Jarrett biographer Wolfgang Sandner stated that, with Shades, "we are dealing with... the be-bop tradition plus some widenings of range toward free jazz," noting that, although the pieces on the album tend to use the standard theme/solo/theme format, in "Diatribe," "musical parameters like structure and formal construction lose significance in sections with those unbelievable tremolo bass strokes by Charlie Haden, waterfalls of sound wildly swept over the keyboard by Keith Jarrett, and Dewey Redman growling, biting, and snarling with his mouthpiece, squelching musical phrases in orgiastic screams.

"[5] The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars, stating, "Throughout, bassist Charlie Haden, drummer Paul Motian and percussionist Guilherme Franco keep the band's juices flowing.".

He called "Shades of Jazz" "a red-hot track, and a great start to the album," and remarked: "Charlie Haden and Paul Motian set up a powerful groove that swings so hard it's almost dance music.

Redman's solo is a festival of growl and skronk, basically prefiguring Charles Gayle, and there's both drumming and other percussion behind him, making for a ferocious overall attack that reminds me of the title track from Archie Shepp's The Magic Of Ju-Ju.

"[9] A version of "Shades of Jazz" was recorded by a group featuring saxophonist Joe Lovano, trumpeter Tom Harrell, bassist Dennis Irwin, and drummer Adam Nussbaum for a 2000 album titled As Long as You're Living Yours: The Music of Keith Jarrett.

[10] A reviewer for The Washington Post praised this rendition as "a joyous tennis game of volleyed phrases, pointing out Jarrett's great debt to the free-jazz aesthetic of Ornette Coleman.