On January 17, Sol Schlinger filled in on baritone saxophone for George Barrow to help record "Vibrations", "The Emperor", and "Lydian M-1".

Writing at the time of release, Billboard declared the "provocative, far-out material" a "must" for modernists, a "real tour-de-force" of "advanced, experimental" jazz chamber music.

[3] Contemporary reviewer Scott Yanow, writing for AllMusic described the arrangements of the music as advanced, but noted that they "often leave room for some swinging spots.

[2] According to the latter book, the recording—which "sought to expand the basic vocabulary of bop through sound musical principles and practice"—has helped secure Charles a permanent place as an influential figure in jazz.

[2] "Lydian M-1" is singled out by 2000's The Essential Jazz Records: Modernism to Postmodernism for its experimentation with modes (scale patterns other than major and minor), two years before the release of Miles Davis's Milestones, often cited as a pioneer of the form.