The Story Continues: Carlos on Cassette to Carlos in Concert

Carlos Santana is on tiptoes now, coaxing a bit more expression from the fretboard.

Half a phrase earlier, he'd tipped back his head as if to watch his notes take flight from his guitar, then shower down on 10,000 listeners at Ruminaui Coliseum in Quito. The tickets that Martin and I had bought a day earlier were in the "nosebleed" section (as is the entire city in fact, at 9,000 feet.)

Often, the 61-year-old Santana’s solos featured a pleasant complement to a driving rhythm; other times in the nearly 2 ½ hour performance, he showcased his bandmates’ talents. In a musical dialogue, they solo’ed or traded riff for riff.

No matter where those solos soared, the tight rhythm carried the crowd forward, whether it be salsa, Afro-Cuban, and even rap and reggae. Roused to their feet to sing Oye Como Va, people would surely have been stirred to a fevered frenzy at Santana’s first appearance in Quito.

He’d back off the pace however, with a ballad, sitting on a speaker monitor by the side of the stage. He spoke little, letting the guitar talk in ways it has since his reputation skyrocketed to fame 40 years ago at Woodstock. The ladies in Ruminaui received a dedicated song in the flamenco rhythm. Another song hailed Africa. Launching his1960s classic, “Oye Como Va” prompted a chorus of voices joining those on the stage.

His fusion of rock with Latin music established Santana, and the performance in Quito revealed his decades of disciplined playing. He successful weaved in the piercingly high solos central to rock music since the sixties, throwing in triplets as effortless embellishments. His Pandora’s box of effects full of any number of moods most often produced the “wah” of the seventies.

Martin at one point suggested a move to bleacher seats that would've let us see the rhythm section in action, for a speakers tower and huge video screeen blocked our view of the drummer, Dennis Chambers, and the fellas adding punchy percussion for that Afro-Latin sound. We in fact were watching a drummer, Chester Thompson, who happened to be on organ and keyboards. Benny Rietveld played bass; Bill Ortiz was on trumpet and fluegelhorn, teaming up nicely on brass with Jeff Cressman on a featured number. Santana stepped briefly into a role as sideman before re igniting the audience with another solo. Late in the evening it was Raul Rekow and Karl Perazzo delighting the audience on timbales and congas. Other stellar players included Andy Vargas, Tommy Anthony, and Tony Lindsay.

The band played a dozen songs, then said goodnight, with enough audience applause to bring them back for a just a few more.
Surging rhythms . . .


soaring solos . . .

saying goodnight . . .
Santana.