Grammy-winning guitarist John McLaughlin had musical beginnings with jazz drummer Tony Williams and jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. He formed the jazz fusion group The Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1970. In 1973, McLaughlin recorded the guitar-driven instrumental album Love Devotion Surrender with Carlos Santana. In 1974, he co-founded the global jazz fusion quintet Shakti, who are nominated for two 2026 Grammy Awards.
In 2018, McLaughlin received a call from film writer and director Jack Stallings to compose the score for his upcoming movie Abandoned Heights. In 2019, the music McLaughlin wrote, based on the script, was recorded with himself on guitar, guitar synth, and programming, Gary Husband on drums and keyboards, Julian Siegel on tenor and soprano saxophones, Misha Mullov-Abbado on upright bass, and Etienne Mbappé on electric bass. The songs were recorded and mixed by Grammy-winning engineer George Murphy at Eastcote Studios London and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering for Impex Records. The music has been sitting, pre-pandemic, waiting for the film to be released. McLaughlin and Abey Fonn, founder of Impex Records, decided that the wait can be no longer; the public must hear this wonderful music.