[4] Bassist Tarus Mateen, tenor saxophonist Sam Newsome, pianist Bruce Barth, and drummer Troy Davis each also participated in the original Malcolm X project.

Scott Yanow of AllMusic stated, "Trumpeter Terence Blanchard continues to grow and develop with each year.

He wrote the score for Malcolm X and this set finds him exploring 11 of his themes from the movie with his quintet...

Newsome's Trane-isms blend well with Blanchard (whose range has become quite impressive) and the performances (which easily stand apart from the film) are quite memorable.

Zan Stewart of The Los Angeles Times commented, "Do tunes taken from a movie score serve as a solid basis for a thematic quintet album?