Product Details

• Actors: Santana, Wayne Shorter
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Live, NTSC
• Language: English
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: February 27, 2007
• Run Time: 124 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000KGH08O
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,308 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

For those who wonder what Weather Report, arguably the premier jazz-fusion band of the '70s and '80s, might have sounded like with a guitar player, Carlos Santana & Wayne Shorter - Live at Montreux is a good reference point. The verdict: if Shorter's involved, it's going to be good. The saxophonist-composer and his Weather Report co-founder, keyboardist Joe Zawinul, had disbanded the group by mutual consent about two years before Shorter joined forces with guitarist Santana on a 1988 tour that included this gig at Switzerland's Montreux Jazz Festival. And while Santana was the bigger name, the music presented in this two-hour concert is actually closer to the Weather Report sound--i.e., a rich blend of electric jazz and world music influences performed by a versatile group of virtuoso players. In fact, three of them had been Weather Report members at various times: bassist Alphonso Johnson, the amazing drummer Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, and Chester Thompson, who plays keyboards here but had manned the drum seat while with Shorter, Zawinul, and company. Along with keyboardist Patrice Rushen and percussionists Armando Peraza (congas) and Jose Chepito Areas (timbales), both Santana stalwarts, they assay material familiar to both Shorter fans ("Elegant People" from Weather Report's Black Market, "Sanctuary" from Bitches Brew, one of the many Miles Davis albums on which Shorter played) and Santana lovers ("Incident at Neshabur," "Blues for Salvador," "Europa"). Shorter is brilliant throughout; his solos on both tenor and soprano sax are fiery and expressive, and his communication with the others is a wondrous thing to behold. Santana, on the other hand, often sounds out of his element, if not out of his league; although he has an instantly recognizable sound and plays with great passion, he's primarily a rock guitarist with a limited blues-based style that restricts his ability to interact with skilled improvisers like Shorter and Rushen and take part in the kind of dynamic ebb and flow that characterizes great jazz performances. In the end, this is a good, sometimes inspiring show. But one wonders what might have happened if Shorter had joined forces with, say, John McLaughlin instead. --Sam Graham

Product Description

Carlos Santana and Wayne Shorter perform live at Montreux.
Genre: Music Video - Jazz
Rating: NR
Release Date: 27-FEB-2007
Media Type: DVD

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who writes these reviews? Children?, April 2, 2007

By	M. Crutcher "funkifized" (Lowell, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I saw Shorter/Santana on this tour, still have the T-shirt to prove it. It was an awe-inspiring moment in music history. Santana had been doing his brand of jazz-rock fusion since the '70's, but had taken a detour into the pop world. Santana's "Lotus" and "Caravanserai" are masterpieces, not to mention Carlos' work with Alice Coltrane. The reviewer has quite obviously not done his homework, as Leon "Ndugu" Chancler worked with Santana in 1974-1976, *before* joining Weather Report (Chancler was in Weather Report in 1975). Santana has been friends with Wayne Shorter for many years, recorded "The Swing of Delight" with Shorter in 1980, which may have been a bit ambitious and fell fairly short of their potential.

However, any professional music reviewer that truly believes that drummer Chester Thompson switched to keyboards for this tour is a bumbling idiot. Chester Thompson, the keyboard player, has been playing with Santana since 1983, as well as being a *major* name in Hammond organ players, having been the main keyboard player for the Tower Of Power for 10 years.

Chester Thompson, the drummer, played with Weather Report for one year, in 1976, but was the long-time touring drummer with Genesis. He's a great drummer, but he'll never be a keyboard player at the level of his namesake in the Santana band.

This tour was an amazing feat, and while Shorter has a much richer history in the jazz-rock world than Santana, their playing seemed to be the perfect complement to each other. I eagerly await the next time Carlos decides to take such a risk and leave the comfortable pop world to explore jazz textures with Shorter.

Santana also performed a kickin' version of Miles Davis' "In A Silent Way/It's About That Time", of which the former was written by future Weather Report keyboardist/leader Joe Zawinul. The Weather Report/Shorter connection goes much further back and is much stronger than our friend Sam would have us believe.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Aficionados and Casual Fans, March 27, 2007

By	Thomas D. Ryan "American Hit Network" (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It seems inevitable that Wayne Shorter and Carlos Santana would team up. They seem to have similar sensibilities, and they share a passion for expressive music. Shorter's jazz credentials are indisputably top-of-the-line, and his time spent with Miles Davis and Weather Report proved that his rhythmic intuitions were impeccable. Santana's rock chops go unquestioned, but his jazz sensibilities are almost equally as impressive. As John Mayer said, the mark of a great player is that "they're all stuck on what they're seeking, not where they are." Is there a better way to describe the combined work of these two men? Come to think of it, it seems incredible that we waited until 1988 for this to happen, and it's surprising that the tag team didn't last longer than it did. Released almost two decades after they toured together, this CD and DVD release make it possible for the unfortunate many who could not see these shows to find out what they missed.
Together onstage, Santana and Shorter are like two great explorers seeking out new territory, using a vast, deep and almost superhuman percussion/rhythm section as their Sacagawea. The rhythm section for this show leads the players to places that most human beings could only experience through witnessing it, because it is almost impossible for an average player to interact with musicians of this caliber. Their interplay is generous, but intensely accurate and precise, never crowding the soloists but constantly prodding them to push further. The only relief comes when the band winds down for a blues progression, or some relaxed reflection. The dual keyboards fatten the overall sound, but the Yamaha DX7 sound samples date the proceedings to the mid-`80s era of synthesized plastic, providing the only false note of the performance. This is unfortunate, because the playing of soloist Patrice Rushen (remember the pop song "Forget Me Nots"? It turns out that she's a killer keyboardist!) has a delicious Cuban feel that suits the music brilliantly.
Both Shorter and Santana are restless spirits, so it was inevitable that this pairing could not last forever. Nevertheless, they achieved quite a bit for the time they spent. Judging from this performance, it was an experiment that worked magnificently, and an experience that all fans of interpretive jazz, rock and fusion will appreciate immensely.
A- Tom Ryan

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Concert, Terrible Cinematography, April 23, 2007

By	Glenn R. Ellison (Pembroke Pines, Florida United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For those of us who enjoy jazz rock music, the pairing of Carlos Santana and Wayne Shorter is a match made in heaven. For anyone who is even vaguely familiar with these two artists, then it should be quite obvious that a live concert featuring them would be great and this concert certainly is.

My criticism is twofold: First, the menu options on the DVD are limited at best. The only selections are: Play All, Interviews, Concert, and Audio Set Up. This DVD was released way after the practice of listing the song selections was the norm. Second, the director falls into the all too common pattern of keeping the shots brief. Most shots do not last longer than four seconds. Every time the shot changes, you have to reorient yourself. This is terrible when you're trying to watch an artist develope a solo. Also, I wish I knew what posses the overuse of the close up. I can almost see its use in movies but for concerts? Please! I really wish directors would realize that when they zoom in that close, they take away the audience's choice. When we attend a live concert, we sit in our seats and look at whatever we want. So, please, please, get the camera out of the performer's freakin' nose and let US decide what we want to look at.

I know that this doesn't bother most people. If you're one of them, then by all means, enjoy this DVD. However, if you feel as I do, you may only want to listen rather than watch.