Kitaro - The Light of the Spirit

The Light of the Spirit is one of Kitaro's best CDs. Perhaps it is because Mickey Hart co-produced, or perhaps Kitaro asked Hart to co-produce because it is so good. It doesn't really matter if either of those is the reason; this is just an awesome CD. Kitaro's specialty has always been the symphonic synth and this is no exception. He augments that synth with several guest musicians on a variety of ambient instruments. This is truly ambient music, albeit on the new age side of that style. The vocal accompaniment by Lynn Ray and Jeannie Tracy counts as instrumental as well. The sound design treats the wordless vocals as an extra sound to incorporate. David Jenkins contributes a smoking electric guitar that gives this rock & roll textures as well. This disc stands proudly with work by Constance Demby, Vangelis, Suzanne Ciani, and Dean Evenson as some of the best adult contemporary instrumental new age music. ~ Jim Brenholts, All Music Guide

Name Credits Bobby Black Guitar (Baritone), Pedal Steel, Guitar (Steel) Bobby Vega Bass (Electric) David "Dai" Jenkins Guitar (Electric) David Grisman Mandolin Doug Sax Remastering George Horn Mastering Hiroshi Araki Guitar (Baritone), Guitar Jeanie Tracy Vocals Jeff Sterling Synthesizer, Programming, Operation John Meyer Flute Jose Lorenzo Percussion Kitaro Producer, Mixing, Arranger Laura LiPuma Design Lynn Ray Vocals Mickey Hart Percussion, Special Effects, Producer, Spatialization Norihiro Tsuru Violin Pat Hill Assistant Producer, Production Assistant Ruriko Sakumi Assistant Producer, Production Assistant Ryuzo Toyotaka Photography Tom Flye Engineer, Recording Tom Size Assistant, Assistant Engineer Tomoyuki Hayashi Keyboards Yukio Ohyama Photography Zakir Hussain Percussion