while performing a program that, with the exception of 'Agitation,' consisted of standards and material from earlier repertoire... This two-night window on Davis, performing at the peak of his skills in partnership with one of his finest groups, provides both an invaluable historical document and a constantly mesmerizing listening experience." In a column reviewing Davis' "20 best albums", John Fordham ranked the Plugged Nickel recordings #6, and called them "[m]aybe the best-ever representation of 'the second great quintet' at work. Superbly recorded... the set finds Miles, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams reinventing small-band jazz with an all-but-psychic flexibility of timing and on-the-fly harmonising." The authors of Miles Davis: The Complete Illustrated History stated that the Plugged Nickel recordings "capture the Quintet in full flight, ranging through Miles' catalog and playing with such extraordinary grace that many aficionados consider the rhythm section of Williams–Carter–Hancock jazz's finest ever." Keith Waters wrote that the tracks "show the group moving even further towards free jazz and abstraction in the context of standard tune improvisation. Ever exploratory, these recordings made even the innovations of the previous work seem confining... the Plugged Nickel recordings... appeared to the members as a significant moment in the group's evolution." Pianist Jodie Christian, one of the founders of the AACM, was in the audience, and recalled: "Technically, they listened to one another and played together unlike any other band I'd ever heard... Everybody heard each other and was able to respond to the same thing. At intermission everybody in the audience would talk excitedly about what we were hearing, because they were playing both free-form and conventional. I don't think I ever heard anything like that again." Trumpeter Dave Douglas expressed his admiration for Shorter's solo on "On Green Dolphin Street", writing: "it's the counterintuitive choices Shorter makes in this solo that really get me. By counterintuitive I mean: Shorter seems to use the unusual notes in a chord or voice-leading moment to connote other harmonic areas, keys and scales, and somehow always manages to resolve the dissonance tunefully but almost never in the way you expect. It helps that his dialogue with the rest of the band is telepathic, with each interesting harmonic, melodic and rhythmic choice leading to an intelligent and emotive response. The deeper you listen, the more profound those choices seem. That makes a great improvisation, no matter the music or style."