HiRez Poll Santana, Carlos & Coltrane, Alice - ILLUMINATIONS [SACD]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts & comments on this 2017 Multichannel SACD release from Dutton Vocalion of the album "Illuminations" by Turiya Alice Coltrane & Devadip Carlos Santana.
The multichannel SACD features the first release of the original 1970s Quadraphonic mix in over 40 years! :yikes

 

[kap'n krunch]

I still have not received the SACD but IIRC, I REALLY liked it when I listened to it ...REALLY LEFT FIELD for Carlitos...it will get played in my system several times...

now, my mistake was that I didn't order the RTF one...that can be remedied ...little girl guide....

 

[oxenholme]

Material isn't for me. But it is in no way unlistenable.

Material 7

Quad mix 10

Sound quality 10

Which works out at a solid 9.

 

[mattB2]

Lovely, immersive surround mix. I was really surprised by how well the main instruments are focussed in the mix (I had to get up and check that Santana's guitar wasn't really using the front, centre speaker). Highly recommended if you like this kind of music.

 

[Bob Romano]

Another one I really enjoy. And it has never sounded better. Beautiful bass and nice and crisp. Another conversion I can get rid of.

 

[kap'n krunch]

Listening to this right now...

I recalled correctly and I enjoyed this album very much..maybe because it wasn't "SANTANA" per se....
and the musicianship is top notch...

Curiously, this is the first ever DV SACD I have ever gotten...

I am not surprised BY the good quality, cause most (if not ALL) of you out there have consistently raved about them...

shame it has to be an SACD...not very fond of them...but , hey...if there's no other option, I'll take it!!!

Will report back later...


Great sound...
Not getting my hopes up,
BUT
the blurb in the booklet seems to hint at some more Santana Quad SACDs...


EDIT: BTW, someone has to update the Discogs page and add this...

 

[GOS]

Never heard this title, and I have to say it's not my favorite "style" considering I'm a Santana fan. Still, some very good moments musically, that I do like.
The fidelity and surround is tops though. Keep it up Vocalion, and I will continue to spend money.

I voted a 9.

 

[Which_One_Is_Pink]

While one of the most unSantanalike Santanakinda albums and one I did not hear until well into the age of the internet downloading days and I liked it. A very nice. very mellow, very naval contemplating type of music to be sure (somewhat reminiscent to some of the mellower parts of Caravanserai to me), a very musically spiritual jazzy venture for the participants if you will. No screaming guitar solos, no dancy latiny beats, no heavy organ wankery and yet a very nice listen just the same, and of course it's in Quad. For me it is a very close you eyes turn out the lights and just listen kind of musical experience. Vocalion does it again for me and I will award Illuminations in QUAD a mellow 9.

 

[DuncanS]

I hadn't ever heard this album before so a nice surprise.

Music its very in-Santana yet obviously him on guitar, Alice Coltrane was an incredible musician/arranger and I really like the harp (not an instrument you hear that often on jazz-rock albums!). Track 4 "Angel Of Sunlight" which is good but "is of its time", so IMHO just a little too long, if it had been around 10 minutes long it would have been much better. So an 8.5.

Sound Quality is great so a 9

Quad Mix is great so a 9

..and we ought to give Dave a 9 for his excellent sleeve notes!

So a 9 from me.

 

[ogrequad]

I love this sort of orchestrated 'spiritual' jazz, and I'm a fan of both Santana and Coltrane, so this one is right up my alley. Add in superb sound quality and an immersive quad mix (the opening of "Angel of Sunlight" with the hand percussion swirling around is just fantastic), and I give this a 9.5!

 

[par4ken]

I have the SQ LP and the Q8 (at least I think I still have it, if the player didn't eat it), anyway I love this album. The material, sound quality and mix are excellent. It's a steal for the price. A nice departure from Santana's more commercial stuff. A ten for sure.

 

[steelydave]

The latest issue (82) of Prog magazine from the UK includes a glowing review of this disc from none other than Sid Smith:

Alice Coltrane and Carlos Santana’s 1974 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.

 

[rtbluray]

Content: 2/3 (A little too much musical meandering on Track 4)
Surround Mix: 3/3
Fidelity: 3/3
High-Res Disc: 1/1

A very well-deserved 9/10
Very highly recommended!

 

[John Svensson]

Just received this last week as I dithered over whether I wanted such a thing, just on face value.......well, I think it was a pretty worthy effort on all performers parts. No hit singles in here as one might expect, but this would be a great surround LP to put on for driving down 150 miles of straight Nebraska Interstate after chanting a few "Oms" and ingesting what have you......

 

[hafquark]

I've listened to the D-V release of Illuminations several times since last August and still enjoy its spooky, ethereal East Indian vibe. A combo of Coltrane dissonance and Caravanseri era Santana guitar drive this unique album along at a nice clip. A touch of noodling here and there barely intrudes, and at under 36 minutes it does not overstay its welcome.

The Quad remaster is up to Vocalion's usual stellar standards. Strongly recommended for adventurous listeners into fusion and Carlos' modal guitar playing.

 

[GOS]

I've listened to the D-V release of Illuminations several times since last August and still enjoy its spooky, ethereal East Indian vibe. A combo of Coltrane dissonance and Caravanseri era Santana guitar drive this unique album along at a nice clip. A touch of noodling here and there barely intrudes, and at under 36 minutes it does not overstay its welcome.

The Quad remaster is up to Vocalion's usual stellar standards. Strongly recommended for adventurous listeners into fusion and Carlos' modal guitar playing.

Wow, you are the 2nd person on QQ to use the term "noodling". I seriously didn't know what it meant....I had to look it up.

verb (used without object), noodled, noodling.
1.
to improvise a musical passage in a casual manner, especially as a warm-up exercise.

:banana:

 

[fac23]

Illnoodlination you say? (Sorry. I'll get my coat.)

Musically not quite my thing, but I still caught myself putting this on more often than I'd expected initially. Great quad surround. So, a 9 I guess.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Wow, you are the 2nd person on QQ to use the term "noodling". I seriously didn't know what it meant....I had to look it up.

verb (used without object), noodled, noodling.
1.
to improvise a musical passage in a casual manner, especially as a warm-up exercise.

:banana:

It usually refers to a guitar solo section within a song...when a person considers it a negative aspect of the song...then say noodling...when they like it..it's a guitar riff..of course other meanings of that word include fishing for catfish with your hands and a sexual reference of not being erect at the "entry point"...well...you know what I mean..

 

[John Svensson]

...and Gos, "Noodling" should never be confused with "canoodling"....I'm sure my Swedish friends on here know what that is. :yikes

 

[key_wiz]

Gotta give this one a “10”. This music isn’t for everyone, but it is definitely for me! I actually had never heard this album before. But I love it!

the quad mix is immersive and beautiful. Perfect for the material. And the D~V transfer and packaging is the usual “10”.