Bennie Maupin has been an inventive contributor to iconic records, including Miles Davis's Bitches Brew, Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi and Headhunters, and Marion Brown's Afternoon of a Georgia Faun. His recordings under his own name have been infrequent but his leader debut, is indeed a jewel. "A more selfless album is hard to imagine," said DownBeat 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, it is a long overdue addition to the ECM Luminessence Series.