Santana - Lotus

 

 

 

Inspired by the amazing Miles Davis' live posted no too long ago, here comes another hour+ (2 whole hours in this case) slab of Jazz Fusion tour de force. Gotta admit I was never the biggest Santana fan, for no particular reason though. I mean, everybody (my age and older) remembers his massive hits from the late 90's, so maybe this was a huge reason... but anyway, I'm not here to badmouth Señor Santana and his artistic choices. I gave "Lotus" a chance because I found out about it through the aforementioned Miles' record. Tadanori Yokoo made the artwork for Agharta, and I love his art, and for some reason I didn't realize, or remeber, he did art for music records. Silly, right? So, researching whatever elese he may have done, Lotus came to attention. Released the same year as Agharta, through the same record company, also recorded live in Japan, and obviously featuring Yokoo. All signs were leading to something good, and indeed, it is good.

With a impressive line-up, featuring two percussionists and two keyoard players, Lotus compiles two nights of diverse, psych, latin Fusion. Not only authoral compositions, but also a collab with Alice Coltrane,  music by Carlos Jobim (really caught me by surprise, didn't expect to hear some Baião rhythms here, but hey, it's Latin, right?), Airto Moreira, Gabor Szabo, and many others. But it all works really well, they make it all their own, nothing feels out of place. The highlights for me are without doubt Santana's own band compositions, such as 'A1-Funk' (what a strong opener; classic 70's Jazz Funk vibe), 'Yours Is The Light' (such an amazing mix of Jazz and Latin music; doesn't have a predictable "sunny" vibe, now what I mean?), 'Castillos De Arena' (co-written by Chick Corea; with an amazing little angular guitar theme, and some furious Psych freak out), and 'Mantra', probably the most experimental piece (the fact that it opens with some sudden short laugh, gives it an even creepier vibe).

Anyway, it's all great here. The recording is spectacular, super clear. All the musicians are great, the percussionists give their all, everybody has their spot to shine and solo to their heart's content, the songs are expertly sequenced, and, again, the artwork is breathtaking. Get it, pa ti, e dime como vá.