Amos had previously heard many stories about how most of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band's members had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band's decision to remake Gaye's album was influenced by Hurricane Katrina, the government's response to the storm, and the ongoing Iraq War.

The group's saxophonist, Roger Lewis, told NPR that he had been interested in covering Gaye's music for a while already, and that when Katrina hit, it seemed like the "...perfect time to do it".

[4]The members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band were initially uncertain about whether they could successfully remake Gaye's highly regarded album.

Next, they traveled back to Hollywood to mix the album with Pro Tools at Marinelli and Clint Bennett's Music Forever studio.

"[5] Sam Chennault of SF Weekly also reviewed the album favorably, describing it in 2007 as "perhaps the most fitting tribute to the [Hurricane Katrina] victims" and as "alternately brooding and invigorating".

[15] The Washington Post's Mike Joyce gave the album a generally favorable review, writing, "The music, for the most part, is so ingeniously arranged that the album colorfully accommodates several guest vocalists -- too many, in fact -- without robbing listeners of the pleasure of hearing the band swagger and shout or slide into a welcome instrumental interlude.