On the album, Coleman is joined by a core group of long-time associates consisting of trumpeters Don Cherry and Bobby Bradford, saxophonist Dewey Redman, double bassist Charlie Haden, and drummers Billy Higgins and Ed Blackwell.

Guest artists include guitarist Jim Hall, pianist Cedar Walton, trumpeters Carmine Fornarotto and Gerard Schwarz, and vocalists David Henderson, Asha Puthli, and Webster Armstrong.

"[1] The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings stated: "this is a muddled and patchy set, likely to be of interest only to established Coleman fans who can hear past the sheer oddity of Jim Hall's role and who're able to identify anticipations of future innovations.

"[6] David Adler of All About Jazz commented: "The expanded ensemble, the busy rhythms percolating underneath sustained chords and melodic figures, the dream-like vocals by Asha Puthli: all of it brims with the kind of tradition/anti-tradition dialectic found in much of today's best new music...

"[12] Spin's Suzanne McElfresh stated: "Coleman's fervent, blues-infused alto blends with the dense expressionism of the ensemble, floating on the bounce of the drummers and Haden's radiant bass intuitions while setting the mark for the horns' soulful, fiery cry.