Jazz commentator Scott Yanow states that "[t]he interplay between the players was constantly impressive."[4]The Rough Guide to Jazz describes the concert as "exceptional", singling out the performance of "Too Young to Go Steady" as "one of the most perfect and exultant trio performances in the whole of jazz."[5]
In his biography of Jarrett, Ian Carr describes the album as "superlative: the incredible dynamism, the sheer creativity of the three men, the feeling of ecstasy that pervades the whole concert and the interplay and inter-dependence of the trio," singling out "Stella by Starlight" as "exquisite and gripping".[6]
July 1985 Tour
Standards Live was recorded during the "Standards trio" July 1985 European tour which, according to www.keithjarrett.org, offered 12 recitals in 26 days:[7]