"Duke Ellington surprised the jazz world in 1962 with his historic trio session featuring Charles Mingus and Max Roach. Not in a mood to simply rework older compositions, the bulk of the LP focused on music he wrote specifically for the session. Every jazz fan should own a copy of this sensational recording session." - **** 1/2 Ken Dryden, All Music
"Duke Ellington continues to be a most unpredictable and amazing musician. This album is astonishing - this is Ellington the soloist in some of the fastest company around. I've never heard Ellington play as he does on this album; Mingus and Roach, especially Mingus, push him so strongly that one can almost hear Ellington show them who's the boss - and he dominates both of them, which is no mean accomplishment. Like I said, Duke Ellington is an amazing musician." - ***** Don DeMicheal, DownBeat