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Santana: Shape Shifter

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Starfaith Records
Released: 2012.05.14
Time:
 57:22
Category: Latin Rock
Producer(s): Carlos Santana, Eric Bazilian, Walter Afanasieff
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.santana.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2014
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Shape Shifter (Carlos Santana) - 6:16
[2] Dom (Hamidou Touré, Ousmane Touré, Ismaila Touré, Tidiane Sixu Touré) - 3:51
[3] Nomad (Carlos Santana) - 4:49
[4] Metatron (Carlos Santana) - 2:39
[5] Angelica Faith (Carlos Santana, Chester Thompson) - 5:03
[6] Never the Same Again (Carlos Santana, Eric Bazilian) - 5:01
[7] In the Light of a New Day (Carlos Santana, Narada Michael Walden) - 5:06
[8] Spark of the Divine (Carlos Santana) - 1:03
[9] Macumba in Budapest (Carlos Santana, Walter Afanasieff) - 4:01
[10] Mr. Szabo (Carlos Santana) - 6:20
[11] Eres La Luz (Carlos Santana, Walter Afanasieff, Andy Vargas, Karl Perazzo) - 4:51
[12] Canela (Carlos Santana, Salvador Santana) - 5:22
[13] Ah, Sweet Dancer (Micheal O Suilleabhain) - 3:08

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Carlos Santana - Guitar, Quotation Author, Arrangements, Producer
Andy Vargas - Vocals
Tony Lindsay - Vocals
Chester Thompson - Keyboards
Dennis Chambers - Drums
Benny Rietveld - Bass
Salvador Santana - Piano on [7,12,13]
Raul Rekow - Congas
Karl Perazzo - Percussion

Benny Rietveld - Arranger

Walter Afanasieff - Producer
Eric Bazilian - Producer
Joe LaPorta - Mastering
Emily Lazar - Mastering
Chief Yellow Lark - Quotation Author
Chief Seattle - Quotation Author
Rance Hood - Cover Art
Shelley Hunter - Graphic Design, Graphic Production
Mary Anne Bilham - Photography
Giulio Fratticioli - Back Cover Photo

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


While 1999's best-selling Supernatural temporarily brought Carlos Santana many new listeners, Shaman followed the same formula - pairing his guitar with pop vocalists - with diminished returns creatively and commercially. Santana tries to undo the damage on Shape Shifter, the debut from his Starfaith label. All but one of its 13 cuts is an instrumental. Producing and co-producing every track, he tries hard to reinvent himself not into something new, but into what he has always believed himself to be: an innovative and exploratory guitarist and composer. While there's no denying his signature tone and style are intact here, many of these tunes are merely simple vamps with sometimes fiery guitar improvisation in a variety of stylistic contexts. Standouts include the opening title track, a tigh - if repetitive - jam. It contains the most powerful soloing and riffing from Santana - on record anyway - in almost two decades. Chester Thompson's B-3 groove pushes the song from inside; his solo is as imaginative as Santana's. "Nomad," a melodic rock number with an authentically emotive guitar solo, showcases his still breathtaking pyrotechnics wholesale. The brief and very lyrical "Metatron," as beautiful as it is, owes more than a little of its melody to Bob Dylan's "Is Your Love in Vain." "Angelica Faith" teases longtime fans by employing the first three notes of "Samba Pa Ti" before moving in another balladic direction. "Never the Same Again" is a blissed-out, midtempo groover where Santana's playing (on nylon-string and electric guitars) cops melodic ideas from Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On," and restructures moments from his own "Song of the Wind." With its fat, shuffling hip-hop drums, it's a contender for a single on contemporary jazz radio. It's followed by another gorgeous ballad, "In the Light of a New Day." "Macumba in Budapest" is a Latin jam with excellent percussion from Raul Rekow and Karl Perazzo. The Latin tinge follows on "Eres La Luna," with fine vocals by Andy Vargas and Tony Lindsay. "Ah Sweet Dancer," a piano and guitar duet, closes the set; it's one of a pair featuring son Salvador Santana on keyboards. Shape Shifter is far from perfect. Its lack of more compelling compositional ideas and some of its ham-fisted production problems are balanced by the fact that Santana is not coasting on his rep any longer; he's trying to play the hell out of the guitar again. While ambition and reality are different things, any step away from the music of last decade would be an improvement - and Shape Shifter is.

