The album was Burrell's first collaboration with his wife, Monika Larsson, who was a Swedish writer and librettist at the time. Burrell conceived this full-length operatic album as his reply to land development in Hawaii, which was where he was raised. The live performance included various vocal singers, a 21 piece orchestra, dancers and a chorus. At first, Burrell had trouble convincing some vocalists to perform with him because of how fast he played as a jazz pianist; one such example was Hilda Harris of the Metropolitan Opera who told him "I can sing it, but you're playing much too fast."
