[1] AllMusic awarded the album 4½ stars and in the review by Alex Henderson, he states, "Bossa Nova Carnival wasn't an exercise in knee-jerk, insincere bandwagon jumping.

Pike wanted to make a meaningful, individualistic contribution to Brazilian jazz.

So instead of doing exactly what Getz, Gilberto, and Charlie Byrd were doing and performing a lot of Jobim songs, he enlisted Brazilian composer João Donato.

Everything on this excellent vinyl LP was written by Donato, who provides sensuous, caressing melodies that Pike and his sidemen (who include Kenny Burrell on guitar and Clark Terry on flügelhorn) bring a lot of warmth and sensitivity to.

The music swings, but it does so in a subtle, mellow, consistently melodic fashion.