Santana’s “Lost” LP Lotus Gets Audio Fidelity Release

Don’t know how this one slipped passed me, but it did – evidently the pioneering classic rock band Santana released a very cool triple vinyl live set titled Lotus in 1974. Recorded at the Osaka Koseinenkin Hall in Osaka, Japan in 1973, the album was available exclusively in Japan until it was finally released on CD stateside in 1991 to little notice, and it’s languished in relative obscurity ever since, overshadowed by similar period studio albums like Caravanserai, Borboletta, and Welcome.

On November 25th, 2016 Santana’s Lotus will get the full Audio Fidelity treatment when it’s released by the noted audiophile label as a two-disc limited edition hybrid SACD. Touring in support of the band’s fifth album, Welcome, which itself featured the “New Santana Band” of guitarist Carlos Santana, bassist Doug Rauch, drummer Michael Shrieve, keyboardists Tom Coster and Richard Kermode, and percussionists Armando Peraza and Chepito Areas, Lotus documented the new line-up’s move towards a jazz-rock fusion sound that was influenced by artists like John Coltrane and John McLaughlin as well as Carlos’s then-new spiritual influences.

Featuring sparkling SACD sound, Lotus features performances of some of the band’s big hits like “Black Magic Woman” and “Oy Como Va” alongside extended instrumentals like “Incident at Neshabur” and “Toussaint L’Overture” that displayed the band’s immense virtuoso musical talents. Check out the complete Lotus track list below and then get over to Amazon.com to order your copy of this overlooked but otherwise excellent album.

Santana’s Lotus track list:

Disc One
Going Home
A-1 Funk
Every Step of the Way
Black Magic Woman
Gypsy Queen
Oye Como Va
Yours Is the Light
Batuka
Xibaba (She-Ba-Ba)
Stone Flower (Introduction)
Waiting
Castillos de Arena Part 1 (Sand Castle)
Free Angela
Samba de Sausalito

Disc Two
Mantra
Kyoto (Drum Solo)
Castillos de Arena Part 2 (Sand Castle)
Incident at Neshabur
Se a Cabo
Samba Pa Ti
Mr. Udo
Toussaint L'Overture