In Bebop: The Best Musicians and Recordings, jazz commentator Scott Yanow notes simply of the album that "[e]verything works," making of it an "essential acquisition.

[7] In its review, AllMusic states that "Vaughan is arguably in the best voice of her career here" and praises Brown for "displaying his incredible bop virtuosity," indicating that "[i]n whichever incarnation it's reissued, Sarah Vaughan With Clifford Brown is one of the most important jazz-meets-vocal sessions ever recorded.

"[8] The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Jazz, also praising Brown's "brilliant" trumpeting, delves into Vaughan's vocal stylings in detail, encouraging listeners of the album to note how "sometimes she stretches out a song so deliberately and so reconfigures its melody, that the lyrics lose sense, linguistic phrasing having been replaced by musical phrasing.

"[9] Blackwell author Barry Dean Kernfeld opines that "[i]t is perhaps this pure devotion to the exploration of sound that has made her such a favourite of jazz listeners.

"[13] Kernfeld suggests that Herbie Mann is a weak element amongst the otherwise strong ensemble, "completely overmatched,"[9] although The Penguin Guide to Jazz disagrees with this assessment.