Cosmic jazz stunner. This is one of those upper-crust LPs that easily holds down a spot in any seasoned selector's late night top ten – it's simply that timeless. From the first swirls of the title track(1), this thing just carries you away – probably the closest legal thing to a big bong hit of Cali power skunk there is. Each tune is built on a different hypnotic string bass groove that bores into your mind. "Shiva-Loka(2)," "Stopover Bombay(3)," it's your pick. The tamboura (that's the metallic buzz that signals exotica in any B-movie) never lets up, and when Alice Coltrane flings some harp over it (or piano, in the case of "Something About John Coltrane(4)"), you've got a powerful mystic brew indeed. This reissue of the 1972 LP is faithful to the extreme: original gatefold and liner notes intact, vinyl a good 60 grams heavier than the first pressing.

reviewed by monk