Middle Eastern and Mediterranean music – in the broadest sense – have long had an influence on European musicians, and French violinist Guillaume Dettmar signs a kind of love letter to those territories on this largely engaging listen. Using the all important quarter tone ‘maquam’ or modes as a basis for themes and improvisation Dettmar creates the yearning, often plaintive atmospheres that will be familiar to fans of high profile Israeli and Arab artists, from Avishai Cohen to Dhafer Youssef to Anouar Brahem, all of whom Dettmar claims as influences for this project.

His quartet is impressively marshaled and as much as the non-western character of the music is prominent the band carries out some notable shape-shifting on the lengthy title track, which debuts as a fraught ballad with faint echoes of Coltrane’s ‘Impressions’ before sliding into a tantalisingly funky 6/8 groove that launches flighty solos by Dettmar and pianist Alexandre Jouravksy. Also interesting are a few vocal pieces featuring mellifluous Hebrew lyrics, and Dettmar further enhances the music by way of subtle pedal effects that take him into the kind of wah-wah territory that paid dividends for Jean-Luc Ponty, his noted predecessor and possible role model.