Carlos Santana & Alice Coltrane-Illuminations (1974)

After leaving behind magnificent jazz-rock works like “Abraxas”, “Caravanserai”, “Welcome”, and “Borboletta”, Carlos Santana reaffirmed his passion for John Coltrane by creating a captivating collaboration with composer and string arranger Alice Coltrane (John's widow). Under the spiritual influence of Sri Chinmoy, Santana surrounds himself in this monumental work with a vast array of accomplished musicians, including David Holland (double bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums), as well as regulars in his band Tom Coster, Armando Peraza, and Phil Browne, and session musicians such as saxophonist Jules Broussard and Phil Ford on tabla. The paradisiacal “Angel of Air” evokes atmospheres reminiscent of “Caravanserai”, featuring a sublime Alice Coltrane on the harp. The extensive interplay between Indian tabla and percussion, under Santana's exciting guitar and Jules Broussard's complex saxophone, is present in the brilliant jazz rock "Angel Of Sunlight", while the influences of free jazz and oriental music appear in "Bliss: The Eternal Now" and in "Illuminations".