dreadpirateroberts 'Borboletta' is a album that is less hit and miss than it's predecessor but not a whole lot more rewarding, even if it has a more unified sound to add to its share of noteworthy performances.

The album opens heavy on atmosphere with 'Spring Manifestations' which leads into the dreamy 'Song of the Flowers.' Its simple and effective rhythm, spacey electric keys and flute make for a calm but mood-setting beginning to an album that is not unwilling to take its time - which is quite welcome.

Unfortunately, 'Borboletta' introduces new lead vocalist Leon Patillo with the cheesy 'Life Is Anew.' While his clean cut voice must have been an attractive sound for the spiritual feel Carlos' had been exploring for some time, it didn't have perhaps the required grit for some songs here, being almost a 'soul-lite' sort of voice. Very pure, but somehow both not earthy enough for the few rockier moments, and not fey enough for the more ethereal moments. 'Give and Take' is the best example here, where a great riff is not supported by his Elvis moments or his growls.

'One with the Sun' is basically one of the 'misses' with its mismatched lead lines from Santana and fairly awkward vocal lines. The song would perhaps have been more effective as an instrumental - like 'Aspirations' which follows. It showcases the cymbal work of Shrieve and a heavily treated (but effective) saxophone solo from Jules Broussard, while Coster's keys swell in the background. Santana doesn't actually take a solo here, just as comfortable acting as producer.

Perhaps the next highlight is actually 'Mirage' where the chilled approach to the song, with its organ, happy beat and supporting percussion is a great fit for Patillo, who comes up with a catchy vocal. But it isn't until the mighty, and genuinely moving 'Promise of a Fisherman' that the album peaks. An eight minute exploration of a theme, it's an impressive workout from the entire group. Carlos is inspired and the whole middle section of the song is a burst of welcome, frantic energy. In fact, it's an almost complete overhaul of Brazilian artist Dorival Caymmi's original - which is more of a folk song - upping the tempo and only retaining the vocal line if not the words, re-imagining it for the keys and guitar, and adding a wordless chorus low in the mix. The tension between the fast rhythm section and the slower, meditative key and vocal parts are part of what makes the song such a great listen.

Admittedly, it would be most unfair to give this album, despite some shining moments, three stars instead of four due to the miscasting of Patillo and that's not my intent. Other factors certainty contribute. The songwriting is not at the same standard as on other Santana albums and Carlos himself is not as inventive across the twelve pieces. In fact, he'd probably reached a point in Santana's career that it was becoming increasingly difficult to outdo himself.

That said, 'Borboletta' is probably worthwhile for its quieter instrumental moments and the 'Promise of a Fisherman' alone. Good stuff, but not their best. Fans will want this, but casual listeners may want to give it a miss.

Chicapah What the Santana Band had inexplicably contracted during the early 70s could best be diagnosed as Manic Inconsistency Syndrome, a malady that causes a group to experience extreme highs ("Caravanserai") and seemingly bottomless lows ("Welcome") within the space of one year. While the former album blazed a glorious trail by creating exhilarating combinations of Latin jazz and rock and is now considered one of the greatest ever in that genre, the latter LP was as bland and lifeless as a dead buzzard decomposing on an arid desert floor. With those two extremes in mind, those of us who considered ourselves to be loyal fans had no idea what to expect from "Borboletta." What we got was something in between. The album starts in a primitive, mystical vein with arrhythmic Brazilian percussion and sound effects provided by Flora Purim and Airto Moreira. But since the group freely utilized highly exotic flavorings on earlier recordings this is not necessarily a bad omen. This brief appetizer called "Spring Manifestations" segues smoothly into "Canto De Los Flores," an instrumental featuring Tom Coster's electric piano that might make you envision canoeing leisurely down a calm rain forest river. Speaking of rain, the first sign of clouds and a tentative step back into tepid "Lite Rock" territory arrives with "Life Is Anew," a mediocre song from Carlos Santana and drummer Michael Shrieve that introduces the vocalizations of Leon Patillo. (Gotta say this much for the guy. His voice is a substantial upgrade from Leon Thomas who was ill suited for Santana's style and only added to the dullness of the previous fiasco.) The song never completely catches fire but it benefits greatly from Coster's stirring organ ride and the long-overdue appearance of Carlos' sumptuous guitar riffs. "Give And Take" is next and FINALLY you get some Santana energy and heat! It's a rockin' tune made even better by the inclusion of some spicy percussion explosions from Armando Peraza's congas and Jose "Chepito" Areas' thrilling timbales. Jules Broussard steps up to add some pizzazz with his tenor saxophone, elevating the whole endeavor.

