The producers have, according to jazz historian Scott Yanow, collected "every locatable alternate take and rejected excerpt, as well as eight sides privately recorded at a house party" and compiled them with more readily available material.

[5] The UK publication selected the Spotlite box set to represent Parker in its 2007 series on "1000 albums to hear before you die", noting that "timeless themes..., inspired improvising and radical vision make these epochal episodes in modern music".

The subsequent release of two additional albums incorporated material from 1948, including a session with Tadd Dameron's Orchestra, featuring performances by tenor saxophonists Allen Eager and Wardell Gray.

The majority of the third volume features Parker in session with Red Callender on double bass, Gray on tenor saxophone, Barney Kessel on guitar, Don Lamond on drum, McGhee on trumpet, and Dodo Marmarosa on piano.

[16] The final volume of the series featured tracks taken primarily from a radio broadcast on November 8, 1947, where Parker played with Barry Ulanov and His All-Star Metronome Jazzmen.

The group featured Bauer on guitar, Allen Eager on tenor saxophone, LaPorta on clarinet, Fats Navarro on trumpet, Tommy Potter on double bass, Buddy Rich on drums, Tristano on piano, and, singing on "Everything I Have Is Yours", Sarah Vaughan.