Santana 1972-1974

I was listening to a lot of Flora Purim's Brazilian Latin fusion jazz this week after the release of her final album at the age of 80. Then I put on the Santana albums she sang on which got me into a lot of Santana from that period 1972 to 1974. I ended up listening to several studio albums from that time and also that awesome three record live set Lotus released in 1974.

I always loved the early Santana albums. The first three were great but the next three along with the duet album with John McLaughlin were intensely sublime and uniquely challenging as Carlos Santana went on his spiritual journey.

The first time I saw Santana perform in concert in 1969 they will actually billed as the Santana Blues Band. I saw them again in 1970 and then again in 1974 when they were in their Latin jazz fusion and John Coltrane influenced period. 

• Caravanserai, 1972
• Welcome, 1973
• Love Devotion Surrender, 1973
• Borboletta, 1974
• Lotus, 1974