He hired three new musicians for the recording: Don Pullen on piano; Ronald Hampton on trumpet, and George Adams on tenor saxophone.

The song has a spiritual character, à la Coltrane, and is played with a warm sound by Pullen and Adams.

This tune was also released on Hal Willner's tribute CD: Weird Nightmare - Meditations on Mingus.

"Opus 3" is based on the Mingus's 1957 composition "Pithecanthropus Erectus", in which certain sections are played without key or meter restrictions.

The other tunes include "Moves", a composition written and sung (along with Honi Gordon) by Doug Hammond, Richmond's predecessor; "Wee", composed and arranged by Sy Johnson, who also worked with Mingus on Let My Children Hear Music (1971) and Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert (1972); "Flowers", written by Adams; and "Newcomer" by Pullen, dedicated to his newborn daughter.