Santana
Santana III

There are sounds that have the power to transport the listener through a kind of special dimension of consciousness. It is 1971 and Carlos Santana's band brings to life this third album simply titled "Santana III". Behind them are already the overwhelming debut, born directly from the atmospheres of Woodstock, and the magnificent "Abraxas", in which pieces like "Samba Pa Ti", "Black Magic Woman", "Oye Como Va", had defined the original mix of rock-blues, Latin rhythms, and psychedelia, which in this third effort consolidate, creating what I believe remains the masterpiece of the Mexican guitarist.

I still remember when my father used to let me listen to this record, and I, still a kid, was fascinated by this blend of spirituality and sensuality and I would listen to it over and over again while enjoying building model ships, dreaming of journeys to exotic and distant lands... But it was not just about that, it was deeper and more complex sensations. Because throughout the album there is what I define as a "cosmic background", like the beautiful cover made of humanoids, planets, nebulas, and primordial landscapes. As I always maintain, the ability to "objectify" sensations always gives rise to works in which expressiveness is at the highest level, and in the case of this album, it is extraordinary in its ability to blend purely dreamlike and spiritual sensations with extremely earthly ones; it's as if two diametrically opposed aspects of existence magically fused. The percussion with which the album opens seems to bring "Batuka" from the origins of the world; the piece grows with the entry of the drums and, in a similarly natural manner, dissolves to merge with "No One To Depend On", the first highly successful single. These are wonderful progressions that dominate the third track. An essential piece, the cosmic "Taboo" has a spiritual power and intensity rare even in other peaks of Santana. This piece literally made me dream and "see" distant islands, I don't know, the archipelagos and atolls of Micronesia where Americans and Japanese fought to the last man... Then follows the tumultuous salsa of "Toussaint l'Overture", a real sonic battle fought with Carlos's lethal solos and the heights reached by Gregg Rolie's organ, with which the ideal first part of the album closes. (and in the original version, the first side).

We start again grandly with the pure joy and fun of the overwhelming R&B of "Everybody's Everything", followed by the subtly sad atmosphere of "Guajira", in which Carlos's sculpted solos blend with the rhythm section, the horns, and a vaguely jazz piano. But the mysterious and seductive side of the album resurfaces in "Jungle Strut", where the purest Santana style returns to prominence. There is something disconcerting in "Everything's Coming Our Way". Similar to what was said about "Taboo", here the acoustic guitar literally makes the piece take flight; there's no doubt, Rolie's organ tells us we are flying on an airplane, high, above the clouds, where there are no turbulences, illuminated by the reflections of the sunrise on the wings... But we must return to the Earth of men, and "Para Los Rumberos" reminds us of it with a trumpet that joyfully flutters over an overwhelming rhythm, closing a work that speaks from regions of the spirit still unexplored.