will the real santana please stand up!!!!!

[gonzo]

this is the real shit right here not the crap hes put out for the last 3 CDs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLmnqP8-uSg chepito,armando,coster,rauch,kermode,thomas,shrieve

[lazarus]

GREAT!! I love it!
He was truly a very unique and wonderful musician back in the days.

[Chris D]

Very nice. I've been playing "The Swing of Delight" this week. That one gets overlooked, but it has some smoking stuff.

[jazzy mary]

GREAT video! Leon in his African garb, he looked so cute!! I love that driummer's hair!!

[Chazro]

A little Carlos rant....

Have any of you guys heard the band 'Abraxas Pool'? It's the original Santana band MINUS Carlos. A must-have for anyone that recalls the sound of their 1st 3 records. Also Gregg Rolie (Original lead vocalist & organist) put out a solo record a few yrs ago that also sounds like what Santana USED to and SHOULD be sounding like right now. I 1st saw Carlos and the boys at the Fillmore East. Time-wise this was between the release of the 1st and 2nd records, the last time was at the Nassau Coloseum around 'Caravanserai', THIS was the Carlos Santana I loved. As a young NY Rican the combo of Latin, Rock, and a little Jazz proved to be one of the foundations of my music appreciation that STILL pushes my buttons to this day. Haven't bought a Santana record in a long, long time. The Pop shit he produces today is a huge windfall for him ($$$) but the fans of today can't begin to imagine what it was like back in the days of the Fillmore, really a shame. I read an interview with Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez in the latest issue of 'Traps'. Very revealing when the subject of Carlos came up, El Negro worked for him around the 'Supernatural' period, apparently was getting a little too much love during the live shows and Carlos turned on him because of it. The skinny is that Carlos usually finds 'something' wrong with his drummers (according to this article) and is a bit of a prima donna. Wonder what Dennis Chambers (current drummer for Carlos) would say about this?

That said, my Santana fantasy would be Carlos making an instrumental record with Jazz guest-stars!! Don't think it'll ever happen. The situation reminds me of something I read from George Benson claiming he could make a kick-ass Jazz record and would if he KNEW it would make the same money as his Pop stuff. I thought that to be an amazingly arrogant statement at the time. Today, my guess is Pop OR Jazz, George ain't making much money these days!

The length of this rant shows how much of a dissapointed Santana fan I am....

[Lenny D.Guitarist]

Originally Posted by Chazro

A little Carlos rant....

Have any of you guys heard the band 'Abraxas Pool'? It's the original Santana band MINUS Carlos. A must-have for anyone that recalls the sound of their 1st 3 records. Also Gregg Rolie (Original lead vocalist & organist) put out a solo record a few yrs ago that also sounds like what Santana USED to and SHOULD be sounding like right now. I 1st saw Carlos and the boys at the Fillmore East. Time-wise this was between the release of the 1st and 2nd records, the last time was at the Nassau Coloseum around 'Caravanserai', THIS was the Carlos Santana I loved. As a young NY Rican the combo of Latin, Rock, and a little Jazz proved to be one of the foundations of my music appreciation that STILL pushes my buttons to this day. Haven't bought a Santana record in a long, long time. The Pop shit he produces today is a huge windfall for him ($$$) but the fans of today can't begin to imagine what it was like back in the days of the Fillmore, really a shame. I read an interview with Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez in the latest issue of 'Traps'. Very revealing when the subject of Carlos came up, El Negro worked for him around the 'Supernatural' period, apparently was getting a little too much love during the live shows and Carlos turned on him because of it. The skinny is that Carlos usually finds 'something' wrong with his drummers (according to this article) and is a bit of a prima donna. Wonder what Dennis Chambers (current drummer for Carlos) would say about this?

That said, my Santana fantasy would be Carlos making an instrumental record with Jazz guest-stars!! Don't think it'll ever happen. The situation reminds me of something I read from George Benson claiming he could make a kick-ass Jazz record and would if he KNEW it would make the same money as his Pop stuff. I thought that to be an amazingly arrogant statement at the time. Today, my guess is Pop OR Jazz, George ain't making much money these days!

The length of this rant shows how much of a dissapointed Santana fan I am....

Chazro,
That was one of the most insightful and well-written posts I've ever read in Jazzcorner. I've been an admirer of Carlos Santana since his halcyon days of Woodstock, Abraxas, etc. His later cds "Caravanserai", "Swing of Delight", "Welcome", "Moonflower", "Lotus" are certainly much different than his latest disappointments such as "Shaman" and "All that I Am", so different in fact that a serious student of music has to wonder what the hell is going on. How can a guitarist conceive and produce such masterpieces as "Samba Pa Ti", "Song of the Wind", all of Abraxas, "Transcendance", dozens of other world-class compositions and then crank out the "pop shit" that you so accurately describe? In 1973 or so, I devoted a major part of a weekend trying to figure out "Song of the Wind" because I was so intrigued by the its exquisite genius. Fast forward 35 years.. I still admire almost all of Santana's forty years or so of beautiful music....except for his latest three albums, which are hard to listen to. Perplexing.

[Gentle Giant]

That Lotus-era shit was the bomb. Big fan of Welcome and Borboletta, too.

[Ron Thorne]

I feel blessed to have seen and heard Carlos during those halcyon days, along with my wife. The venue wasn't the greatest (old Anchorage Sports Arena), but the band came to play.

That percussion duo of Armando Peraza and Chepito Areas in front of Michael Shrieve was insane! It was almost like a religious experience to be in the presence of Carlos and those empathetic musicians.

After the show, we hung out with Tom Coster for a bit, and he was warm and unpretentious. We stayed in touch for quite a few years, in fact.

Carlos-Lite is barely a shell of what most of us experienced back in the day, and it's a damned shame.

[gonzo]

the band recently made an all instrumental album and the label refuses to release it. no crossover appeal. so santana is back to making a band +plus young singer again. please do a santana album carlos.

[Meatman]

Carlos wants to establish a new record for the most musical collaborations, currently held by Tony Bennett. Carlos has already collaborated with Willie Nelson, Pavarotti, all the hip hopsters, all the rappers, Michelle Branch, and
the Bacon Brothers. Not too shabby.

[Chazro]

Wazzup Meatman!!

I would argue that just because they're collaborations doesn't neccesarily make them musical. In fact, the exact opposite is closer to the truth. You do realize that most collaborations made by whomever are basically phoned-in performances, right? In other words, Carlos or Ray or Frank records the basic track and the "collaborator" does his/her thing at a later date and/or revenue.To my way of thinking, this is the antithesis of musical and the definition of 'product'.

For someone bordering on sanctimonious when it comes to the question of spiritual purity and professes such love for the giants that came before him, I find it more than curious that Carlos Santana has become such a sell-out.

...but that's just my opinion!!

[Meatman]

Originally Posted by Chazro

Wazzup Meatman!!

I would argue that just because they're collaborations doesn't neccesarily make them musical. In fact, the exact opposite is closer to the truth. You do realize that most collaborations made by whomever are basically phoned-in performances, right? In other words, Carlos or Ray or Frank records the basic track and the "collaborator" does his/her thing at a later date and/or revenue.To my way of thinking, this is the antithesis of musical and the definition of 'product'.

For someone bordering on sanctimonious when it comes to the question of spiritual purity and professes such love for the giants that came before him, I find it more than curious that Carlos Santana has become such a sell-out.

...but that's just my opinion!!

Chazro,
I was being sarcastic. I agree with everything you said. It seems like a waste of talent for Carlos to play with Michelle Branch or some of the hip hop phenoms of the week. Maybe Santana is trying to show that he can still get it on with the younger musicians... even if they stink to high hell. Give me a collaboration with John McLaughlin or Wayne Shorter any day.

[Lenny D.Guitarist]

Originally Posted by Ron Thorne

I feel blessed to have seen and heard Carlos during those halcyon days, along with my wife. The venue wasn't the greatest (old Anchorage Sports Arena), but the band came to play.

That percussion duo of Armando Peraza and Chepito Areas in front of Michael Shrieve was insane! It was almost like a religious experience to be in the presence of Carlos and those empathetic musicians.

After the show, we hung out with Tom Coster for a bit, and he was warm and unpretentious. We stayed in touch for quite a few years, in fact.

Carlos-Lite is barely a shell of what most of us experienced back in the day, and it's a damned shame.

Peppercorn,
I talked to Tom Coster a few years ago when he played with Vital Information, one of the best fusion bands I ever heard. Coster's keyboards were off the charts, Steve Smith's drumming was spectacular and guitarist Frank Gambale was his usual gifted self. Anyhoots, Coster was just a regular nice guy, who seemed to have no ego at all. I totally agree with your assessmment that Santana's percussionists are monsters. For a very interesting read on Carlos Santana, check out the book "Soul Sacrifice" by Simon Leng. It's cheap, but excellent.