The most recognized song on this album is Jarreau's interpretation of Paul Desmond's classic jazz number "Take Five", which was also released as a single in an edited version in 1977.

Both tour and album brought him enthusiastic reviews in Germany, where he immediately became a darling of the public, while his recognition in the US remained low until he received his first Grammy in 1978.

It further cites his abilities "as a brilliant scat singer (able to emulate practically any instrument)" and also a "superior ballad interpreter" as evident on this recording.

Melody Maker was full of praise for the album, claiming that Jarreau "has taken the seemingly well-worn genre of the freely improvising jazz singer and conjured it, miraculously, back to life".

[4] Sounds also gave the record a positive review, stating that "Al's always crisply precise: intense but not passionate up until the climax of, say, 'Take Five', when his scat shoots blind/wild, like a flock of demented starlings whizzing round a cage", and describing the album as "a great sophisticates' record, sensual petals of music unfold and furl again with Cartier elegance".

When he gets funky (as on 'So Long Girl') there's little to complain about but on the slower songs the combination of his voice and the milky sentimentality becomes irritating... Look to the Rainbow is too close to MOR for comfort.