Blues for Salvador in Bloomington, MN

On previous "solo" albums,
Carlos Santana
had made noticeable stylistic changes and worked with
jazz
,
pop
, and even
country
musicians. On this, his fourth
release, the line between a "solo" and a "group" project is blurred; this record is really a catchall of
Santana
band outtakes and stray tracks. For example, included are an instrumental version of
"Deeper, Dig Deeper"
from
Freedom
, and an alternate take of
"Hannibal"
Zebop!
, as well as
"Now That You Know"
from the group's 1985 tour. Given the variety of material, the album is somewhat less focused than most
band albums, but there are individual tracks that are impressive, notably
"trane,"
which features
Tony Williams
on drums. (
Blues for Salvador
won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance). ~ William Ruhlmann