Artist: SANTANA
Album: WELCOME REMASTERED (CD)

Release date: 1973/ 2003
EAN/UPS: 5099751113027
Media type: CD

After the incredibly succesful Caranserai and heavenly collab with fellow Sri Chimnoy adept John McLaughlin, Carlos Devadip saw his group starting to fizzle out: Greg Rommie and Neil Schon had left (they will later found Journey as a jazz-rock group that will veer towards the execrable AOR group during the 80's) and Carlos went towards jazz singer Leon Thomas (Basie and Pharoah Sanders vocalist) and a duo of keyboardist Kermode and the long-lasting Tom Coster.

While the album tries to duplicate somewhat what Caravanserai had achieved, it eventuially fails to do so, on the count of a number of reasons. The first being that the album is much more sung than its predecessor and that Thomas' voice is just not as convincing as Rollie's was. The second is that the duo of keyboards fails to match the power that Rollie had with his organ, this notably is Kermode as Coster was already playing electric piano on the previous Caravan. While Schon's guitars are less noticably absent, it does have an impact on the overall power of the album too.

TRACKLIST CD:

1. Going Home (4:10)
2. Love Devotion And Surrender (3:36)
3. Samba De Sausalito (3:10)
4. When I Look Into Your Eyes (5:50)
5. Yours Is The Light (5:45)
6. Mother Africa (5:54)
7. Light Of Life (3:48)
8. Flame-Sky (11:32)
9. Welcome (6:30)

Bonus track on 2003 Legacy remaster:
10. Mantra (6:00)


LINE-UP:

- Leon Thomas / vocals (2,4,7), whistling (5)
- Carlos Santana / electric & acoustic (2) guitars, bass & kalimba (6), percussion (1,7), vocals (2)
- Tom Coster / Hammond (2,4,5) & Yamaha (1,4,6,8) organs, electric (3,7) & acoustic (6,8,9) pianos, percussion (3), marimba (6), string co-arranger (7)
- Richard Kermode / Hammond (1,3,8), electric (2,4-7,9) & acoustic (5) pianos, Mellotron (1), percussion (3), marimba (4), shekere (4,6)
- Doug Rauch / bass
- Michael Shrieve / drums
- Jose 'Chepito' Areas / timbales (2,3,6,7), congas (3), percussion (3,9)
- Armando Peraza / percussion (1,3,9), congas (2,4-8), bongos (4), cabasa (5)

With:
- Flora Purim / lead vocals (5)
- Wendy Haas / vocals (2,4)
- John McLaughlin / guitar (8)
- Douglas Rodriguez / rhythm guitar (4)
- Joe Farrell / flute solo (4)
- Bob Yance / flute (4,5)
- Mel Martin / flute (4,5)
- Jules Broussard / soprano saxophone (6)
- Tony Smith / drums (3)
- Alice Coltrane / arranger (1)
- Greg Adams / strings co-arranger, orchestrator & conductor (7)