"Illuminations" by Devadip Carlos Santana & Turiya Alice Coltrane

A less well-known work by two legendary names in music used by Houston psych funk band Khruangbin to kick off their "LateNightTales" mix

Devadip Carlos Santana & Turiya Alice Coltrane
Illuminations (1974)
Columbia

LateNightTales is one of the best DJ series. The idea being: After a night at the clubs and partying through the streets of your favorite city (remember those times?), you take all your friends back to your place. So what music do you play?

All kinds, if you’re Texas psychedelic funk trio Khruangbin. Handed the aux cord on the latest edition of LateNightTales, they fly across the globe. In just over an hour, you’re treated to the best in Nigerian funk, South Korean rock, American post-punk, Spanish pop, and beyond.

But if you’re going to travel the world, what better place to start then California?

Even though Khruangbin touts the international hub that is their hometown of Houston, their mix starts here in the Bay with a track by Carlos Santana, who rocketed to fame in the hippie San Francisco of the 1960s.

The opener to Khruangbin’s mix is originally the closing track to free jazz album Illuminations (1974), in which Santana collaborated with harp and Wurlitzer organ-wielding mystic Alice Coltrane. The entire album is an esoteric yet not unpleasant 36-minute spiritual odyssey that will be much more familiar to fans of Turiya (that’s Coltrane’s adopted Sanskrit name) than those of Devadip (aka Santana).

Khruangbin sums it up in the liner notes to their mix:

Laura Lee: Two epic people known for their incredible contributions to music. When I’ve mentioned it to people, they don’t seem to know this record.

DJ: This is not the Santana I knew, growing up. I knew the funky Santana. It really surprised me.

Mark: It’s one of those tracks you put on first in the morning and start your day in a very psychedelic way without actually doing any psychedelics because we still have work to do.

Stream both Illuminations and LateNightTales: Khruangbin anywhere — and order a physical copy of the new mix from LateNightTales.