The Swing of Delight Album Review
To say that I am a fan of Santana is somewhat of an understatement. I have had the pleasure to have seen him live 4 times in my life and all 4 were with my mom. I have to “blame” her and my father for giving us the gift of letting us hear a master musician in action. My parent's album collection has several of his albums and I have been able over the years after I was given the collection from my mom to help grow that part of it. I’m still not done but this album is one I treasure because of all the memories it holds for me when I first heard it all those years ago when my parents would put it on the turntable.
The original album from 1980
In August of 1980, Carlos Santana released his fourth solo album under his Sanskrit name Develop Carlos Santana. He worked with Miles Davis’ 60’s group for this masterpiece. When you see the original vinyl version it is a double album so you think all the songs are over 10 minutes long, but no. The average song time ranges from 5 to 7 plus minutes long. A memory that sticks out in my mind when it comes to this album was opening the cover to find a short-haired Santana wearing a St Louis Blues hockey jersey and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world and when I got older I was able to get a jersey from around that era so I could be just like one of my favorite guitar players.
Inside pictures of Carlos w/the jersey that I wanted.
Out the gate, Santana gives a blistering performance of the first song call Swapan Tari and you get completely wrapped up in the song. Close behind his guitar, you hear Herbie Hancock beating the heck out of the piano and are in time and back and forth. Both of them together take you away to a place that is euphoric and indescribable. Then the bass guitar played by David Margen comes in with that stank. By the time Prenik Russell Tubbs brings in his sax, you get the funky breakdown that you were not expecting. Let's not forget Tony Williams and his brilliant drums and killing the rhythm section. The 6:46 opus is the one song that I find myself playing over and over and I cannot get enough of. I have moments that I wish the song was longer.
Love Theme from “Spartacus” is the second track of the album and it will relax you from all the hype that you feel from Tari and that is the calmness that you need. You wonder if this song would have fit into the movie. No matter if it was for the movie or not the song is beautiful. Written by Alex North and highlighted by the masterful soprano saxophone of Wayne Shorter and the piano of Hancock you are taken into the highs with no lows to be seen. The song is so smooth with a bit of funk
Track 3 Phuler Matan with a solo acoustic guitar that gives a bit of mariachi feel then he switched to his signature guitar with everyone joining him on this Sri Chinmoy written masterpiece.
Track 4 is probably my favorite song on the whole album. Song for My Brother written by Santana himself I always loved how layered the song is. Hancock comes in with is mastery. While the rest of the players enter in their soft touches that make the song so beautiful. I remember listening to this song as I grew up and gives me all the good feels that I remember when my parents would a album on the turntable and all that good music filled the our home and just sitting in the living room (knowing I needed to be in my room doing something and staying out of grown folks business) just wondering and wishing I could do something like that one day.
Track 5 Jharna Kala kicks you right out the gate just like Tari but longer in time to enjoy. Hancock’s solo performances in this song remind you that he is a complete genius on the keys and he cannot be touched. Every song he is on he kills and makes you want to dig into his catalog to find out more about him.
Gardenia is a song that you can sit back with a glass of wine and play in the background but still pay attention while having a great conversation about the song itself. You have to pause the conversation for a minute to talk about Wayne Shorter and how damn good he is when his solo comes on. He is that player that makes you stop in mid-sentence and say DAMN MAN YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO HURT ME LIKE THAT! You end up making that face to show that you are into it. The song has twists and turns that wind down to a peaceful end that you can just exhale.
La Llave is a quick 3:40 Santana-written song that starts the second side of album 2 or track 7 on the CD. You get to hear Santana sing in Spanish. This bass and the rhythm-heavy song give all the Spanish feels that make you want to dance.
Golden Hours also written by Santana gives me the ending credits of a movie mood. The guitar is not overly heavy in this one. Instead, Premik Russell Tubbs flute and Hancock on the Fender Rhodes are highlighted on this one. Carlos puts his touch midway through but not too much. He let the supporting cast do their thing on this one.
Sher Khan, the Tiger rounds out the album. Written by Wayne Sorter, this song reminds you that he is Wayne MF’n Shorter and he does it with great ease. The song is blistering and not heavy like some of the others on this double album but it is a fitting and nice end to it.
It’s funny to me that this album is classified under jazz and I can see that but you also get elements of rock, and funk. The breakdowns in some of the songs still make me dance to this day. The album is 41 years old and it still has staying power.
Underneath my turntables at my old apartment Swing of Delight and Steely Dan’s Gaucho always sat out reminding me of how great music is.