Phil Freeman noted "The interplay between the two saxophonists was fierce, and the rhythm section, borrowed from
John Coltrane, combined powerhouse swing with an ineffable gravitas. This feeling of greater grounded-ness is what makes
New York is Now! and
Love Call unique among Coleman’s discography, whether on Blue Note or otherwise; the tempos aren’t much slower than on his other mid ’60s albums, but they feel somehow heavier here, Jones driving the beat as Garrison strums his bass like a massive guitar. The two albums don’t even seem to exist as separate entities—they feel like two halves of a whole, the compositions all sharing the ebullience and, in their slower moments, the deep feeling of the blues that have marked Ornette’s music since the 1950s".
Allmusic awarded the album three stars and reviewer Thom Jurek stated "
New York Is Now is one of the true curiosity pieces in Ornette's catalog". Jurek sees the album finding Coleman "in some sense, at odds with himself" and the rhythm section, which he finds "a lot more modally than harmonically propelled". In particular, he identifies drummer Elvin Jones as sounding restricted by the album's slow tempos. Jurek is also unfavourable about Coleman's violin playing. On the whole, he characterises
New York Is Now as "pleasant and amusing if not amazing". ==Release history==