[1][2][3] Producer Michael Cuscuna discovered Silver's Newport performance while auditioning tapes at the Library of Congress.

Junior Cook and Louis Hayes were the only two sidemen remaining from the previous edition of the Quintet.

Trumpeter Louis Smith, who replaced Donald Byrd, was with the group for only a short time before Blue Mitchell replaced him, and this album presents Smith's only full performance with the group.

On the final track, "'Senor Blues', he pushes the leader into one of his best, and most forceful, recorded solos[5] The Penguin Guide to Jazz noted that "a lot of archive rediscoveries are just ticks in collectors' boxes.

This one has real musical value and high excitement: iconic hard bop.