Over the past decade his services have been called on by Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Cassandra Wilson and Marcus Miller, among many others. Hancock has called him “one of the most creative musicians around.” So this self-titled debut from Swiss-US harmonica player Grégoire Maret carries with it a certain weight of expectation. And from the very opening bars of the iridescent album opener, ‘Lucilla's Dream’, it immediately marks itself out as one of the most exceptional releases of 2012. In a beautifully programmed collection, there are heartfelt tributes to fellow harmonica player Stevie Wonder (‘The Secret Life Of Plants’) and guitarist Pat Metheny (‘Travels’), Maret's captivating arrangement of ‘The Man I Love’ penned for Cassandra Wilson, and – most touching of all – a duet with the legendary Toots Thielemans on ‘O Amor E O Meu Pais’ in a radiant orchestral arrangement. Not only is Maret an amazingly creative player, he is also a fine composer, as evidenced by two rather wonderful three-part suites – the first (‘Crepuscule Suite’) a feature for Marcus Miller's lyrical fretless bass playing, the second (‘Children's Suite’) representing nothing less than the cycle of life.