[1] DownBeat's Carlo Wolff stated that McHenry and Cyrille "make passionate music," and wrote that the album "conjures a conversation you'd love to join."

He called "Fabula" "a spasming tune... that threatens to fall all over itself but miraculously remains upright," on which "percussion and saxophone seem of one mind.

"[3] In a second review for the same publication, Glenn Astarita commented: "McHenry's full-bodied tenor sound is occasionally mellowed via his light-hearted dialogues with Cyrille's poetic and overtly melodic fills, countered by many bristling improv segments.

Even without a bassist, the musicians still manage to sustain a tightknit working relationship along with a capacious backdrop... these jazz masters transmit a compassionate and indisputably upbeat mindset from start to finish.

"[5] In an article for NPR Music, Kevin Whitehead remarked: "Proximity is all about the drums and their melodic potential... his trap set is fully exposed and saxophonist Bill McHenry doesn't get between it and us.