When trumpeter Kenny Dorham and alto saxophonist Jackie McLean joined forces for a performance at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco in 1961, the two former Jazz Messengers were bursting with enthusiasm and ideas. The program consisted of four lively standards framed by two originals by the trumpeter. In DownBeat, the well-known critic Ira Gitler later described Dorham and McLean as "two of the most passionate and lyrical players in jazz".