Santana - Caravanserai / Speakers Corner

To attempt to categorise Carlos Santana’s music is, for the prophets of rock music, rather like dancing on the edge of a volcano. While the New York Times acclaimed the band as a reincarnation

of Dizzy Gillespie’s Cuban-jazz bigband from the end of the Forties, the specialist magazine Rolling Stone spoke of a »methadrine trip without visions«. Organ-player Gregg Rolie offered a very simple

explanation of the origins of the highly differentiated sound colouring and the throb and chirp of the Afro-Cuban polyrhythms: he succinctly remarked that each member of the multi-cultural band »just played

the music which he had grown up with«.

Just how thrilling this sounds is already evident from the first number on the disc, with its sounds of nature, twisted rhythms, and little snatches of melody, which – as in several other titles – remains spellbinding

even without the fascinating drive of Santana’s lead-sound. Of course there is plenty of solo material on the guitar which manifests itself in exuberant improvisations with a fusion of rock, salsa and jazz elements.

When listening to this well-oiled rhythm machine, one quite rightly gets the impression that this unique band has stretched itself to its limits, and it is not by mere coincidence that they split up shortly afterwards.

What has remained is one of the most powerful Santana records ever made.

Carlos Santana (g, perc); Hadley Caliman (sax); Gregg Rolie (org, p); Wendy Haas (p); Tom Coster (el-p); Neal Schon (g); , Douglas Rauch (g,b); Tom Rutley (b); Mike Shrieve (dr); Jose Chepito Areas, Armando Peraza (perc), a.o.

Recording: February and May 1972

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under www.pure-analogue.com. All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

We recommend the use of "L'Art du Son" LP cleaner to wet wash your vinyl. Even new records of high quality production will benefit from this.

Title

Side One

1. Eternal Caravan Of Reincarnation

2. Waves Within

3. Look Up (To See What's Coming Down)

4. Just In Time To See The Sun

5. Song Of The Wind

6. All The Love Of The Universe

Side Two

1. Future Primitive

2. Stone Flower

3. La Fuente Del Ritmo

4. Every Step Of The Way