CARLOS SANTANA & JOHN MCLAUGHLIN: LOVE DEVOTION SURRENDER

This is what I like about music - the musicians sometime do collaborative effort. This is the case also with two guitar masters from different music style. Carlos Santana had been in so far involved with his musical adventures that explore latin-rock music with minimum influence of jazz. His band Santana was one of the legendary bands that shape the classic rock music in early 70s. John McLaughlin had been very famous in his exploration into jazz-rock fusion kind of music through his band The Mahavishnu Orchestra. Each individual guitar player has their own style and expression through their guitar. The result is a good combination of styles that blend nicely into this album.

As you might have expected, this collaborative efforts would create a unique sound - especially if you really observes the subtleties of guitar sound produced. At "A Love Supreme" I almost could not differentiate the guitar style of these two gentlemen. On this track, both guitarists explore their own style in a kind of jamming session style - where the accompanying music does not vary much during the stream of music it produces. But on "Let Us Go Into The house of The Lord" - the distinction between the two guitarists has become so obvious. Carlos Santana demonstrates his style in Latin Rock while John McLaughlin is consistent in his jazz-rock style. I believe those who like to play guitar might use this track as reference because these two gentlemen demonstrate their styles at their best performance. I enjoy the guitar solos.

This is a very good album where those guitar aficionados should use this album as reference. The guitar playing style of Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin is extremely different but they are blended nicely in this album. Unfortunately, this album does not capitalize the virtuosity of suporting musicians like Billy Cobham (drums), Doan Alias, and Jan Hammer. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW