Sail Away (Tom Harrell album)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Chicago Sun-Times	[8]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[10]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[11]
Windsor Star	B+[12]

The Windsor Star wrote that "some tunes hover around a Wayne Shorter mode with their oddly looping lines, like 'Dream in June'."^[12] The Chicago Tribune called the album "a lovely piece of work—fresh, concentrated, expressive."^[13] The Ottawa Citizen determined that "it's disappointing to find [Harrell's] melodic side overwhelmed by modal progressions and liberally stretched lines."^[14] The Washington Post deemed Sail Away "a beautifully arranged collection of mainstream jazz tunes, highlighted by several ballads and medium tempo tunes that make the most of Harrell's warm, soulful fluegelhorn."^[15]

The Village Voice noted "the skittery Miles [Davis] of the charged arpeggios, melodic shards, and rhythmic displacement" on "Eons" and the title track.^[16] The Chicago Reader labeled "Sail Away" "one of the finest jazz sambas ever written and one of the more memorable compositions of any kind in 20 years."^[17]