Disc1
1. Afro Blue
2. Adouma
3. Redemption Song
4. Exodus/ Get Up, Stand Up
5. Blowin' in the Wind/ A Place In The Sun
6. Just Like a Woman
7. What's Going On
Disc2
1. Peace On Earth/ Boogie Woman
2. Why Can't We Live Together?
3. Light At The Edge Of The World
4. Let Us Go into the House of the Lord
5. Banana Boat Song
6. Day Of Celebration
7. Ah Sweet Dancer/In a Silent Way
8. Jingo
9. A Love Supreme
10. Ode To Joy
11. One Love
12. Imagine
13. Give Peace A Chance
An Interview With Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana - Guitar,
vocals, percussion
Jeff Cressman - Treombone
Bill Ortiz - Trumpet
Chester Thompson - Keyboards
Myron Dove - Guitar
Benny Rietveld - Bass
Dennis Chambers - Drums
Karl Perazzo - Percussion, timbales
Raul Rekow - Percussion, congas
Andy Vargas - Vocals, percussion
Ravi Coltrane, Wayne Shorter - Saxes
Chick Corea, Cherie Mitchell - Keyboards
Herbie Hancock - Piano
Salvador Santana - Keyboards, piano
John McLaughlin, Nile Rodgers - Guitar
Idrissa Diop - Percussion, vocals
Omar Hakim, Gerardo Velez - Percussion
Patti Austin, Barbara Morrison, Sylver Sharp,
Sam Totah - Vocals
Angelique Kidjo - Vocals, percussion
In
July 2004, Carlos Santana assembled a line-up
of star musicians for a concert entitled "Hymns
of Peace" at Montreux. The musicians included
not only Santana's regular band but a wealth
of guest artists. This double DVD records
a magnificent concert where the intermixture
of performers reflected the positive message
of the evening.
The
first DVD begins with Afro
Blue,
a tune which appropriately mixes jazz and
salsa. There's a relaxed feeling to this opener,
although some of the guest musicians look
as if they are unsure what is going to happen.Wayne
Shorter introduces the solos, followed by
Chick Corea (an old hand at Latin jazz) on
keyboards. Ravi Coltrane solos on soprano
sax, with echoes of his father in his "sheets
of sound". The fleet-fingered John McLaughlin
solos next, followed by Herbie Hancock donating
an adventurous solo which plays around with
the chords and the shape of the tune. Finally
Carlos Santana comes in to show why he is
still a guitar hero.
The
international atmosphere is heightened by
the arrival of singer Angelique Kidjo for
Adouma.
Her African chant fits in perfectly with Santana's
trademark Latin groove. A change of rhythm
and style is signalled by the reggae beat
of Bob Marley's Exodus
and
Get
Up, Stand Up.
Vocalists
Barbara Morrison, Patti Austn and Sylver Sharp
join together for Bob Dylan's song Blowin'
in the Wind,
maintaining a hint of the reggae rhythm and
ending with a gospel feel. Barbara Morrison
does a solo vocal on Just
Like a Woman
- another Bob Dylan song - laid-back but punchy.
The lady singers unite for Marvin Gaye's What's
Going On,
with impassioned underlining from Ravi Coltrane
and Wayne Shorter.
The
second disc opens with a pensive snatch of
Peace
on Earth
before getting down and funky with Boogie
Woman, on
which Ravi does a honking rhythm-and-blues
solo and Wayne Shorter makes his tenor sax
screech. Steve Winwood comes in for Why
Can't We Live Together?,
singing and playing keyboards, with Ravi Coltrane
in lyrical mood. Let
Us Go Into the House of the Lord
lets John McLaughlin display his guitar virtuosity
- it is technoflash but sensitive with it.
Carlos Santana's solo is equally brilliant
technically but more extrovert.
The
Banana
Boat Song
induces the audience to sing along.
Day of Celebration
starts gently with Carlos on acoustic guitar.
Wayne Shorter contributes a melodic slolo
which degenerates somewhat when he makes his
soprano sax wail out as if in pain. Ah
Sweet Dancer is
a duet between Carlos and his son Salvador.
The other musicians join in for In
a Silent Way,
led by Wayne Shorter on mystical soprano.
Drummer Dennis Chambers is particularly impressive
here, although his playing is superb throughout.
His sheer stamina is awesome.
After
the chanting of Jingo,
Carlos
asserts that "Peace is possible" and adds:
"Let's show George Bush and his boys what
we really got", introducing an inspiring version
of John Coltrane's A
Love Supreme.
This sounds like the concert's big finish
but there's more. A choir arrives to sing
Beethoven's Ode
to Joy
- rather shrilly, but it's the thought that
counts. And there is even more - three bonus
tracks: One
Love
(another reggae outing), John Lennon's Imagine
and Give
Peace a Chance,
all featuring the vocalists.
This
massive concert sometimes has the ad
hoc
air of a jam session but it is full of peaceful
spirit and the give-and-take which fine performers
can exhibit. We can be grateful to Santana
for organising the event - and for it being
preserved on this memorable double DVD. Considering
the variety of musicians and the conditions
under which it was recoded, the sound quality
is acceptable.
Tony
Augarde
CD Reviews
Eagle
Vision EREDV 626
