AllMusic's Richard S. Ginell said: "McGriff proves once again that it's never too late to come up with a good record in this vein. And 'good' is understating it; this is a truly great soul-jazz session, possibly the best of McGriff's end-of-the-century renaissance up to this date".[5] On All About Jazz, Douglas Payne noted: "Straight Up isn't perfect. But the variety on display here is nice and the ageless organ master proves he can still grind with a style that's worth hearing"; the site's Ed Kopp observed that "McGriff is one of the most soulful B3 organ players alive, a verity he proves yet again on this fine release".[7][8]
In JazzTimes, Patricia Myers wrote that "this issue is a must for fans of both jazz organ and tenor sax".[9]