Santana - Earthquake Relief Concert 1989 (2024)

In the late 1980s Carlos Santana's management sought to revitalise his career by reminding the world how good he was. They released Viva Santana!, a thirty track retrospective and supported it with a series of blistering live performances (including the one captured here), the strategy worked.

The band Carlos took on the road was pared back. No horns and just one percussionist, the be-bop and latin-jazz legend, Armando Peraza.

The band also features Jorge Santana on guitar; his solo feature on The Healer is very different in feel and tone from his illustrious older brother, Carlos, who is in fine form throughout. The doldrums of the mid-eighties behind him, he solos at length and rides the percussive swell of his well-oiled latin rock ensemble like a big-wave surfer.

Performed as part of the ‘Earthquake Relief Concert’, Watsonville High School, Watsonville, CA November26th 1989, and broadcast by KQED-TV.

Carlos Santans (guitar) with Jorge Santana (guitar); Alex Ligertwood (vocals); Chester D. Thompson (keyboards, vocals); Keith Jones (bass); Wilfredo Reyes (drums); Armando Peraza (percussion). Featuring guests Cesar Rosas and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos on 12 Bar Blues.