The album includes four compositions dedicated to trumpeters who have inspired Smith (Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Booker Little and Roy Eldridge) and performed by a quartet including vibraphonist Bobby Naughton, bassist Joe Fonda and percussionist Kahil El'Zabar.

On two vocal tracks the ensemble is joined by bassist Mchaka Uba and blues guitarist Louis Myers.

The final track, "Nuru Light: The Prince of Peace", is a tribute to slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., and the quartet is joined by tenor saxophonist John Powell.

[2] In his review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek writes: "Procession of the Great Ancestry is among Wadada Leo Smith's most obscure, but ultimately most satisfying, recordings.

"[3] The Penguin Guide to Jazz states: "'Smith makes no attempt to pastiche any of his musical ancestors.