In a review for AllMusic, Eugene Chadbourne wrote: "The two-part track 'Suns of Africa' involves a good dozen players, many of them big names in free jazz, in a kind of big gloppy piece that, even if it was well recorded, would probably not hold up to repeated listenings. A second part of this piece, less than two minutes long, seems to have been concocted from whatever the engineer was able to catch when he flipped the tape. The second side... is a much more exciting performance, although bad recording definitely hampers the trombone sound, as well as everything else including the leader's drums. The tune 'R.I.P.' is one of Murray's better compositions; simple but put together very well."[2]
Writing for Red Bull Music Academy, Britt Robson remarked: "'Suns of Africa,' performed by a 13-piece band, is notable for its restraint. Multiple bells and percussion, then braided flute and wordless vocals, all work to provide a ceremonial ambiance well-suited for a big canvas... The remaining two songs are best remembered for Murray's drum solo at the end of... 'R.I.P,' giving listeners a jolt of his low end thrust on bass drum and tom toms."[4]
Critic Norman C. Weinstein commented: "The title cut... immediately established Murray as the most gentle of drummers and composers... Murray maintains an atmosphere of constant and refined coolness and gentleness throughout the recording. The impact is like that of viewing an exquisitely woven expanse of African kente cloth for the first time: dazzling bold colors softly modulate in and out of attention, as the stripes of color seem to float in a rhythmically pulsing paradise... Homage to Africa... includes three dirges, and no drummer or composer in jazz puts as much delicate sweetness as well as muscular torque into dirges."[6]