviews of this album that seem to reak of desperation for the type of "Supernatural" commercialism that only comtemporaries or philistines would expect, indeed, demand of Santana music. Carlos does seem a little indecisive in that choosing, with the first half of the CD leaning in that direction, but coming off somewhat uninspired. "Lightnin" and "One With You," stick out more than the others in a positive light, though "Watch Your Step,' seems to be the type of song Carlos would put out to cater to those who want Santana songs with radio play appeal, with not so defining results (Actualy, the breadth of the music on this CD did put several of these songs on the radio, just not one particular type of station.) But that's where the latter half of this CD picks up the slack. Starting with "Ecquador," Carlos gives us tunes that tilt towards the theme that the title of the CD implies. True, Willie Nelson's accompaniment on "They All Went To Mexico," adds a little country flavor. But the blend of his voice and Carlos guitar gives Santana one of the CD's best songs, if not in his reportoirre. It's a magical blend with a can't sit still tempo that would have even the most reticent up and dancing were it played at a Jimmy Buffett concert, to offer merely an idea of the song's flavor. In between, "Tales of Kilimanjaro, Havana Moon," and "Daughter of the Night" string together one of the best runs of Santana music on any of his CDs, all offering an angle of Santana flavor that his eclectic taste buds have served over the years. If you want "Black Magic Woman" type Santana, buy "Abraxas," or a greatest hits collection. If you want a duet with Michelle Branche, you know where to go. But if you have any musical depth, insight, vision and appreciation for more than just commercial appeal, you might find this CD to be an undiscovered jewel, albeit not without some shortcomings. A number of well entrenched artists have assumed some license in their musical choices. Does one judge Brian Setzer's swing music based on his rockabilly background? Van Morrison's Irish flavored music based on hits like "Brown Eyed Girl? Well, guess what... Carlos is Mexican! Imagine, including a song like "Vereda Tropical" on one of his CDs. The nerve!

This is not by any means the most loved of Santana's many albums and that is exactly why it matters. It is not even available here on amazon.co.uk but luckily I, like several other reviewers, have a trusty vinyl copy to fall back on. After fifteen or so years of "traditional" Santana (and I have most, if not all, of those on vinyl too) it marked the point when he branched out in to collaborations. Maybe this didn't work out or was not commercially successful at first (your choice) but by 'Supernatural' in 1999 the boot was on the other foot. I believe a new Santana album, including a diversity of co-conspirators, is due early in 2006.

I like Havana Moon, for all its indubitable discontinuities of style, but to give it more than three stars would leave me with problems rating many of his other albums. If for no other reason you should listen to this just once to see where it fits in and, who knows, you might just like it!

The 1973-1974 albums by Carlos Santana (Love, Devotion, Surrender, with John McLaughlin and Illuminations, with Alice Coltrane) were propelled from the heart and soul of the three artists; all were disciples of Indian guru Sri Chinmoy.

Santana was stretching his vision of sound and touching on elements of a more ambient jazz than jazz-fusion, which confounded some fans and critics at that time. But the original music on the two albums continue to paint wonderful textures in a seemingly timeless manner.

Bill Laswell takes nine tracks from the albums and sets forth on an energizing soundscape the fluidly floats, while channeling specific elements from each number. It is an aural canvas of pastels that accentuate the main ideas, rather than trying to create something new through the material.

Santana had entered a period of tremendous artistic creativity and Laswell creates a mix that illuminates the wonderful trail.

Live forever in your local used CD store that is. I remembered enjoying Illuminations (from which much of this material was culled) as a much younger man. Clearly that music was meant for younger minds. At 50 the Alice Coltrane/Santana tracks are so over-produced and full of wonderous harp glissandos that it's hard to take this seriously. The musicianship is definitely superb. Angel of Light is a standout track but overall, I find this CD sort of embarrassing. Much of it is a sonic equivalent of drinking from a bottle of Karo corn syrup. Yuk!

The album pulls together the best tracks from two Carlos Santana joint ventures with John McLaughlin (1973) and Alice Coltrane (1974). I really admire the way that Bill Laswell has put this together.

The album with Coltrane (Illuminations) received poor reviews when it came out, so I didn't buy the album. The tracks here sound beautiful. I should have known that most rock critics are basically confused adolescents.

I did buy the album with McLaughlin in 1973 (Love Devotion Surrender). Birds of Fire and Caravanserai were two of my all time favorite albums. However the combination of the Mahavishnu Orcestra and the Santana Band seemed a little intense on that album, it seemed basically a jam album with a little too much competitive soloing.

However, mixed with the more mellow Illuminations tracks the new combined album is more balanced and makes more sense. The standard of musicianship is incredible. They don't make guitar players like these guys anymore!

