[1][2] From 1979 Ribot was gaining recognition as a sideman working with pick-up bands for R&B artists like Brother Jack McDuff, Wilson Pickett, Carla and Rufus Thomas and Chuck Berry.
[7] Critic Robert Christgau identified Ribot's version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" as "A Choice Cut" – a good song on an album that isn't worth your time or money.
[10] In The Village Voice, Gary Giddins called it "a notable record" observing that "his key associates are Don Byron and Anthony Coleman and the repertory covers Hendrix and George Harrison as well as two songs – "I Should Care" and "Mood Indigo" – that are known not least for brooding interpretations by Monk.
Rootless Cosmopolitans offers mostly originals that shriek and rumble and clatter with unexpected amiability, but in the pause-and-conquer strategy of those two songs, especially the 77-second "i Should Care", Ribot suggested a new potential in his playing.
"[11] The AllMusic review by Brian Olewnick stated: "There is a decent amount of enjoyable music here, but it's hit and miss, very much a grab-bag affair.