Santana - Caravanserai (1972)

Although I've heard plenty other Santana tracks that I like over the years, this is the only album of theirs that I've ever owned - it just ticks so many boxes.  Latin-jazz-funk-rock-fusion with a clear influence of Silent Way-era Miles Davis, an admitted influence of Lonnie Liston Smith's Astral Travelling on the opening track, and a cover of a Jobim tune.  What's not to like?

Caravanserai sounds best in full-length immersion on headphones, not least on the first side where all the tracks flow perfectly without a break.  The second half of the album starts as the first did, in experimental ambient mode and this time with a great percussion break, then there's a version of Jobim's Stone Flower with added lyrics.  The rest of the album is just red hot grooves all the way to the end.

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