Our last post focussed on Santana’s heady fusion offering ‘Going Home’. Now we fast-forward eight years to an underrated gem of the Santana catalogue, his version of Alex North’s ‘Love Theme From “Spartacus”‘ from his 1980 album The Swing Of Delight.
Anyone who has been following this project from the start will know that this is not the first time we’ve encountered a version of ‘Love Theme From “Spartacus”‘. Covered by both Yusef Lateef and Bill Evans, ‘Love Theme’ is a composition that took on the mantle of a jazz standard having been reinterpreted by numerous musicians throughout the 60s and 70s, proof of the timeless appeal of North’s original melody.
On his version of ‘Love Theme’, Santana worked with an all-star lineup of jazz musicians: Herbie Hancock on keys and arrangement, Wayne Shorter on sax, Ron Carter on bass and Harvey Mason of Head Hunters fame on drums. In contrast to Yusef Lateef’s swaying modal version and Bill Evans’ cerebral overdubbed interpretation, Santana infuses North’s composition with that trademark latin groove that permeates much of his work.
The track begins with Santana’s plaintive soloing of the main theme backed by the mellow keys of Hancock which really brings out the emotive weight of North’s original composition. The track then eases into a slow samba groove with Shorter taking a vibrant solo after which Santana reclaims the melody in a style echoing his rock roots.
As with much fusion jazz of the 1970s, Santana’s music illustrates this idea of a global approach to music-making, blending jazz, rock and latin with other musical genres and whilst this track may not be as ‘out there’ as his earlier 70s experiments with Coltrane and McLaughlin, it strikes a satisfying balance between these musical influences and is a worthy addition to the canon of ‘Love Theme’.
Explore more guitar virtuosity in our ‘Six String Stars’ playlist over on Spotify.
If you enjoyed this post and want to stay updated, make sure to subscribe to our Spotify playlist and follow us on Instagram and Twitter!