Thom Jurek - All Music Guide



As he proved in 1969 with "Soul Sacrifice" and frequently thereafter, Carlos Santana doesn't need lyrics to make eloquent music. This largely instrumental debut release on his own label has moments of shit-hot playing (see the smeared runs on "Metatron"). But the arrangements, oversweetened with too many synthesizers, lean toward lite jazz. Maybe fellow Latin-rock visionaries the Mars Volta could sign on for Volume Two?

Will Hermes - June 4, 2012
RollingStone.com



“A lot of people said to me, ‘Enough with the guest vocalists for a while,’” Carlos Santana says with a laugh. “‘We want to hear the Mexican play the guitar!’” The legendary guitarist heard the call of the public and now he has responded.

His new album, Shape Shifter, is a compendium of new, blazing guitar-driven instrumental tracks. They run the gamut of styles that we’ve come to expect from Carlos Santana: churning rock, sizzling Latin grooves and passionate ballads that dance between the cosmic poles of earthly and divine love.

“I always envision a shaman in the middle of the Grand Canyon,” Carlos rhapsodizes. “The sun is coming up. He sees the eagle. He’s got the sage burning, and he starts doing an invocation to the Great Spirit. I mean, that’s how you should play a guitar solo. When you hear Hendrix, Eric Clapton or Buddy Guy, that’s what you’re hearing. But Eric always cracks up when I say things like that. He says, ‘Oh, Carlos always goes there.’”

The album’s title comes from American Indian culture and refers to the shaman’s spiritual ability to assume various animal shapes. But it’s also an apt metaphor for Santana’s magical ability to blend and merge with a variety of musical settings without ever losing his own distinctive identity. One note, and there’s no mistaking who’s playing the guitar.

“Ever since I was a child I’ve always been very attracted to melodies,” he says. “Whether I hear Jeff Beck, a choir, an ocean or the wind, there’s always a melody in there. There’s a melody in everything. And once you find the melody, then you connect immediately with the heart. Because sometimes English or Spanish, Swahili or any language gets in the way. But nothing penetrates the heart faster than the melody.”

On Shape Shifter, Carlos is backed by his band of many years’ standing: drummer Dennis Chambers, keyboardist Chester Thompson, bassist Benny Rietveld, conga player Raul Rekow and percussionist Karl Perazzo. Santana’s son Salvador, a pianist, joins him on several tracks. Only one of the album’s 13 compositions, “Eres La Luz,” features vocals, contributed by Santana band singers Andy Vargas and Tony Lindsay. But even that one is fully packed with stunning guitar action.

The album’s tracks were recorded over the past few years, between sessions for multi-Platinum, Grammy-gobbling Santana discs like Supernatural and Shaman. Released on Carlos’ new Starfaith label, Shape Shifter is a labor of love, as well as a special treat for guitar players and devotees of Santana’s six-string artistry.

Ever since his emergence on the late-Sixties San Francisco music scene and breakthrough performance at the Woodstock festival in 1969, Santana has been widely respected and admired as one of the foremost guitarists of our time. At age 65, he shows no signs of slowing down: he recently embarked on his second marriage, to drummer Cindy Blackman-Santana, and he and his band are about to begin a two-year residency at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, starting on May 2. Guitar World caught up with Santana for a brief discussion about Shape Shifter and the recent changes in his life and music.

Why is this the right time to bring out an instrumental record?

Because I think this is what people want to hear from me at this time. And also because I’m not with any record company right now. I’m taking a hiatus from record companies. There are a lot of labels interested in us still, by the grace of god. But right now, I have a window of opportunity with no responsibility to a record company. In that forum, it’s easy for me to release something of what I usually do anyway, like [1972’s jazz-fusion album] Caravanserai or [1980’s] Swing of Delight.

