[1] Allmusic awarded the album 2½ stars with its review by Scott Yanow stating, "this is a surprisingly conventional set...

It's fine music but one has to lower expectations a bit".

[2] The Penguin Guide to Jazz, on the other hand, gave the album a 4 star review, remarking "the early Prestige and New Jazz sets … are uniformly excellent.

remains our favorite, largely because it shows off Byard's infallible instinct for horn voicings.

Tracks like 'European Episode' and 'Lush Life' are well worth studying in some detail.