The big band on this record is on the “small” side, at thirteen players.

The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars, stating, "This is an essential Holland date, it is exciting, colorful and wildly innovative",[1] and the critic of The Guardian called it, "contemporary jazz big band playing at its very best.

"[2] Russ Musto of All About Jazz wrote "Overtime, the second release from the Dave Holland Big Band, is another impressive work by the Grammy-winning large ensemble.

Assembled around the legendary bassist's working quintet, the thirteen-piece unit explores the greater harmonic implications of the leader's creative compositions, without sacrificing the special rhythmic character the smaller group possesses.

Built from the bottom up upon the rock solid foundation of Holland's great big bass sound with Billy Kilson's atypical drumming and Steve Nelson's vibraphone and marimba (in lieu of piano) contributing greatly to its unique sound, the aggregation has a distinctive quality that is simultaneously classic and cutting edge.