Tokyo '96 was recorded on March 30 during a tour in Japan where Jarrett's "Standard trio" performed ten times in 16 days.

[4] The AllMusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 4½ stars and states, "The standards trio lives up to its formidable track record of consistency and then some.

Jarrett and perennial cohorts Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette are, if anything, even sharper, swinging harder and more attuned to each other than ever.

The November 1998 All About Jazz review by Christopher Hoard noted:The music here is so startlingly pure in its conception, it sadly harkens to the fact that with few exceptions, little remains today in jazz which attains the force and beauty of those original standards, those moods and statements we find Jarrett continually resurrecting in a new hues and phrasings.

[5]The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz wrote, "The story continues, unstaunchable, maddeningly indulgent and selflessly brilliant by turns.