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:
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