This album is dedicated to the American Indian.

Yes. One thing I love about American Indians is how they always say, “You can’t break my spirit. You may steal my land—you may do this or that to me—but you can’t break my spirit.” The other thing I love is that they have a vision and connection with Mother Earth that’s beyond the computer or the satellite. The computer and the satellite, they’re not as vast as we think they are. What’s really vast is your connection to Mother Earth, and you need to access your imagination muscle to be able to hear the sound of the earth. One person who’s really into that is my brother [Grateful Dead drummer/world percussionist] Mickey Hart. He’s really into reading and hearing the pulse of Mother Earth and he knows the key it’s in.

What is the chanting you’re doing at the beginning of the album’s opening track, “Shape Shifter”?

You know, I used to see videos of American Indians; they had contests in dancing. And I was always really fascinated when they go, [singing, pentatonic melody] Ayyyya, ayyyaaa, ayay. You know? It’s a way of invoking the Holy Ghost, the Great Spirit. So I just became one of them and did my own chant. I hope that didn’t offend anybody. I did it with a pure intention.

The album really showcases your band as well. This is a group of players you’ve been with for some time now, so you’re all pretty locked in together.

Yes, I’m very grateful. This is a very solid body of musicians who basically trust me. They understand that, when they come to my house, I probably have more records, cassettes and CDs than all of them put together. And I do listen to them. So they understand that there’s a reason why I’m the maître d’.

Your son Salvador is also featured on piano on two tracks, “Canela” and “Ah Sweet Dancer.”

Yes, thank you for asking about that. It’s a joy. I always felt uncomfortable and scared playing with my dad [a professional mariachi violinist], and I’m glad my son and I don’t have that thing with each other. We trust each other. I think over time he understood that music is not to compete or compare—especially with your father. Music is to complement.

I can’t imagine you being uncomfortable or scared to play with anybody though.

[laughs] Well, maybe it would only be with Wayne [Shorter] or Herbie [Hancock] or McCoy Tyner. But guys like that immediately dissolve all the fear fog anyway. Wayne said, “It’s like being in a sandbox. Here’s your shovel and bucket. Let’s have some fun, man!” When the fear fog dissolves, it’s easier to know what to do, what to play, how much to put into and take out.

You’re gearing up for another long residency in Las Vegas. What can people expect?

The alchemy of a real spiritual revival. When you let the Holy Ghost come in, people start crying, laughing and dancing, and that wasn’t part of the set list. I heard that sound from Jimi Hendrix in ’69, so I know that sound. It’s a sound where you play beyond what you know, and we want to be able to do that in the middle of the set every night. We’ll play what you’re familiar with, but we’re going to do our best to make it pure and new, like the first French kiss.

Speaking of which, how is your new marriage going?

Thank you for asking that too. This is better than ever. Your mind is a magnet. You don’t attract what you need or what you want; you attract who you are. And I love who I am! I love who Cindy is. ’Cause we both love the same things. We love Miles and Coltrane and Tony Williams. So when we get in the car we always say, “Turn it up! Louder!” It’s great to be with a female partner who doesn’t say, [feminine voice] “Oh, my ears are hurting. Can you turn it down?”

Agreement on music in the car is one of the foundations for a solid relationship.

That’s right! And it’s all about relationships. You and your instrument, you and your band, you and your mate. If your relationships are assigned and designed to make spiritual progress, it’s fun! F. U. N. If you’re not making spiritual traction, then everything is a burden.

Alan di Perna - 07/20/2012
Copyright 2015 © GuitarWorld.com



The sticker plastered to Shape Shifter proclaims this is the Santana album 20 years in the making. Actually, it's the first album in 13 years where the guitarist doesn't just seem like a sideman on his own records. Nobody is more deserving of a career-reviving success story than Mexican-born Santana who was rewarded after years of falling sales and critical disinterest by the nobody-saw-it-coming success of Supernatural (Arista, 1998) which sold a whopping 15 million copies and won 11 Grammys.

