Illumination (Earth, Wind & Fire album)

Artists such as Big Boi, Kenny G, Kelly Rowland, will.i.am, Floetry and Brian McKnight featured on Illumination.[1]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
BBC	(favorable):[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
People	(favorable)[8]
Washington Post	(favorable)[9]
Entertainment Weekly	(favourable)[10]
The Times	[11]
USA Today	[12]
The Guardian	[13]
About	[14]
The Daily Telegraph	(favourable)[15]

Raymond Fiore of Entertainment Weekly declared "Earth, Wind & Fire’s Illumination is a fluid, unforced marriage of modern beats and retro, horn-lined soul.".[10] Antony Hatfield of the BBC stated "Illumination is a great all star team effort, which should appeal to fans of all concerned."[6] Bill Lamb of About gave a four out of five star rating and found that "Illumination is a truly classic package" that "effortlessly straddles the divide between classic and contemporary r&b."[14] Ben Thompson of The Daily Telegraph wrote "Illumination does find them successfully holding their own alongside some of the biggest names of the 21st century."[15] People proclaimed "Illumination, Earth, Wind & Fire’s 23rd album, shows that after 35 years the R&B/funk pioneers are still shining stars.".[8] Dave Simpson of The Guardian gave a four out of five star rating, describing the album as "an often storming return to form."[13] With a 3 out of 5 star rating Steve Jones of USA Today noted "EWF is as vibrant as ever".[12]

Illumination was Grammy nominated for Best R&B Album. The album was also nominated for a Soul Train Music Award in the category of Best R&B/Soul Album – Group, Band or Duo. As well Illumination was nominated for NAACP Image Award in the category of Best Duo or Group.[4][16][17]

A track titled "Pure Gold" rose to No. 23 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary singles chart and No. 15 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart.[18][19]

Another single titled "The Way You Move" feat. Kenny G reached No. 12 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Songs chart.[20]

A song called "Show Me the Way" feat. Raphael Saadiq rose to No. 16 upon the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart.[21] "Show Me the Way" was also Grammy nominated in the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[4]

Another track titled "To You" which featured Brian McKnight reached No. 16 upon the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart and No. 29 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Songs chart.[22][23]

"This Is How I Feel" was featured in the movie Hitch and "Love's Dance" was featured in the feature film Robots. "Pure Gold" was featured in the movie Roll Bounce.[24]

EWF Members and Guest Performances

• Marsha Ambrosius (of Floetry) - background vocals (10)
• Philip Bailey - lead vocals (sung by) (1-2, 4, 7-8, 10, 13), background vocals (1-2, 4-5, 7-10, 12-13), bongos (6), percussion (1, 5)
• Big Boi - rap vocals (6)
• Sleepy Brown - lead vocals (6), piano, background vocals (9)
• Kenny G - saxophone (13)
• Ralph Johnson - additional percussion (11)
• Myron McKinley - keyboards (11)
• Brian McKnight - lead vocals, background vocals, guitar, keyboards (12)
• Greg Moore - guitar (11)
• Kelly Rowland - lead vocals (6)
• Raphael Saadiq - lead vocals (5, 14), background vocals (5, 8), piano (8), percussion (5), bass played by (5, additional on 8), guitar (5, 7-8)
• Natalie Stewart (of Floetry) - lead vocals (10)
• Maurice White - lead vocals (1-2, 5, 8-9, 12-13), background vocals (1-2, 4-5, 7-9, 12-13), kalimba (1, 4, 10)
• Verdine White - bass played by (1-2, 4, 6, 8, 11)
• will.i.am - lead vocals, background vocals (1)
• Vadim Zilberstein - additional guitar (12)

Horn Section

• Gary Bias (of EWF) - saxophone (1-2, 4-9, 13)
• Jeff Bradshaw - horn arrangements, trombone (10)
• Ray Brown - horn orchestrations (7)
• Matt Cappy - horn arrangements, trumpet (10)
• EWF Horns - additional horns performed by (13)
• Gary Grant - trumpet (1-2, 4, 6, 9, 13)
• Keith Harris - horn arrangements (1)
• Jerry Hey - horn arrangements (1-2, 4, 13), horn orchestrations (6, 9), trumpet (1-2, 4, 6, 9, 13)
• Jimmy Jam - horn arrangements (2, 4)
• Bill Meyers - horn arrangements (5)
• Bobby Rodriguez - trumpet (5)
• Raphael Saadiq - horn arrangements (7-8)
• Nolan Shaheed - trumpet (7-8)
• Reggie Young (of EWF) - trombone (1-2, 4-9, 13)

String Section

• South Central Chamber Orchestra - strings performed by (9)
• Charles Veal Jr. - orchestral arrangements (9)
• Kelvin Wooten - string arrangements (5)

Additional Musicians

• Walter Afanasieff - keyboards, B3 organ played by (13)
• Bobby Ross Avila - Rhodes electric piano (2), other keyboards, guitar (2, 4)
• Issiah J. "IZ" Avila - drums, percussion (2, 4)
• Junius Bervine - additional keyboards (11)
• Preston Crump - additional bass played by (6)
• Vikter Duplaix - drum machine, synth bass, additional keyboards (11)
• Prescott "Glenn P" Ellison - drums (12)
• Peter Michael Escovedo - percussion (13)
• Keith Harris - drums, keyboards (1)
• Darren Henson - all other instruments (10)
• Doc Holiday - background vocals (5, 8, 12)
• Jimmy Jam - Rhodes electric piano (4)
• Emanuel Kiriakou - electric guitar (13)
• Organized Noize - drum machine (6, 9)
• Bobby Ozuna - drums, percussion (7-8)
• Khari Parker - drums (5)
• Keith Pelzer - all other instruments (10)
• Neal H. Pogue - additional percussion (6)
• Prof T. - background vocals (2, 4)
• Dave Robbins - keyboards (6)
• Chimere Scott - background vocals (9)
• Shorty B - guitar (6)
• Kelvin Wooten - keyboards (5, 7), bass played by (7)

Other Arrangers

• Walter Afanasieff - musical arrangements, rhythm programming (13)
• Emanuel Kiriakou - music programming (13)
• Organized Noize - music programming (6, 9)
• will.i.am - music programming (1)

Albums

Singles