A thoroughly enjoyable new offering from Carlos and an excellent Santana band, recorded in July 2011 at the Montreux Film Festival. Both the visual and audio content of the disc is stunning throughout the two hours and forty minutes length of the concert. For me there is nothing quite like hearing and seeing the energetic Santana percussion section, Raul Rekow and Karl Perazzo, playing "flat out" alongside the incredible guitar playing of their leader.
The highlight for me this time around is the inclusion in the set of the opening track of Abraxas "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts" - I believe recorded on video for the first time. It is a favourite of mine, and did not disappoint.
This choices for the "Greatest Hits" concert was well balanced in terms of including songs from different phases of Carlos' long career, although shows a bias towards those wonderful early albums. Although the songs are familiar to most fans, they are often played in new and interesting ways, which gives the whole DVD a freshness that adds to the listening pleasure. There are some new to me melodies to be heard here and there, and I particularly liked "Spark of the Divine" which began the concert.
Santana has always been a band which defies categorisation, and there are examples here of music ranging from heavy rock to lilting guitar melodies. All of the musicians play a significant part in making it such an enjoyable experience, and a special mention here for David K Matthews who has the unenviable task of following in the keyboard playing footsteps of the great Chester "CT" Thompson. The brass duo, Bill Ortiz and Jeff Cressman, have been an established part of Santana for some time, and play an important part in adding that "extra little something" to many of the songs.
There is a relatively short yet enjoyable drum interlude from Cindy Blackman Santana, who shares a spot with long serving Santana bassist Benny Rietveld. Equally, two other special guests, guitarist Derek Trucks and guitarist and vocalist Susan Tedeschi, certainly play their part in adding further great musicianship to the evening.
I was lucky to see this in high definition which certainly contributed to the experience. I am sure it will be played for many years to come, although I may use the "skip" option on "Back in Black" - the "Guitar Heaven" album was fine, but not my most favourite of all the Santana offerings. May I cheekily suggest that adding "Flor De Canela/Promise of a Fisherman" from the "Borboletta" album instead, would further strengthen the set!
Carlos Santana's playing is immaculate throughout, and there seems to be a renewed sense of pleasure from all band members in playing together, which bodes well for the future.
My feeling is that anyone who has enjoyed Santana from any phase of their music in the past, would benefit from adding "Live in Montreux 2011" to their DVD collection.