Turiya Alice Coltrane & Devadip Carlos Santana - Illuminations (1974) [2017 SACD]

Alice Coltrane and Carlos Santana’s 1975 collaboration Illuminations (Vocalion) positively glows on this SACD reissue. Engineer Michael Dutton’s peerless remastering of the quad mix is simply breathtaking. The extra depth found in the swirling string sections, Coltrane’s piano and harp and Santana’s stratospheric, sustained notes imbues this album with a whole new level of glittering detail. The racing turbulence of Angel Of Sunlight, in which a full band, propelled by Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette’s rhythm section, appeared somewhat earthbound and compressed in the original mix. Here, however the spatial placement of instruments reveals previously obscured elements of the score and interplay that’s nothing short of a revelation as the entire ensemble take flight on their way to spiritual bliss.

Tracks:

01. Guru Sri Chinmoy aphorism
02. Angel of air – angel of water
03. Bliss: the eternal now
04. Angel of sunlight
05. Illuminations

Personnel:

Turiya Alice Coltrane (harp/acoustic piano/Wurlitzer organ/conductor)
Devadip Carlos Santana (lead/rhythm guitar/wind chimes/finger & hand cymbals)
Tom Coster (electric piano)
David Holland (acoustic bass)
Jack DeJohnette (cymbals/percussion)
Jules Broussard (flute/soprano sax)
Prabuddha Phil Browne (tamboura)
Armando Peraza (congas)
Phil Ford (tablas)
Murray Adler (concertmaster), Ron Folsom, Bill Henderson, Nathan Kaproff, Gordon Marron, Paul Shure & Charles Veal (violins)
Marilyn Baker, Myer Bello, Rollice Dale, Alan Harshman, Myra Kestenbaum & David Schwartz (violas)
Anne Goodman, Glenn Grab, Jackie Lustgarten & Fred Seykora (cellos)
James Bond (bass)