The sextet features fellow saxophonists Anthony Braxton and Bennie Maupin, pianist Chick Corea, and vocalists Jeanne Lee and Gayle Palmore, backed by two percussionists on one side and five on the other.

[2] In an interview regarding the recording, Brown stated that the sound world of the album was related to "things that I saw and heard each day going from my house to school, church, visiting, roaming with my dog and a BB gun looking for birds to shoot...

"[3] In a review for AllMusic, Brian Olewnick said, "the title track... is a wonderful, percussive evocation of pastoral Georgia, something along the lines of what the Art Ensemble of Chicago were doing around the same time, but without the satire and with a greater sense of serenity.

Again, a reference point might be Art Ensemble works from around the same time, here a mélange of free horns and intense percussion, with Jeanne Lee soaring over the top, mixing words and glossolalia...

Afternoon of a Georgia Faun is a lovely, inspired album, a key work in Marion Brown's oeuvre and a recording that belongs in any collection of contemporary jazz.

The presence of the likes of saxophonist Anthony Braxton and drummer Andrew Cyrille ensures that this isn't a problem, while Chick Corea commits to posterity some of the most extraordinary work he's ever put on record.

"[7] Robert Palmer, in an article for The New York Times, wrote: "Brown initiated the music with minimal guidelines and the language which emerged — brief, condensed, overlapping statements, constantly changing textures as a kind of light/shade metaphor—parallels that of certain contemporary European compositions, Boulez's 'Le Marteau sans Maitre' for example... Of the two performances included, the title piece is the most successful.

"[9] In an article for The Bitter Southerner, Jon Ross wrote: "The title track on Georgia Faun is not about the notes played or the facility of each performer; Brown didn't even pick up his saxophone during the 17-minute tune, but the ideas, the organization, and the feeling are his own.

Brown played a zomari, a Tanzanian double reed instrument, and various forms of percussion; saxophonists Anthony Braxton and Bennie Maupin can be heard on wooden flutes, evoking birds and woodland life.