One seriously must take the comments given by the One-Star reviewer and those of the Four-Star reviewer and split the differences. Although I tend to lean more towards one than the other, I do understand the reasoning behind both reviews and at this juncture, I think it would be safe to say, you either like this stuff or you don't. I do disagree with one prevailing attitude here, and that is that I believe the Laswell treatment here is minimalism at best. If you are thoroughly familiar with the originals, you won't blame Bill for the lush and yes, sometimes overpopulous strings. All Bill contributed was subliminal filler on this recording, believe me.
Let's take a step back together and look at the "history". After Woodstock, and three "band" albums, the cohesive Santana Band was falling apart. Some blame Carlos, others Shon and Rolie, but the pointed fact remains, they had all begun to tire of each other and were reaching for other creativities. Carlos went on a binge "tour" with the great Buddy Miles, and then discovered The Self Realization Fellowship. I myself was reading The Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda at the very same time that Caravanserai came out. Somehow, Carlos had managed to convince Neil and Greg to hang in there a moment longer before taking off on their Journey, and the result was inescapable to anyone interested in the same inner exploration that Santana brought to the table. Now at this time John McLaughlin was a co-convert with Carlos, as was Alice Coltrane. This set the stage for two projects that would raise the roof on "fusion" music of the period. One may call it self-indulgent ramblings, others speculative self-examination, but the bottom line here is folks, this was music of free expression, the musical equivalent of what Jack Kerouac had ultimately perfected in writing style, a free-form means of letting the soul speak without the conscious effort of obeying "stylistic rules". So if you don't like thinking "outside the box", you ain't gonna dig this, man! And that's alright.
Each of these musical ventures has something to offer the listener whether with or without the Laswell treatment. Personally, I like what Bill did with the music, and I find it refreshing that these two albums' best contents wound up here and I have two less but one more CD to have purchased while rebuilding my vinyl collection of Santana into digital form. I have literally everything Carlos has touched, and there is not one "period" of his music I dislike, though I am waiting for him to enter a new phase, and hoping that he is through with the Shaman-pop-artist promotions. Supernatural was a nice novelty. Shaman wore the novelty thin. I see Santana as a musical explorer, bringing his love of life and spirit into his art, much as those adored angels of his inspired a millennia of artisans and craftsmen throughout the ages. Santana, whether Devadip, Carlos, or "The Band", is a religious experience, a spiritual experience, a masterpiece-of-art experience. Everything he touches turns to gold, and so you may not exactly like something on this CD, but there will be something else on it that will just make you sit up and go "Wow, now THAT was worth the purchase alone!" That is IF you have an open mind and enjoy the best guitarist in the world.
So getting back to the point, the music on this project is nearly ALL original, with only some drone and an occasional apostrophe added by Bill's hand. And so the formula here is, if you don't like "self-indulgent" fusion then stay away and skip this Santana period entirely. I don't know how anyone can NOT like The Divine Life with it's beautiful chant, or the keys that haunt the rhythmic strokes of guitar and bass layed over a texture of two guitars making love to one another in A Love Supreme, or Alice's harp kissing Carlos' guitar while flying with the Angel of Air, or the gentle sweet sounds of Naima and Meditation, but I DO understand how someone can not be in the particular mood to grapple with the sometimes violent and tempestuous Angel of Sunlight, so try it on another day, say when love turns to lust, or when you need to purge yourself of a particularily bad thought. Beautiful Bliss always follows a storm, and this is no exception, the three part ending will soothe you, relax you, and calm every nerve.
Santana's fingers are a gift to humanity from the Divine Himself. Illuminations and Love Devotion Surrender were Santana's forgiveness of himself, for he had visited the face of the Divine. Together with Alice and John, he gave us a gift from that forgiveness, and that gift was his art on these recordings. And now Bill has not embellished them, he has accented them. Enjoy!

I didn't think that there was anything one could do with this music to make it better, but it's now been done. The sound is much better, and the sequencing of the tunes really brings this into focus. Carlos teamed with Alice Coltrane and with John McLaughlin, not to mention a host of other greats, such as Jack DeJohnette(drums), Dave Holland(bass), Tom Coster(electric piano), Larry Young(organ), Billy Cobham(drums), Mike Shrieve(drums), etc.

This album is actually a compilation of songs recorded during the Neal Schon auditions in 1970-1971. Neal is actually the main guitarrist throughout the album, most notably in tracks 4-7. At only 16 years old at the time, he really plays like a veteran guitar genius. Travellin Blues is my favorite song on the disc. It's amazing how Neal masters the blues at such an early age. Special mention is also noted for Everyday I Have The Blues. Neal goes off again in this one. Overall, this album is really good to have. The recording quality is not the best, but none of these songs were ever meant to be on an album anyway. Like I said, these were recorded during the Neal Schon auditions for Santana. The low price makes this CD really good one to own.

This album is an import or budget cd of Santana's work before their first album was released, while its not as good as their first album, its well worth the good price.

(4.5 stars really) This is a really good album. Jam is a little disapointing. not his best album, but still exellent. that is why it got 4.5 instead of 5 stars. i reccomend buying it. it is a great price and a good cd overall. Their remake of "With a little help from my friends" is awesome. Carlos Santana is amazing as always.

The first 3 books of Gesualdo's madrigals don't have the startling chromaticism and the violent rhythmic contrasts of the 5th and 6th books, but they're rich pieces nonetheless and here and there are hints of the over the top imagination of the later works. These performances are characterized by accurate intonation and lovely timbre. This is one of my favorite recordings of Italian madrigals.