I'm sorry Steve, I did not mean to offend. It's just my opinion, nothing more. Benny is great, there are actually only a few that I prefer over him, being Alphonso and Pablo. I've always really admired Doug's playing, maybe I'm partial to him because I met him on 2 occasions and had a pretty good yak with him on one. Again, please accept my apology, I did not mean to offend, my comment wasn't meant to imply Benny (or any other of the musicians mentioned) were not worthy to play in the Santana band, only that (in my opinion) the ability level is not currently what it once was.
While I agree with .ost of your comparisons, I'm going to disagree with the " Benny is no Doug Rouch" statement. If he was good enough for Miles ... check out U and Me with Miles and Benny
...and not one happy birthday wish. I think I'm in the majority here when I say I'm not thrilled with the music Carlos has put out lately, but I also believe this: come on, people, let's give him a break - the man has more than paid his dues. All those musicians, those songs, the albums, the shows, all that constant and continuing touring, countless world tours, just look what Carlos has done and accomplished in his career. He is an amazing musical contributor who is well deserved of the term legend. I believe one (just one, there are more) of the reasons most of his material this century lacks the drive and excitement of the early works is that he's employing musicians that aren't up to the task of creating exciting music like he used earlier. Cindy can't play like Michael Shrieve, Benny is no Doug Rouch, whoever is covering congas can't compete with Raul or Armando, Dave is tremendously outclassed by C.T. and the Kermode/Coster keyboard section. I've not heard a vocalist lately that I like more than Greg Walker. Let's face it, even if someone were to come up with exciting music, THERE'S NOBODY IN THE BAND THAT COULD PLAY IT. The level of talent that Carlos uses in his current band line up is simply not on par with the people he used to play with. The one exception being Karl. Although I'll always love Chepito's playing, Karl is the only guy in the current line up that can continue to carry the torch. So Carlos, I'm sorry I didn't buy you a birthday present this year, but I promise you I made up for it as I bought you many many gifts when we were younger and your music was what I needed to make me happy. You've earned everything you have, it came from me and fans like me, and if you want to wind down a little now, that's ok. I will continue to hope I can appreciate more of your music in the future, but I won't expect it. You've done enough to keep me musically happy for the rest of my days. Happy birthday Carlos.
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