On the album, Coltrane appears on piano and harp, and is joined by saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp, double bassists Jimmy Garrison and Cecil McBee, and drummers Ed Blackwell and Clifford Jarvis.

"[16] In a review for The New Yorker, Richard Brody described Coltrane's solo on "Leo" as "the most thrilling single concentration of her art that I've ever heard," and wrote: "after intense duos by Sanders and Shepp on tenor sax, she enters with ringing, fervent chords that yield to gospel-like tremolos, from which emerges an obsessive bass-note chiming that sounds like church bells from space.

"[22] Writing for the Financial Times, Mike Hobart noted that the "solos are long and the arrangements ad-lib," but acknowledged the fact that "the commitment of the playing and Coltrane's guiding hand on piano and harp ensure the music's emotional force.

"[20] Edwin Pouncey of Jazzwise called the album "noble," and commented: "Live at Carnegie Hall expertly succeeds in bringing this important episode in Alice Coltrane’s musical ascension vividly back to life – to the point where you might possibly believe you were there on that magical evening.

"[19] Commenting for The Quietus, Antonio Poscic described the album as "inspirited" and "crucial", and wrote: "It's mesmerising to hear these particular takes for the first time as they show just how deeply invested, how certain, Coltrane and her collaborators were in the music and the devotional flow fuelling it... the group's performance... is confident and inspired.