BMG Santana - Ceremony - Remixes and Rarities

Ceremony--essentially a collection of remixes and outtakes from the sessions that spawned the recent albums Supernatural and Shaman--may well appear to be little more than a stop-gap offering aimed at seasoned completists or those insatiable newcomers who've been seduced by Santana's latterday commercial Latin-pop renaissance. However, one must be prepared to be surprised. Aside from five previously unreleased cuts (the best being Santana's very own creamy instrumental "Curacion" and the Afro-energetic "Truth Don Die", written by Femi Anikulapo Kuti, son of Fela) two or three of the revamped items surpass the original album versions. Witness, for example, Wyclef's crisp, bright, stabbing remix of "Maria Maria"--much better than the muddier stodge purveyed on Supernatural. Chris Staropoli's percussive club remix of "Smooth" is also superior, although Rob Thomas's (Matchbox Twenty) aftershave-reeking sweet nothings are still enough to send any self-respecting damsel scurrying off to the ladies' room. Thumbs down, too to the inauspicious alternate vocal take of "Why Don't You and I" (featuring the Calling's Alex Band rather than Nickelback's Chad Kroeger). At times such as these you wish Santana would stop faffing about with Billboard flavours of the month and cut some capers with Ry Cooder's mates in Havana. Or even Gloria Estefan. Kevin Maidment

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