Unfortunately they can't seem to maintain that lofty altitude as they bring you back down to earth with another MOR sleep-inducer, "One With The Sun." Just as before on "Life Is Anew," for some reason you have to wait until the halfway point in the song before things get moving. Carlos unleashes a fierce guitar solo, Coster injects some piercing keyboards and Shrieve breathes some brimstone from behind his drum kit to keep the tune from putting you under sedation. "Aspirations," the first composition to feature the extraordinary bassist Stanley Clarke, bolts from the gate with Leon Chancler's drums racing at a feverishly fast clip. It seems as if they're about to take you somewhere intriguing but after a few minutes it's disappointingly clear that you're only being led in circles. The chords are constantly changing but there's no discernable melody and Broussard's soprano sax, while wildly emotional, gets too noisy too often to create a memorable ambience. It's a waste of a fine rhythm track if you ask me. Carlos' "Practice What You Preach" has an enticing, bluesy, almost gospel feel at the start as he pours out some soulful guitar licks over a fat Hammond organ churning in the background. But, alas, the band comes meandering in to play yet another easy- listening snooze-fest that fails to provide much of a pulse. "Mirage" follows but it's not much better. They establish a danceable groove at least but Patillo's pop song is just lame.

At this point you might be tempted to abandon all hope of receiving any aural stimulation but all is not lost because the cavalry is on its way (at long last) to rescue the final 15 minutes. "Here and Now" is the first of three interlaced instrumentals that are truly spectacular. After a short free-form beginning a strong rock beat is introduced and the band starts clicking on some sharp accents before jumping into "Flor De Canela" where the tempo revs up another notch or two and Airto Moreira is flat out flying in the jet stream! Clarke's bass stays right with him as the band's dynamics start shooting straight out of the speakers at you. All of this leads directly to the wonderful "Promise of a Fisherman," the album's saving grace. It features a beautiful melody line that strolls in a dreamy half-time over the furiously paced flow of the tune with the percussion sizzling incessantly beneath. Coster shines on the organ once again but this is Carlos' moment in the sun and he delivers a screaming, impassioned performance that even dares to venture into Jimi Hendrix dimensions with some writhing feedback cries and groans. This song is a virtual palace built on prime Santana real estate. I would have hungrily devoured an extra three or four minutes of this spiritualized sublimity but they chose to end things much like they began with Moreira's "Borboletta." It's another weird exploration into the dark recesses of the Amazon jungle with Airto providing spooky medicine man yelps and moans accompanied by tribal snaps, crackles and pops. (For the life of me I don't know why this wasn't a hit single.)

If the group was clinically bipolar on the previous two LPs, this is the Santana band on lithium. (Okay, okay, I'll stop with the metaphors already.) The fact is that "Caravanserai" was the triumphant culmination of almost four years of intense musical growth and phenomenal success. And when the inevitable overhaul of the band came due it meant starting all over at square one and the result was amateurish. "Welcome" was timid and devoid of a unified spirit, necessitating another shakeup of personnel. In that light "Borboletta" should be viewed as a collection of mostly baby steps but it has some dazzling moments that make it a better than average effort and definitely worth a listen.

Warthur Drawing inspiration from the fusion work of Flora Purim and Airto Moreira, who were a key component of the original Return to Forever lineup as well as contributing to Santana's previous album Welcome. When you add guest appearances from Purim, Moreira and Stanley Clarke on this album, that goes some way to explain why it sometimes sounds like Santana's take on Return to Forever's first two albums. The result is an interesting enough album, but it seems to constantly hover between plunging into the Latin-tinged fusion it outlines on the one hand and moving back towards a more mainstream sound on the other.

Sean Trane This album is unfortunately too often over looked, but represents yet another highlight in the group’s discography and a shot at equalling (but not really close) Caravanserai’s perfection. Named (I think) on a rare blue Central American butterfly (the background shot is a close-up of its wing’s structure), this album is all too discreet for its own good.

Starting on the same birdsong and sheep herd landscapes than its inspiration (but written by jazz-rock great Airto Moreira), you just know you will be in for another superb Santana ride as right after the intro, the first few mid-eastern scales of Canto De Flores directly lead you to heaven. As usual with Santana albums, happiness radiates from every pore of the vinyl record groove and Life Is Anew and Give And Take (both sung and hyper positive) are some of the better sung jazz-rock (I am usually not really a fan of that “thing”), and the vocals do help setting its own feel as opposed to its inspiration. On a lesser level, One With The Sun, while still lovely, is maybe one sung-track too many in a row, but I might be just a bit over-nitpicky. Aspirations quickly repairs this slight flaw with its splendidly cosmic calmness. After the great Practice What You Preach instrumental, one more sung tracks (I must say that Leon Patillo’s voice is quite pleasing) the excellent Mirage, the impressive Here and Now is quite a departure from what Santana had us used to and segues into the highly fusional Flor De Canela, before the album climaxes in the lengthy Promise Of A Fisherman, which is not lying in its promise to the listener: although nothing never heard before, we are dealing with one of the last truly great lengthy Santana instrumental here. The closing Airto Moreira-penned track is rather anecdotical, but does close the album in the same intriguing manner it openned.

One of the thngs that differentiates this album from the ultimacy (if you’ll allow the creation of a new word for that album) of Caravanserai is Greg Rollie’s absence >> both his organs and his voice are aptly replaced and almost equalled. But really, this album has very few to envy to it either.