"Havana Moon" has its share of Santana's nightworld feel, check out the cover, but a patchwork collection of songs.  Straight, not mixed in, R&B is combined with latin and jazz, and, in fact, western and country & western.  Not much of a concept album.  The band indeed explores roots, witness the Chuck Berry title cut and Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love."  Its rendition of the former is more favorable.  The two opening R&B numbers, "Watch Your Step" and "Lightin'," are OK but fairly pedestrian.
The best songs are the jazzy, dark "Mudbone" and "Tales of Kilimanjaro."  They are somewhat similar in character, tho not at all in sound.  Free-flowing jazzy solos occasionally display the sweet latin melodic trademark of Carlos, but "Mudbone" has a U.S. western feel and is somewhat more driving while "Tales" is more meandering.  The soft, romantic "One with You" is another good song, and it flows into a more lively, fine guitar solo.
"Daughter of the Night" and the short "Ecuador" are less interesting, and the album has a very disappointing inclusion in the penultimate track, the country & western "They All Went to Mexico" sung by Willie Nelson.  It is beyond me how Santana saw this mediocre number fit in, except for his homeland.  And it is the best example of the album's lack of cohesion.  However, "Havana Moon" is still one of Santana's best post-70s studio albums (which are typically not of good quality), containing more of the music a greater mass of people can identify with.
"Havana Moon" has its share of Santana's nightworld feel, check out the cover, but a patchwork collection of songs. Straight, not mixed in, R&B is combined with latin and jazz, and, in fact, western and country & western. Not much of a concept album. The band indeed explores roots, witness the Chuck Berry title cut and Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love. "  Its rendition of the former is more favorable. The two opening R&B numbers, "Watch Your Step" and "Lightin'," are OK but fairly pedestrian. The best songs are the jazzy, dark "Mudbone" and "Tales of Kilimanjaro. "  They are somewhat similar in character, tho not at all in sound. Free-flowing jazzy solos occasionally display the sweet latin melodic trademark of Carlos, but "Mudbone" has a U. S. western feel and is somewhat more driving while "Tales" is more meandering. The soft, romantic "One with You" is another good song, and it flows into a more lively, fine guitar solo. "Daughter of the Night" and the short "Ecuador" are less interesting, and the album has a very disappointing inclusion in the penultimate track, the country & western "They All Went to Mexico" sung by Willie Nelson. It is beyond me how Santana saw this mediocre number fit in, except for his homeland. And it is the best example of the album's lack of cohesion. However, "Havana Moon" is still one of Santana's best post-70s studio albums (which are typically not of good quality), containing more of the music a greater mass of people can identify with.