Santana - Ecuador (1978)

Some time ago a 2CD set appeared which purported to be sessions for a proposed late 70's album from Santana titled 'Ecuador', which would have been released around the same time as 'Amigos', 'Festival', 'Inner Secrets' and 'Marathon'. There is very little information available about this music, but the tracks ran the gamut from R&B to Latin to jazz, and two of the more jazz-influenced tracks, 'Oneness' and 'La Llave', later turned up in re-recorded form, with 'Oneness' becoming the title track of a 1979 Devadip album, while 'La Llave' appeared on the 'Swing Of Delight' album in 1980. The sound quality is excellent throughout, and Santana's playing is stellar, particularly on 'Love Is Here To Stay', while Greg Walker's vocals on 'I've Waited All My Life' are mesmerising. One of the best instrumentals on the disc was untitled, so I've named that 'Ecuador', as I felt that the album needed a title track, and I've removed a couple of tracks which had very little input from Santana. As 'Oneness', 'La Llave' and 'Angel Negro' were later included on official albums I've left them off as well, and that leaves a superb 46-minute album which would have fitted perfectly into the late 70's output of the band, all housed in a cover celebrating an example of Tigua art from Ecuador. 

Track listing

01 Together
02 I've Waited All My Life   
03 Cry Of The Wilderness   
04 Love Is Here To Stay   
05 Ecuador
06 God Made You (For Me)   
07 Hear My Song   
08 Life Is Just A Passing Parade   
09 I'll Be Waiting