Unfortunately, Santana would spend the most of the next two decades chasing further Supernatural sales, by following Arista Records executive Clive Davis' formula of pairing the 64-year-old guitarist with younger, of-the-moment chart-toppers, no matter how ill-matched the pairing, reducing the band to token appearances or sidelined completely. All the while, Santana insisted in interviews how much he loved jazz and the music of Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, whom he toured with in 1988.

After Guitar Heaven (Arista, 2010) failed to reach gold record sales, Santana has now recompensed the patience of the faithful fan with an honest-to-goodness Santana album. Shape Shifter is an album of instrumentals played by the regular band with Carlos' son, Salvador playing piano.

Shape Shifter is infused with an energy and furious guitar solos and Carlos sounds like he's having a lot of fun, but it is not jazz. For all his professed love of the genre, Santana isn't a jazz guitarist. What he is is a rock guitarist who plays on jazz albums, as he did when he stepped in for Shorter on This Is This (Columbia, 1985) the last Weather Report record.

A few of the songs on Shape Shifter are little more than loose jams. "Dom" begins nicely with Chester Thompson's keyboards, but doesn't build, instead just meanders to its conclusion. "Metatron" is an introduction for a song that seems incomplete.

"Never the Same Again" is more successful, as Carlos opens with a nylon-string acoustic guitar intro before switching over to electric for a gliding solo. The album is pretty, but most of the songs are built around Santana's guitar and Thompson's keyboards. Percussionists Raul Rekow and Karl Perazzo aren't given much to do until "Macumba In Budapest," which is a quintessential Santana jam. "Mr. Szabo" is a nod of Carlos' hat to Gabor Szabo, while the lone vocal track, "Eres La Luz" gives Andy Vargas and Tony Lindsay an opportunity to strut their stuff.

Shape Shifter may not be a full-fledged return to the classic Santana sound, but it is the first recording in over a decade that harks back to the band's glory days and is a welcome respite from Santana "the pop star."

Jeff Winbush - July 17, 2012
© 2015 All About Jazz



It’s been more than forty years since a career-igniting performance at the Woodstock festival launched Carlos Santana’s reputation as a rock legend and true guitar god. Thirty-five albums later (!!!), Santana is preparing his latest disc of new material, ‘Shape Shifter,’ for a May 15 release on his new label, Starfaith Records.

Unlike some of his later-era successes, ‘Shape Shifter’ focuses solely on showcasing Santana’s lead guitar work; out of thirteen new tracks, only one song features vocals. The album is comprised of originals written by Santana in collaboration with an assortment of artists and producers from the late ’90s to the present. On the album’s final two cuts, Santana collaborates with his son, Salvador Santana, who plays piano on both.

“The record is basically directed to honor the American Indians,” Santana told Guitar World in February. “As you know, the people in New Zealand collectively agreed to give an apology to the Aborigines in Australia, and for me, whatever we do here in America to honor the American Indians, the Chinese, African-Americans and everybody else is a big step. So I created a CD, ‘Shape Shifter,’ and it’s dedicated to the American Indians.”

Santana’s new album will debut just a few weeks after Carlos begins a two-year residency at the House Of Blues at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. We can only hope for more live collaborations with the Bieb. Last fall, Rolling Stone ranked Santana at No. 20 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Matt Springer March 28, 2012
UltimateClassicRock.com



Over the past decade, Santana has done nothing but feeding his mainstream appeal with albums that featured a myriad of renowned radio artists that were better or worse. Trading the heart of his songs for money, of course many of the songs were hits and the albums sold more than ever. Also, a whole new fan base was created and most of these people probably haven't even heard his truly fine records or even if he was releasing albums before Supernatural. However, everything found on these albums followed the same formula, a simple beat with added guitar licks that in the end were all going in the same direction. This damaged a lot his reputation as an innovative guitar player and when the sales of these records started to lag, Santana decided to go back to his signature sound, more or less.

