The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 4 stars, and commented: "Lowe's turn-of-the-decade band traded on raw finesse. There is nothing here... which swaps subtlety for power. And both should help dispel any notion of Lowe as an unsubtle roarer."[3]
Writing for The New York Times, Robert Palmer stated: "Exotic Heartbreak... is an affectionate update on the sort of tightly arranged hard-bop album that was a specialty of the Blue Note label from the mid-1950's through the mid-1960's. Frank Lowe has developed a thoughtfully muscular approach to the tenor saxophone that's exceptionally resourceful and personal, and his bandmates... are similarly animated by both an exploratory bent and a love for the hard-bop tradition. This is Mr. Lowe's finest album to date."[4]
Track listing
All compositions by Frank Lowe except as indicated
