On the album, Coursil performs fanfares composed of multiple overdubbed parts that employ circular breathing.

[1][2][3] Minimal Brass was recorded with the encouragement of John Zorn, who had studied with Coursil while the latter was teaching at the United Nations International School in the early 1970s,[4] and was released after a hiatus of over thirty years.

"[5] Regarding his time away from recording and performing in public, Coursil stated that he "practiced trumpet like a painter trying to find his colors.

Cam Scott, writing for Music & Literature, stated: "Minimal Brass is a practiced and contemplative solo recording, a program of both auto-accompaniment and self-differentiation.

The three twelve-part fanfares comprising the album are highly composed, yet evoke the interrelation of layers that made Black Suite a model for free chamber jazz thirty-five years earlier.

This is one technical manifestation of the duality of Coursil’s tone, which otherwise moves from heraldic brightness to a woody, flute-like sound, preserving a supportive breath within each note.