Shape Shifter is 13 track mostly instrumental record. Santana also took control of the production, further fueling his decision to reinvent his sound or at least to prove that he still has the mindset and creativeness to explore newer grounds. Still, the new record holds the same simple and somewhat repetitive rhythm section, stripped here of almost all the signature percussion and keyboards, while he plays the hell out of the guitar. The result is somewhere in between his records, new and old: there are a number of cuts that shine here through his melodic guitar play, while the others don't bring anything more than standard Santana to the table. The positive aspect is that nothing here sounds as Supernatural, Shaman or All That I Am. Even the only track containing vocals here, "Eres La Luz", goes more for the 70s aspects of his vocal tracks, but with a modern touch and a flamenco-tinged feel.

The title track is one example of the better tracks, showcasing some of Santana's most powerful guitar soloing in a long time, dueling with keyboard player Chester Thompson who rips the Hammond B-3. Everything harkens to the band's heyday, but this is not enough to hold the whole record on its feet yet. The next two tracks are even more interesting. "Dom" and "Nomad" follow the same pattern of a repetitive rhythm section giving way to endless guitar solos. Santana successfully turns these two into highlights by showcasing the fact that he can still churn some effective, melodic and emotive solos after so many years. The former boasts new wave synths and drum pattern akin to Depeche Mode's 1987's "The Thing You Said" and the solos are more stop-start, while the latter sounds more natural and hits harder as a whole, with a more powerful instrumental backing him up.

Shape Shifter is rich in ballads, some of them being really beautiful without actually sounding cheesy. "In The Light Of A New Day", along with the short coda-like "Spark Of The Divine" might be the most beautiful ones here. They're nothing pretentious or overcrowded, so these two songs just stand out in their sheer simplicity. Santana also revisits some of his early jams, first his jazz era through "Never The Same Again", channeling some ideas from his own "Song Of The Wind" off 1972's gem, Caravanserai. The smooth, laid-back feel makes this track a gorgeous listen, giving even more signs of life out of this record. Album closer, "Ah, Sweet Dancer", goes the same way, having a lounge jazz feel, being a lovely duet between Santana's guitar and his son Salvador Santana, on keyboards. It really stands up as one of the best moments here, coming so unexpected at the end of the record and it's definitely a highlight. "Angelica Faith" also features some licks from early era, this time from "Samba Pa Ti". Even though is not as effective as the aforementioned cut, it's nice to see Santana going for his earlier sound and mindset, rather than his recent lifeless output.

In the end, even though there is a fair number of good songs here, these highlights would've been enough for Shape Shifter, which overstays its welcome. At almost an hour, it's hard to follow the whole album and keep the listener attentive. All the tracks follow the same path more or less, so beside the better ones, the rest of them only add to quantity, not necessarily quality too. This does not mean they're lacking, given Santana's 40 year experience in the genre, it's just that they don't have enough spark and strength to shine for themselves. Nevertheless, Shape Shifter is the record that most of the hardcore fans, that stuck with his earlier output and still follow him today, awaited for such a long time. Right now it may be too late for Santana to make any history, but this album is at the very least an interesting addition in his expansive discography.

Raul Stanciu - May 19th, 2012
© Copyright 2005-2014 Sputnikmusic.com
 


Shape Shifter is the twenty-first studio album (thirty-sixth album overall) by Santana. It was released on May 14, 2012. This album is the first from his new record label Starfaith Records, which is distributed by Sony Music Entertainment, owners of most of Santana's albums (except those recorded for Polydor Records which are owned by Universal Music Group). It is also the first album since 1992's Milagro that does not feature guest singers in any of the songs, a style that characterized Santana's albums since Supernatural. The album contains only one song with vocals ("Eres La Luz"). The track "Mr. Szabo" is a homage to the Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó, who released a series of 8 albums for Impulse Records between 1966 and 1967, and one of Carlos Santana's early idols, and features a similar rhythmical and harmonic structure to "Gypsy Queen", a Szabó hit from 1966 covered by Santana in 1970 as a medley with Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman".

Wikipedia.org
 

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