The most obvious precedent for the slabs, smears and flutters of brass on this brash and spirited recording are John Coltrane's Africa Brass and Ascension albums, which were recorded in the mid-1960s. English brass band sonorities and tuba-heavy New Orleans dirges are also in the mix. But the initial inspiration is the Indian mystic Sri Ramakrishan who died in 1886, aged 50. The track titles are taken from incidents in his life as written in The Gospel of Ramakrishna. They are summarised in the sleeve notes, and it is their event-laden spirituality that infuses each track and gives the album its gloss. Dunmall, the dominant voice, is featured on every track. The opening ‘Ecstatic, Unbearable Love’ finds him ripping through scales and phonics at a furious pace, and sets something of a template for what is to come. He ruminates over strong counterpoint bass on ‘Temple of the Mother's Presence’, delivers spiritual cries on ‘In the Cossipore Garden’ and is concise and climactic on ‘Infinite Cry’. Trumpeter Percy Pursglove's microtonal and brittle trumpet solo on the opener is a standout, as is Ollie Brice's confident supporting bass dialogue. But it is the brass which gives the album it's oomph and the spice of an original slant.