[1] In a review for AllMusic, Dean McFarlane wrote: "One of the free jazz scene's phenomenal figureheads of solo piano improvisation, Marilyn Crispell's amassed discography is as flawless as Cecil Taylor's when it comes to brilliance in solo piano performance.

The pieces 'Await', 'In Lingering Air' and the exquisitely titled 'How Not to Anaesthetize Desire' are exceptional moments that capture some of her greatest free improvisation on recording.

"[2] The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings awarded the album 4 stars, and commented: "The solo performance... was something of a homecoming for the globetrotting Crispell, who has made her home in the area for the better part of twenty years but has rarely had the chance to play there.

This set contains the best of her solo work for many moons... Crispell shows how completely in command she is, executing a long suite of pieces... any doubts about her quality are easily dispelled.

"[3] Critic Tom Hull stated: " Another solo, less than three months after Live at Mills College, two months before the superb Contrasts: Live at Yoshi's (1995), even more of a tour de force -- 'In Lingering Air' multiplies her percussion and harmonics into something wondrous, a level she returns to time and again, but by then even a relatively quiet stretch pulls you in.