Nonaah
Nonaah | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1977 | |||
Recorded | August 23, 1976, January 15, 17 & 22, & February 22, 1977 | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Label | Nessa | |||
Producer | Chuck Nessa | |||
Roscoe Mitchell chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [2] |
Nonaah is a
. The 2008 double CD reissue added five unreleased saxophone solos to the album.Reception
The 2008 All About Jazz review by Clifford Allen states “Nonaah is extraordinarily confrontational music--it presents instrument, composer and materials in a profoundly naked light. Perhaps more important than opening up one's preconceptions about the saxophone, it also complicates the AACM aesthetic.”[3] Track 1 - the first version of Nonaah - was recorded in front of an initially hostile audience that had expected a solo concert by Anthony Braxton. Mitchell responds to the jeering and heckling from a section of the audience by forcefully playing an angular 3 second phrase that crosses the entire range of the alto saxophone and repeating that phrase for about 7 minutes and for a further 2 minutes breaks apart the phrase. Having at last silenced the hecklers his improvisation takes a quieter, more sweet toned direction and moves into more conventional free improvisation, ending with audience applause.
Track listing
Original Double LP:
- Side One
- "Nonaah" - 21:52
- Side Two
- "Ericka" - 7:57
- "Nonaah" - 1:15
- "Off Five Dark Six" - 6:26
- "A1 Tal 2La" - 8:44
- Side Three
- "Tahquemnon" - 5:47
- "Improvisation 1" - 12:53
- Side Four
- "Ballad" - 4:46
- "Nonaah" - 17:34
- "Side One and Two tracks 1-2 recorded live on 23 August 1976 in Willisau, Switzerland (solo concert). Side Two track 3 and Side Three track 1 recorded on 17 January 1977 in Chicago, IL. Side Two track 4 and Side Four track 1 recorded on 22 February 1977 in Chicago, IL. Side Three track 2 recorded live on 15 January 1977 at Mapenzi, Berkeley, CA (solo concert). Side Four track 2 recorded on 22 January 1977 in Chicago, IL.
The 2008 CD reissue added the following saxophone solos as bonus tracks:
- "Sing" - 6:15
- "Improvisation 2" - 3:44
- "Sing" - 7:42
- "Chant - 9:14
- "Off Five Dark Six" - 7:23
- All compositions by Roscoe Mitchell
Personnel
- Roscoe Mitchell: alto saxophone
- Anthony Braxton: sopranino saxophone (Side Two track 3)
- bass(Side Two track 4)
- Muhal Richard Abrams: piano (Side Three track 1)
- George Lewis: trombone(Side Three track 1)
- Henry Threadgill: alto saxophone (Side Four track 2)
- Joseph Jarman: alto saxophone (Side Four track 2)
- Wallace McMillan: alto saxophone (Side Four track 2)
References
- ^ Allmusic Review
- ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ^ Allen, C. Roscoe Mitchell: Nonaah, September 28, 2008.