From Graceful Fields (Classical Works for Native American Flute) R. Carlos Nakai

• Giuli Doyle: Angelica:
• 1 Doyle: Angelica 06:28
• Impatiens:
• 2 Doyle: Impatiens 07:14
• Morning Glory:
• 3 Doyle: Morning Glory 06:51
• R. Carlos Nakai (b. 1946): The Sun:
• 4 Nakai: The Sun 04:21
• We All Dance:
• 5 Nakai: We All Dance 05:31
• James DeMars (b. 1952): Silence of Past Days:
• 6 DeMars: Silence of Past Days 05:39
• A Child’s Game:
• 7 DeMars: A Child’s Game 04:52
• Total Runtime 40:56

Info for From Graceful Fields (Classical Works for Native American Flute)

For over 35 years, 11-time Grammy® nominee and Platinum Record recipient R. Carlos Nakai has been at the forefront of the musical development of the Native American flute, introducing the traditional flute to the genres of jazz, new age as well as classical music, perhaps the most challenging of all for the traditional flute. From Graceful Fields is Nakai’s fifth classical album and features the ethereal and playful From Graceful Fields (for flute and a cappella women’s voices), by Giuli Doyle, a new Nakai composition, Passages (for flute with Luis Engelke on trumpet, William Eaton on harp guitar, Will Clipman on drums), and Souvenirs by James DeMars (for flute with DeMars on piano).

I’ve long been interested in performing the Native American flute in a classical setting, whether with only one or two other players or a full symphony orchestra. I suppose my desire comes from my ensemble experience as a trumpet player with the Navajo Nation Band and my pleasure in working with other musicians.

When I began working with Canyon Records in the mid-1980s, I mentioned to my producer, Robert Doyle, that I wanted to perform classical music. Canyon then commissioned composer James DeMars to write the first concerto for Native American flute and chamber orchestra, Spirit Horses, to mark Canyon’s 45th anniversary in 1986. Jim would go on to create many other compositions for Native American flute in many settings, including the Two World Concerto (commissioned by the Phoenix Symphony) that I would perform more than thirty times. It’s fitting that Evensongs, a duet for flute and piano, composed by Jim is premiered here.

My interest in classical music goes beyond performing as for many years I’ve composed my own works for the traditional flute. I’m proud to include on this recording, Passages, a commission from the International Trumpet Guild. My long-time collaborators William Eaton and Will Clipman, worked with me to create the accompaniment for the trumpet and record it for the backing track required by the commission. Luis Engelke, who negotiated the commission and then guided me through the process of realizing the commission, also edited, performed, and recorded the trumpet part. Composing this work was made more pleasurable because it was for my first instrument, the trumpet.

Giuli Doyle, wife of producer Robert Doyle, created something not done before in setting the flute with unaccompanied women’s voices. This recording saw many challenges as it developed, but Giuli always worked closely with me to make sure that her writing would bring out the best of the flute. I very much liked working with the sound of women’s voices unaccompanied, perhaps because I come from matriarchal society, the Navajo. My favorite movement is the second, Impatiens, because it uses the high-C flute, which no one has composed for. I also liked the sections of faster, dancing rhythms, which reminded me of dancing in the pow-wow circle. - R. Carlos Nakai

R. Carlos Nakai (Navajo-Ute) began playing the Native American flute in 1980 when he received one as a gift and was challenged to see what he could do with it. In the decades since then, Nakai released forty albums (4.5 million sold) with Canyon Records (plus albums for other labels), earned two Gold Records (Earth Spirit and Canyon Trilogy) and a Platinum Record (Canyon Trilogy), and received 11 Grammy nominations. Nakai has worked with Grammy-winning artists Paul Horn and Billy Williams as well as guitarist/luthier William Eaton, and composer James DeMars among many others. Nakai introduced the traditional flute into New Age, jazz, and classical genres and authored the best-selling book, “The Art of the Native American Flute.”

R. Carlos Nakai, flute
Luis Engelke, trumpet
William Eaton, harp guitar
Keola Beamer, guitar
James DeMars, piano
Will Clipman, drums, percussion
Udi Bar-David, cello
Canyon Women’s Choir
Tom Peterson, conductor
La’igoo tádiíya’h, trumpet, native American flute, harp guitar, drums
Souvenirs d’été, native American flute, piano

R. Carlos Nakai
Of Navajo-Ute heritage, R. Carlos Nakai is the world’s premier performer of the Native American flute. He began his musical studies on the trumpet, but a car accident ruined his embouchure. His musical interests took a turn when he was given a traditional cedar flute as a gift and challenged to master it. As an artist, he is an adventurer and risk taker, always giving his musical imagination free rein. Nakai is also an iconoclastic traditionalist who views his cultural heritage not only as a source and inspiration, but also a dynamic continuum of natural change, growth, and adaptation subject to the artist’s expressive needs.

Nakai’s first album, Changes, was released by Canyon Records in 1983, and since then he has released fourty albums with Canyon plus additional albums and guest appearances on other labels. In addition to his educational workshops and residencies, Nakai has appeared as a soloist throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan, and has worked with guitarist/luthier William Eaton, composer James DeMars, pianist Peter Kater and “the late” Paul Horn among many others. The famed American choreographer Martha Graham used Nakai’s second album, Cycles, in her last work Night Chant. Nakai contributed music to the major motion pictures New World (New Line) and Geronimo (Columbia).

Nakai, while cognizant of the traditional use of the flute as a solo instrument, began finding new settings for it, especially in the genres of jazz and classical. He founded the ethnic jazz ensemble, the R. Carlos Nakai Quartet, to explore the intersection of ethnic and jazz idioms.

Nakai brought the flute into the concert hall, performing with over 30 symphony and chamber orchestras. He was a featured soloist on the Philip Glass composition, Piano Concerto No. 2: After Lewis & Clark, premiered by the Omaha Symphony. Nakai also works with producer and arranger Billy Williams, a two-time Grammy® winner, in composing for and performing the traditional flute in orchestral works of a lighter vein.

In a cross-cultural foray, Nakai performed extensively with the Wind Travelin’ Band, a traditional Japanese ensemble from Kyoto which resulted in an album, Island of Bows. Additional recordings with ethnic artists include In A Distant Place with Tibetan flutist and chanter Nawang Khechog, and Our Beloved Land with famed Hawaiian slack key guitarist and singer Keola Beamer. Recently, Nakai released Voyagers with Philadelphia Orchestra cellist Udi Bar-David which blends Native American melodies with Jewish and Arabic songs.

Nakai has received two gold records (500,000 units sold) for Canyon Trilogy and Earth Spirit which are the first (and only) Native American recordings to earn this recognition. In 2014, Canyon Trilogy reached Platinum (over 1 million units sold), the first ever for a Native American artist performing traditional solo flute music. He has sold over four million albums in the course of his career.

A Navy veteran, Nakai earned a Master’s Degree in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona. He was awarded the Arizona Governor’s Arts Award in 1992, and an honorary doctorate from Northern Arizona University in 1994. In 2005 Nakai was inducted into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame. Nakai has also authored a book with composer James DeMars, The Art of the Native American Flute, which is a guide to performing the traditional cedar flute.

Booklet for From Graceful Fields (Classical Works for Native American Flute)