Bennie Maupin has been an inventive contributor to landmark records including Miles Davis's Bitches Brew, Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi and Headhunters, and Marion Brown's Afternoon Of A Georgia Faun.
His own recordings have been infrequent, but his debut as a leader, The Jewel In The Lotus, is truly a jewel. "A more selfless album is hard to imagine," said Down Beat in 1975. "On The Jewel In The Lotus, the sound is supreme, and all the players strive to achieve a thorough blending."
Recorded in New York in 1974, the album's personnel is drawn from Herbie Hancock's circle, yet the music has a character entirely its own.
"An unsung modernist classic from 1974." — Pitchfork.
