Carlos Santana Presents Blues at Montreux (2004) [Blu-ray]

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Carlos Santana Presents Blues at Montreux (2004) [Blu-ray]

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Blues has always been an important part of Carlos Santana's music. In fact, when he started his career in San Francisco back in the early 60s, his group was known as the Santana Blues Band. In July 2004, Santana performed with three legendary bluesmen and good friends of his at the Montreux Jazz Festival - Bobby Parker, Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown and Buddy Guy - whose individual sets are included on this Blu-ray disc.

Louisiana-native Bobby Parker's career has been fairly uneven. During the early 60s, Parker relocated to Los Angeles where he played at various clubs and eventually met blues legend Johnny Otis. Later on, he moved to New York City where he finally started getting the type of exposure he had been hoping for - back-up work for Chuck Berry, Jackie Wilson, Eta James and even Little Richard. In 1961, Parker recorded the hit single "Watch Your Step", which Santana would later on perform regularly. In the early 90s, he managed to record two albums, "Bent Out of Shape" (1993) and "Shine Me Up" (1995), for the Scott Bros and their Black Top Records.

The eleven songs Parker performed at the Montrux Jazz Festival prove that he was still at the top of his game in 2004 - "So Glad I Found You", "It's Unfair" and especially "Chill Out" with Carlos Santana are pure gold (Santana also appears on "Mellow Down Easy" and "Watch Your Step").

Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown is another Louisiana-native guitarist who found success away from home - he began his career in Texas after attending a T-Bone Walker concert, and always described his music as "Texas style". During the years, Brown performed with such iconic musicians as Otis Rush, Louis Jordan, Ry Cooder and Eric Clapton. According to a number of different sources, he was an inspirational figure to Frank Zappa.

At the Montreux Jazz Festival, Brown performed a total of ten songs, of which "Strange Things Happen", "I've Got My Mojo Working" (with Santana and Buddy Guy) and "Okie Dokie Stomp" (with Santana and Nile Rogers) show perfectly what he was capable of. Brown is also impressive playing the violin in "Sunrise Cajun Style".

Living legend Buddy Guy, also a Louisiana-native, has influenced such musicians as Jimmi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Mark Knopfler. Guy became successful after he relocated from Baton Rouge to Chicago in the late 50s, where he performed at a number of different blues clubs, and eventually got a record deal. During the late 60s, however, he struggled enormously, and it took more than twenty years before he returned to prominence in the late 80s (partially die to Clapton's popularization of blues).

Guy performed a total of ten songs at the Montreux Jazz Festival, including such classics as "Stormy Monday" (with Santana), "Drowning on Dry Land" and Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man". The real jams in this set, however, are the acoustic guitar versions of Sonny Boy Williams' "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", "Louise McGhee" and "Done Got Old".

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Carlos Santana Presents Blues at Montreux (2004) [Blu-ray]

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Carlos Santana Presents Blues at Montreux (2004) [Blu-ray]

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Carlos Santana Presents Blues at Montreux (2004) [Blu-ray]

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Carlos Santana Presents Blues at Montreux (2004) [Blu-ray]

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Carlos Santana Presents Blues at Montreux (2004) [Blu-ray]

Close