Illuminations

Illuminations is a 1974 collaboration between Carlos Santana and Alice Coltrane. Jazz musicians Jules Broussard, Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland can also be heard, on saxophone, flute, drums and bass. Alice Coltrane delivers some harp glissando, while the string orchestra adds a serene mood to the music. Carlos Santana (whose Indian name "Devadip" appears on the sleeve) plays electric guitar in his own fashion, utilizing feedback, long notes and simple melodies, letting much space to the other instruments. The album is conceived as an instrumental jazz album, with lengthy solos on guitar, saxophone and keyboards. The introduction to "Angel of Air", with its violins, has been sampled by the Cinematic Orchestra.

Track listing
Side one

"Guru Sri Chinmoy Aphorism" (Coster, Santana) - 1:11 "Angel of Air/Angel of Water" (Coster, Santana) - 9:55 "Bliss: the Eternal Now" (Coltrane) - 5:33

Side two

"Angel of Sunlight" (Coster, Santana) - 14:43 "Illuminations" (Coster, Santana) - 4:18

Personnel

 * Carlos Santana - Guitar
 * Alice Coltrane - Harp, Piano, Wurlitzer and Organ
 * Tom Coster - Electric Piano and Hammond Organ - 1,2,4,5
 * Dave Holland - Double Bass - 1,2
 * Jack DeJohnette - Drums and Percussion - 1,4
 * Jules Broussard - Flute, Soprano Saxophone - 1,2,4
 * Phil Brown - Tamboura - 4
 * Armando Peraza - Congas - 4
 * Phil Ford - Tablas - 4

Murray Adler (Concert Master), Ron Folsom, Bill Henderson, Nathen Kaproff, Gordon Marron, Paul Shure and Charles Veal (2,3,4,6) : violins Anne Goodman, Glenn Grab, Jackie Lustgarten and Fred Seykora : celli Marilyn Baker, Myer Bello, Rollice Dale, Alan Harshman, Myra Kestenbaum and David Schwartz : violas James Bond : bass

Produced by Devadip Carlos Santana, Turiya Alice Coltrane, Tom Coster

Review
For his third duet album, Carlos Santana performed the works of John Coltrane, paired with Coltrane's widow, harpist/keyboardist Alice Coltrane, on this instrumental album. Side One includes several contemplative, string-filled numbers, while Side Two presents Santana's re-creation of John Coltrane's late free jazz style in "Angel of Sunlight." Columbia Records could not have been pleased at Santana's determined drift into esoteric jazz: Illuminations was the first of the nine Santana-related albums so far released in the U.S. not to go gold. ~ William Ruhlmann, AMG