| The Arista debut of Carlos Santana and band gives fans of the soulful
guitar vet two albums in one, but it's a decidedly good-news, bad-news
proposition. First, there's a fine collection of late-'90s-model Santana--tastefully
tooled songs driven by Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms ("[Da Le] Taleo,"
"Africa Bamba," "Migra," "Primavera," and the emotionally charged instrumental
"El Farol") that allow Carlos plenty of elbowroom for his passionate soloing.
Then there's the collection of tracks featuring a lineup of de rigueur
alternative and hip-hop stars, including Dave Matthews, Everlast, Rob
Thomas, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Eagle Eye Cherry. To their credit,
Matthews ("Love of My Life") and Eagle Eye Cherry ("Wishing It Was") muster
enough chemistry to make the fusion work. But the rest of the collaborations
feel like an unnecessary stretch to reach out to a younger demographic
that El Jefe has little trouble attracting on his own terms. |
