Personal Mathematics

“Music,” says composer and woodwind player Roscoe Mitchell, “is a science.” The octogenarian is in Bergen, Norway, for the city’s annual Borealis Festival of experimental music. In a few days’ time, he’ll bring the weekend to a thrilling close with two sets, one solo (accompanied by several pre-recorded videos of himself improvising at home), and a duet with his former student, John McCowen. Speaking onstage together on the first floor of Bergen Kunsthall, up a winding flight of stairs from an exhibition featuring several of Mitchell’s paintings, McCowen and Mitchell discuss their time studying together at Mills College, the indivisibility of composition and improvisation, and the development of one of Mitchell’s most famous works, “Nonaah.”

The story of “Nonaah” follows the development of Mitchell’s practice over several decades, and stands as a testament to his singular dedication. First composed in 1972, you can hear a group version of the work on 1974’s “Fanfare for the Warriors,” the 14th album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago in the mere five years since the group was formed. A pugnacious solo version, recorded live before a restive audience at a jazz festival in Willisau, Switzerland, became the title track of Mitchell’s solo album of 1977, after he left Chicago for a more rural home in Wisconsin (where he still lives). Later, as Mitchell moved further into through-composed works, collaborating with the likes of Pauline Oliveros and baritone Thomas Buckner, new versions of “Nonaah” were created for flute quartets, strings, chamber ensembles, and—premiered the night before we met—for Bergen’s own 27-piece naval orchestra, in a new arrangement by McCowen.

I sat down with Mitchell in his hotel room shortly after his lecture to talk about the foundations of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Chicago’s rich musical heritage, and why “free jazz” is not really free.