Guitarist Carlos Santana has had a close relationship with Claude Nobs, director of the Montreux Jazz Festival since 1970. As a result, they both feel obliged to make something special out of every Santana concert in Montreux. Hymns For Peace was heralded by Nobs during Montreux 2004 as the pinnacle in the festival's thirty-eight year history. And rightly so, because to make these words come true,
… a wagonload of top artists was brought in. Saxophonists Ravi Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, keyboardists Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Chester Thompson, guitarists John McLaughlin and Nile Rodgers, drummer Dennis Chambers, percussionist Omar Hakim and singers Patti Austin and Angelique Kidjo share the stage with Santana. Hymns For Peace starts very promisingly with the afro jazz classics Afro Blue and Adouma, with uplifting vocals from Kidjo, but then collapses when the setlist turns into songs by Bob Marley, Bob Dylan and Marvin Gaye. Fortunately, the level on the second DVD rises to unprecedented heights, although you may wonder what a song like The Banana Boat Song does in the repertoire, when there are so many top musicians available. (AD)more
