Report: Santana Live in Las Vegas

Abetted by a tight band featuring alumni of P-Funk, Prince, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, the guitar maestro polishes off an 11-night residency at The Joint at the Hard Rock & Hotel & Casino on Feb. 20.

By Hal Bienstock

Santana's 1999 comeback album, Supernatural, which has just been reissued in an expanded 20^th anniversary edition, was a blessing and a curse. On the positive side, it brought him to a larger audience than he'd had in decades. But it also positioned him as a pop star, a role a person with his musical ambition would never feel completely comfortable with.

Ever since then, Santana has tried to walk the line between giving new fans hits like "Smooth" and "Maria Maria," pleasing classic rock-heads with "Oye Como Va" and "Black Magic Woman" and giving himself the space to explore jazz, Latin music, reggae, R&B and Sinatra-style standards. 

Even his current band reflects the dichotomy. A quick look at their credits reveals people who've played alongside Miles Davis, Prince and Dizzy Gillespie sharing the stage with others who point to working with Jon Secada and Gloria Estefan as career highlights.

This can create a sense of dissonance. On this night, Santana and his tight and versatile band, anchored by drummer Dennis Chambers (formerly of Parliament/Funkadelic) and bassist Benny Rietveld, blazed through an array of styles, at various times nodding to Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Bob Marley and John Coltrane. But their impressive work was occasionally undone by a pair of vocalists, who while technically proficient, have an almost complete lack of soul or grit. At times, it was like watching one of the world's best bands backing up singers at a karaoke bar.

Fortunately, vocals never mattered much in Santana's music. And Carlos himself was on top of his game as he wrapped up an 11-night stand at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. (He returns for another run of eight shows beginning on April 21). Just when a song like "Aye Aye Aye/Para Los Rumberos" or "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" was about to dip into Vegas lounge territory, he'd take over with a fiery solo, contorting his body and showing why he's earned his status as a living legend.

If Santana's live show today lacks some of the raw power of his late ‘60s/early ‘70s heyday, he makes up for it with pure mastery. The ten minutes of "Soul Sacrifice" that kicked off the encore are practically worth the price of admission alone, especially when you consider that you could lose twice that much at the blackjack table in that amount of time. And it sure beats the hell out of a night with Celine Dion or The Lion King.