All of the tracks feature saxophonists Dudu Pukwana and Nick Moyake, as well as pianist Chris McGregor, while a number of the tracks include musicians who would not go on to become core members of the band: trumpeter Dennis Mpali (replaced by Mongezi Feza), bassists Mongezi Velelo and Sammy Maritz (replaced by Johnny Dyani), and drummer Early Mabuza (replaced by Louis Moholo).

[1][2][3][4] In a review for The Guardian, John Fordham noted that the album depicts "a hugely important band at an embryonic stage," and called it "an intriguing document of the origins of one of the most influential intrusions on the British jazz scene since the Original Dixieland Jazz Band showed up in London in the 1920s."

He wrote: "the emphasis is on an Art Blakey-like American hard bop, but with a singing sound and directness of its own.

"[5] A reviewer for the BBC Music Magazine stated that the album "encapsulates an extremely poignant chapter of jazz history," and commented: "The session is a little rough and ready at times and the intonation is sometimes sour, but the swing and drive of the band is compelling...

But it's the bringing together of bop elements with the wilder music of the different tribes or 'nationalities' of their homeland, which begins to suggest something more unique and distinctive.