AllMusic awarded the album 4+1⁄2 stars, stating, "Flying Toward the Sound is a major work for solo piano: courageous, vulnerable, poetically articulated, and technically awe-inspiring in form and execution".[2]The Guardian review by John Fordham awarded the album 3 stars, noting, "It's a specialised homage to pianists and pianos, but this is the work of a formidable virtuoso".[3]PopMatters reviewer Will Layman said, "I’d been thinking that Geri Allen had somehow gone flat in recent years, but I was wrong. She is just more catholic in the way she packages her intelligent, brave playing"[4]JazzTimes stated, "the ghost of each pianist’s influence inhabits the "Refractions" suite... Nonetheless, every note of music is unmistakably Allen: clear, carefully plotted (even in the tangles of notes that shape the title track), and part of a larger soundscape that's as surreal as it is melodic".[5]All About Jazz enthused, "Jazz has been quoted as being "music that walks a tightrope without a net." Allen's Flying Toward the Sound effectively fits that description—daring, vulnerable, and breathtaking".[6]
Track listing
All compositions by Geri Allen
"Refraction I: Flying Toward the Sound" - 6:02
"Refraction II: Red Velvet in Winter" - 5:56
"Refraction III: Dancing Mystic Poets at Midnight" - 4:20
"Refraction IV: God's Ancient Sky" - 16:03
"Refraction V: Dancing Mystic Poets at Twylight" - 3:22
"Refraction VI: Faith Carriers of Life" - 6:58
"Refraction VII: Dancing Mystic Poets at Dawn" - 5:43
"Refraction VIII: Flying Toward the Sound (Reprise)" - 6:53
