# Nonaah

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonaah
> Source revision: 1349771675
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{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Nonaah
| type       = Album
| artist     = [Roscoe Mitchell](/source/Roscoe_Mitchell)
| cover      = Nonaah.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = 1977
| recorded   = August 23, 1976, January 15, 17 & 22, & February 22, 1977
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [Jazz](/source/Jazz)
| length     =
| label      = [Nessa](/source/Nessa_Records)
| producer   = [Chuck Nessa](/source/Chuck_Nessa)
| prev_title = [Roscoe Mitchell Quartet](/source/Roscoe_Mitchell_Quartet)
| prev_year  = 1976
| next_title = [Duets](/source/Duets_(Roscoe_Mitchell_and_Anthony_Braxton_album))
| next_year  = 1977
}}
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = [Allmusic](/source/Allmusic)
|rev1score = {{rating|4.5|5}}<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/r144031 Allmusic Review]</ref>
| rev2 = ''[The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide](/source/The_Rolling_Stone_Jazz_Record_Guide)''
| rev2Score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name=RSJRG>{{Cite book
 |editor-last=Swenson
 |editor-first=J.
 | author-link = 
 | year = 1985
 | title = The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide
 |url=https://archive.org/details/rollingstonejazz00swen
 |url-access=registration
 | publisher = Random House/Rolling Stone
 | location = USA
 | isbn = 0-394-72643-X
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/rollingstonejazz00swen/page/143 143]
}}</ref>
}}

'''''Nonaah''''' is a [double album](/source/double_album) recorded in 1976–77 by [Roscoe Mitchell](/source/Roscoe_Mitchell). It was originally released on the [Nessa](/source/Nessa_Records) label in 1977 and features solo, duo, trio and quartet performances by Mitchell, [Anthony Braxton](/source/Anthony_Braxton), [Malachi Favors](/source/Malachi_Favors), [Muhal Richard Abrams](/source/Muhal_Richard_Abrams), [George Lewis](/source/George_Lewis_(trombonist)), [Henry Threadgill](/source/Henry_Threadgill), [Joseph Jarman](/source/Joseph_Jarman), and [Wallace McMillan](/source/Wallace_McMillan). The 2008 double CD reissue added five unreleased saxophone solos to the album.

==Reception==
The 2008 [All About Jazz](/source/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](/source/Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Creative_Musicians) aesthetic.”<ref>Allen, C. [https://www.allaboutjazz.com/roscoe-mitchell-nonaah-by-clifford-allen  Roscoe Mitchell: Nonaah], September 28, 2008.</ref>
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](/source/Roscoe_Mitchell): [alto saxophone](/source/alto_saxophone)
* [Anthony Braxton](/source/Anthony_Braxton): [sopranino saxophone](/source/sopranino_saxophone) (Side Two track 3)
* [Malachi Favors](/source/Malachi_Favors): [bass](/source/upright_bass) (Side Two track 4)
* [Muhal Richard Abrams](/source/Muhal_Richard_Abrams): [piano](/source/piano)  (Side Three track 1)
* [George Lewis](/source/George_Lewis_(trombonist)): [trombone](/source/trombone) (Side Three track 1)
* [Henry Threadgill](/source/Henry_Threadgill): alto saxophone (Side Four track 2)
* [Joseph Jarman](/source/Joseph_Jarman): alto saxophone (Side Four track 2)
* [Wallace McMillan](/source/Wallace_McMillan): alto saxophone (Side Four track 2)

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Roscoe Mitchell|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:1977 albums
Category:Nessa Records albums
Category:Roscoe Mitchell albums

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nonaah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonaah) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonaah?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.