Being a world musician and a Zildjian-featured drummer / percussionist on half a dozen recordings from around the world, I’ve personally known or played with some incredible musicians, among them guitarists Al Dimeola (Return to Forever) and Kevin Breen (The Breathers), drummers Mike Portnoy (Dream Theatre) Steve Gadd (Steely Dan) and Brian Keenan (Chambers Brothers), Peruvian percussionist Alex Acuna and Turkish Arto Tuncboyaci (Al Dimeola Project).
And with some professional and national pride I speak of Native American flutist Carlos Nakai (Navajo-Ute).
In February I learned Carlos had obtained a beautiful flute handcrafted by Woodsounds, located nearby in the mountains of Utah. Carlos had been part of a ceremony honoring, respecting and appreciating Vietnam veterans, and his inlaid flute, “Free Again-- Never Forget,” rekindled my decade-old interest in these flutes.
So in March I drove out in search of Brent Haines of Woodsounds flutes, “the Maseratis of the flute world and the most beautiful flutes I have ever played.” (Bill Miller, master Native American flutist.) Like many of the other top musicians I mentioned, Brent is very friendly, warm and engaging.
When I finally held one of Brent’s flutes, I felt a connection that is hard to describe. As Brent wrote on his websites, “…a satin feel makes you want to keep touching the flute and a deep luster brings out and enhances the natural beauty of the wood, causing it to glow with its own inner light. Frankly, you won't believe the incredible look or how silky smooth the flute feels to the touch…” How right he is.
The silken feel of that turquoise-inlaid flute was breathtaking but when I heard Brent play it, my mind exploded, recalling some deep emotions I’d ignored for years.
My mind went back. I first recalled the bittersweet flute solos of mournful 1960s jazz tunes. Then I was moved by Japanese Shakuhachi (so-called because it measures one “shaku” –the distance from elbow to fingertip— and “hatchi” (eight) additional finger units). Then I remembered graduating a decade ago I drove through Indian Nation along the Grand Canyon as I listened to R. Carlos Nakai’s “Desert Dance.” I realized that the Native American flute most closely approximated my innermost feelings. In 1995 I Carlos agreed to join me in the recording studio for some world recording sessions (http://www.echoes.org/onlinenakai.html), which encounter led me to learn of Brent and Woodsounds (http://woodsounds.com).
But why does a Native American Indian flute take on such human intonations?
Brent told me that while each Native American flute’s construction and performance differs, its throaty tones impart breathy, voice-like pulsations on a deeper level than just our hearing. We first became attuned to mother’s vibrations whilst in the womb, and then we learned to swim in a world of sensations, frequencies, and harmonics, bathed even in vibrations of light that envelop and define us. Oprah chatters about “how we feel bad” on a gut level, completely overlooking the very medium of how we feel anything at all.
“Something very special about this music… it evoked ancient blood memories… it moved me.”
--Martha Graham, Night Chant
“Deep inside you know this music because you can feel it echo in your bones.”
--Greg Fasolino, Reflex Magazine
The cream of the cream of top flute players also play Woodsounds: Jan Michael Looking Wolf, Joseph Fire Crow, Johnny Whitehorse, Robert Mirabal, Jeff Ball, and Bill Miller. These flutes have accounted for many Grammy Awards and music awards around the world.
Carlos Nakai once suggested that a sick child’s moaning was perhaps attempting to create harmonics evoking a cellular healing process that perhaps went back to elemental vibrations learned whilst in the womb. Voice brings about its own healing vibration that triggers a deeper power within. Words uplift compassionately — not by language, but by sound— when we speak quietly and coo understanding.
The Native American flute’s rich, visceral tonality comes from its big, open, almost-human resonance. Unique in nature, the Native American flute sound is akin to your voice’s particularly alluring “bore.” A “throaty” flute phrases a timeless sound on a par with resonances from your vocal cords.I found that in just a few minutes virtually anyone (yes, even drummers) can make earthy sounds on a flute that are deeply appealing. Instead of listening I now participate, and the sound of my flute imparts a sense of peace and security that somehow fills holes in hearts like no other instrument.
Cheers!
