AMG Review by William Ruhlmann (2):
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.
Capsule Info: During Devadip Carlos Santana's religious period he and Alice produced this legendary collaboration: his electric guitar work against her string arrangements and spiritual transcendence.
Turiya Alice Coltrane : harp (2,3,4,5,6), acoustic piano (4), Wurlitzer organ (5); Devadip Carlos Santana : lead guitar (2), rhythm guitar (2), guitar (3,4,5,6), wind chimes (2), finger and hand cymbals (5); Tom Coster : electric piano (2,3), Hammond organ (5), acousic piano (6), finger and hand cymbols (5); David Holland (2,3,5) : acoustic bass; Jack DeJohnette : cymbals (2), drums (5); Julse Broussard : flute (2), soprano sax (3,5); Prabuddha Phil Browne (5) : tamboura (male); Armando Perez (5) : congas; Phil Ford (5) : tablas; STRING SECTION (2,3,4,6) - Murray Adler (Concert Master), Ron Folsom, Bill Henderson, Nathen Kaproff, Gordon Marron, Paul Shure and Charles Veal : 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 |
