Description
By 1991 SANTANA had evolved from latin organ and percussion grooves through trippy jazz-fusion and arrived at a form of high energy latin, soul/rock. It’s a journey few watching them at Woodstock in 1969 would have predicted.
22 years and countless albums later, CARLOS SANTANA himself was the only original member present in Tokyo for this concert. A close friend of MILES DAVIS and devotee of JOHN COLTRANE, he had regularly incorporated elements of jazz into his music, so it is no surprise to see Japan’s greatest living saxoponist, SADAO WATANABE, added here. For his part Watanabe is happy to play latin, funk and fusion, his solos easily matching Santana’s overdriven guitar for invention and energy.
These tunes are taken from the SANTANA albums FREEDOM (’87) and SPIRITS DANCING IN THE FLESH (90) as well as classics from their LP’s ABRAXAS and AMIGOS.
Performed at the Nippon Budokan, Tokyo on 21st May 1991 and originally recorded for broadcast on NHK Radio.
