Smooth (Santana) (LP 3710 - 3715)

The Santana Brothers  Viva Santana! (CD, Spectrum Music, 2000) ****  

Santana  Supernatural (CD, Arista Records, 1999) ***

Santana  Shamen (CD, Arista Records, 2002) ***

Santana  All That I Am (CD, Arista Records, 2005) **

Santana  Santana IV (CD, Santana IV Records, 2016) ****

Santana  Africa Speaks (CD, Concord Records, 2019) *****

Genre: Latin American rock, rock, pop

Places I remember: Shona Walding's collection, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Cho Cho (Santana IV)

Gear costume: Thoughts, Contigo (Viva Santana!), Blue Skies (Africa Speaks)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: The Santana Brothers' album - Viva Santana! compiles material from their 1994 album called The Santana Brothers with Sacred Fire, a live album from 1993.  So, you get the best of both on one album. For both, Carlos and his brother Jorge (yes - a guitarist) are joined with nephew Carlos Hernandez (yes - a guitarist).

The brothers + nephew play a heavier kind of driving rock than the standard Santana band with rock drums and bass turned up more and, on the studio set at least, there are limited Latin influences. For the most part, there are no timbales, conga or percussion embellishments. Contigo is an exception, as they add a beautiful texture to the song which builds from a meditative start into some fierce guitar from Carlos Santana.

Generally, that approach allows for some concentration on the trio's guitars and they are, as you'd expect, pretty spectacular, whether in lyrical relaxed mode or rocking out mode.

Supernatural. It came out of nowhere, by simply adding some superstar guest vocals to some jam type songs, Carlos produced a commercial behemoth. Whaaaat? How is that possible? Two words: Clive Davis - the man who signed the band to Columbia in 1968, does it again in 1999 - signs them to Arista.

The guests?  They included Rob Thomas, Eric Clapton, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Lauryn Hill, Dave Matthews, and CeeLo Green.

That said, I am not a fan of this album. I don't like the approach - the push towards a commercial pop sound resulted in six singles coming from the album and I don't like the procession of guest vocalists - there is no uniform/consistent vocal presence. 

The positive was that it (hopefully) generated interest in Santana's earlier work. Hopefully the screeds of new admirers checked out Love Devotion Surrender.

Shaman repeated the trick of Supernatural (Clive Davis and Carlos probably looked at each other and said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"). It worked again - including the number 1 status, by using modern artists like Seal, Macy Gray, Dido, Michele Branch and, erm..Placido Domingo! My reservations expressed for Supernatural are also repeated. Again, maybe people headed off to listen to a real Santana album like Abraxas as a result. I sure hope so.

All That I Am was a three-peat of all-star guests - Steven Tyler does okay but I'm not a huge fan of the rappers in attendance. The album starts off well with some non-famous guest Latino rock but then it's a parade of what by now is the tried and true. 

It's a long album too - I sometimes think it's a different band playing. The only distinguishing feature is Carlos' guitar that pops up from time to time. Enough already with the pop albums Carlos! Time for a rethink! In the meantime I sat out the next three releases.

My interest was reactivated by the announcement that the classic band who made the first three Santana albums was back together for an album. Excuse me?

Yes. It was true and Santana IV emerged. Could it possibly be as good as those iconic classic five-star albums? Well, not quite, but it is way better than those superstar vocal albums that preceded it. 

For some reason Chepito Areas wasn't invited but the other guys from Santana III are onboard for some deep grooves and some fiery interplay between Neal and Carlos. Ronald Isley is on a few songs for vocals and his voice feels right at home in this company.

Carlos has always been a restless kind of musician - always looking for a challenge and some freshness. Sometimes he's got stuck - most noticeably those few albums after Supernatural, but mostly he's forged his own path and moved forward.

He followed up Santana IV with Africa Speaks, in which he sounds re-energised, reinvigorated and renewed as a musician. The Latin, rock and jazz strands of his music are fused together in a quite brilliant way. The band is on fire (Cindy Blackman Santana's drumming is brilliant), and vocals by Laura Mvula and Concha Buika are similarly inspired. 

What are the odds that I'd end my Santana wrap up of the live and studio albums with a five-star album? After All That I Am, I'd have given you great odds. Thankfully, it's a brilliant record.

After Africa Speaks he went back to the Supernatural formula - I'll pass. 

Where do they all belong? next up - a couple of compilations to wrap things up Santana-wise. I also need to find a copy of Abraxas Pool's self-titled album. The Santana III band without Carlos made this album in the late nineties. Chepito is on it too, so it's a must have.