The Allmusic site rated the album 4+1⁄2 stars stating "the combination sounds not unlike a radio announcer performing beat poetry in places...mostly because that's exactly what it is. That would be selling this album short, though, because Nordine proves himself more than capable of providing both the smooth vocal tones as well as the truly twisted creative sense necessary to pull this off... Word Jazz is still an innovative album and definitely worthy of the sequels that followed."[2]
