The trumpeter's ensemble extracts dense, energetic, meaty collective sounds based in pure improvisation with a skeleton of a rhythmic framework to expound upon. Shaw's bright melodicism, hard edged swing and refusal to compromise are his greatest assets. It represents the progressive bop aesthetic at a fever pitch.
All tunes are quite lengthy, no shorter than nine, no longer than seventeen minutes.
This allows the band to develop their ideas and interact in a manner more akin to a concert setting. As much as the music is the thing, it is the singular presence of Shaw that refracts many colors of light and dark, like a multi-hued beacon directing many ships to port. There is not a better example of this music from its inception, documented on tape, than this other worldly session that brought the trumpeter to the jazz world's attention. Furthermore, few have done it better since. Truly a landmark recording, and a pivot point in the history of post-modern music.