Word: santana
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Festival by Santana on Columbia Records...
...REDISCOVERED SANTANA at Harvard. A rather unmemorable statement, were it not for my Chicano ethnicity and my general weakness for good sounds, be they rock, classical or any other type of music. Sure, I went out and bought Abraxas along with everybody else a few years ago, but Santana faded our of my record collection soon afterwards. Yet if this band's latest album, Festival, is any kind of indication, I see I have been missing something all these years...
...Santana's recent guest appearance on America's favorite Saturday night black humor television show prompted me to give Festival a listen. Carlos Santana and his group have been hitting the boob tube circuit pretty regularly of late, presumably spurred by the well-founded belief that they've come out with their best effort in many months. They understandably want to capitalize on the opportunity of turning over a few bucks while the getting is good, so to speak. Anyway, the six gentlemen who play under the Santana name impressed me considerably. Carlos especially...
...unlike many of the lead guitar megastars who came out of the San Francisco rock scene in the late sixties, Carlos Santana has taken very good care of himself--both professionally and physically. His music has continued to provide surprises, innovatively synthesizing the many influences that have poured into his creative mind during the course of his years in the business. And Festival provides the most resounding affirmation of this steady metamorphosizing to date, demonstrating Santana's singular knack for not falling into a neat category...
...STARTERS, the band's personnel has gone through a substantial turnover since Santana's debut album. Aside from Carlos and, the unequalled master of the timbales, Chepito Areas, the current edition of Santana bears no resemblance to the original six-man ensemble that brought us early standards like "Evil Ways" and "Black Magic Woman." The changes have not made a big difference in the group's sound from a strictly technical standpoint, with one notable exception. Some of the keyboard and synthesizer work performed by Tom Coster on Festival completely eclipses any of the solos rapped out by his predecessor...