Gary Stroutsos has a new website up

Gary Stroutsos has his new website redesign up and running. Check it: http://www.garystroutsos.com/

Albert Tenaya's CD Release House Concert

Albert Tenaya's CD Release House Concert is coming up this weekend.

WHEN: Sunday October 18, 2009
WHERE: 3396 Royal Ct. Napa, CA
TIME: 4-7 PM with an open mic at 4, chili dinner at 5, concert at 5:30
RSVP: Please RSVP for this event: 707-738-3093 or LPeck35938@aol.com

About Albert Tenaya

Albert is a very accomplished Native American flute player and Valley Clan Flute Circle is pleased to support his new CD release.
For more info: http://www.alberttenaya.com

Directions to 3396 Royal Ct. Napa:

From Highway 29 in Napa, exit 1st Street/Browns Valley Rd and go west/left over the overpass.
Follow First Street until it turns into Browns Valley Rd. You won't notice the change. About 2/3 blocks after Browns Valley Market shopping center you will turn leftish, following Browns Valley Rd. At the stop sign turn left onto Buhman Rd. Drive passed the school another few blocks, turn left on Crestview Way. Turn left at Royal Ct. Lynn's cell phone will be on 707-738-3093

Jam time!

I was searching around on the internet for Jam tracks as part of an upcoming project that I am putting together. (Make sure that you're planning on attending the upcoming Loping Wolf / NCFC Winter gathering in December!). While checking out various sites, I stumbled on this cool site with various jam tracks in what they call the "Jam Machine". So grab your flutes, and don't plan on going to bed until late tonight! (becuase I guarantee that you'll be up late playing with this...)

Key G: http://www.jamcenter.com/jammachineg.html
Try the "Rock" or "Ballad" settings with a E flute
Try the "Funk" or "Blues" settings with a G flute.

Key C: http://www.jamcenter.com/jammachinec.html
Try the "Ballad" or "Major" settings with an A flute

Key A: http://www.jamcenter.com/jammachinea.html
Try the "Jazz", "Blues" or the "Cool" settings with an A flute

Key E: http://www.jamcenter.com/jammachinee.html
Try the "Rock", "Cool" and the "Blues settings with an E flute

If you find other sites, please let me know.

Mary Youngblood Moaning Caverns Concert 2009 Cancelled

I just got word that Mary Youngblood's concert tomorrow (Oct 3, 2009) at Moaning Caverns has been cancelled because Mary is ill. I don't have any specifics on Mary's condition, but add her to your prayers for a speedy recovery.

If you have tickets, contact Moaning Caverns for information on what to do about your ticket. I am not sure that it will be rescheduled, but if I hear anything, I will post the information. Feel free to add a comment if you know more.

Yosemite Flute Festival 2009 Day 2

Saturday at the Yosemite Flute Festival.

There was lots of live music throughout the day. The open mic went non-stop (except for the drum circle time) throughout the day. It’s really fun to listen to all of the different ways that folks have to express their music through the Native American Flute. Here’s a picture of NCFC members Eric and Allie Ray (from Marysville) on stage. BTW, Eric has been nominated for a Nammy this year, you can vote for Eric here: http://www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com/votenow.cfm

It looks like the drum circle was a huge hit again this year, and is now a permanent part of the tradition of the festival. David Ferrier was kind enough to let folks without a drum (like me) borrow a drum from his inventory to play during the drum circle. Bill Timothy (Central Coast Flute Circle) facilitated the drum circle and kept the music going.

The highlight of the afternoon was the ending of the silent auction. There were lots of great flutes and other raffle items to choose from. The bidding started heating up as the deadline approached. In the end everyone appeared to be satisfied with their purchase, including one gal who won three flutes. Here's some pic's of the winners:

Paul Thompson from Albuquerque NM showed up today, he was here to perform on stage with Gary Stroutsos at the concert. But Paul also brought some flutes to sell. It’s been 8 years since I’ve seen Paul Thompson, and at that time, I wasn’t completely familiar with place in the history of flutemakers in North America nor was I in a place on my path to buy one of his flutes, but I didn’t let that opportunity slip past me this time, as I bought one of Paul black bamboo flutes. Paul has been making flutes since the early seventies and has influenced many, many flutemakers and flute players since that time. His flute will have a special place in my collection. Here’s Tim Blueflint with a birdhead flute by Paul Thompson.

As I surveyed all of the flutes and other artwork for sale this weekend, one flute caught my eye. In Brent Haines booth, I saw a wonderful painting, and when I asked Brent who the artist was, he picked up a flute and showed me the work of Jeremy Johns. Jeremy is a 20 year old artist from Brent’s town. Brent saw another piece of his artwork and asked Jeremy if he’d be interested in painting a flute (or two) for Brent. From that collaboration came this beautiful dragonfly flute (see below). The detail is phenomenal (the picture doesn’t do it justice). You can expect to see more collaboration between Brent and Jeremy in the future.

Finally, the evening ended with a wonderful concert by a large cast of musicians including Stephan DeRuby, Kim, Rick and Linda Dunlop, Gary Stroutsos, Paul Thompson, William Hoshal and Vince Chafin.
I especially enjoyed Gary Strousos and William Hoshal tribute to Paul Horn.
The highlight of the evening was the final piece, a tribute to the Beatles, were all of the performers played a version of Within You Without You. Gary even donned spectacles (like George Harrison) for the final song.

Another great day at Yosemite

So another day ends, and where did it go? I apologize to everyone, I
had good intentions of posting more often throughout the but it turns
out to be difficult to post from the small screen of the phone. I took
alot of pictures and I'll post my favorites tomorrrow.

Yosemite Flute Festival 2009 Day 1 – Recap

It’s Saturday morning here in Oakhurst. I am reminiscing about the wonderful day we had yesterday at the event. There’s a wonderful collection of vendors this year, everything from flutes (of course) to drums, to Native art and some great jewelry. I was lucky to find some time yesterday to met almost all of the vendors and survey all of the great art that they’ve brought to the show this year. I plan to get more pictures today of more flutes and flute makers.

Here's Linda Dunlop, setting up the latest creation called "Baby Moyo's".

Here’s this summer’s litter of new drums by David Ferrer. I spent a bit of time in Dave’s booth yesterday “trying out” all of his latest creations. It was hard to leave his tent…


I’ve enjoyed watching David mature in this craft over the last couple years, as he started first by selling his drums at the Loping Wolf winter gathering and now he’s making drums full time and enjoying every moment of it. David lives in the Sacramento area.

The concert was a fun evening. I didn’t get too many pic’s from the concert (other than the previous post of Michael Graham Allen). I did get a few pic’s before the show. Here’s a picture of myself, Kenneth Hooper and Dan Ricketts.

Garth Brooks and Kenneth Hooper took the stage first, in a much anticipated reunion of Elysium Calling. Unfortunately, they had to fight through some problems with the sound system for their first couple songs, but I thought that they handled it professionally, and Garth was able to make light humor of the situation. They entertained with a nice sampling of songs from their albums. I am sure that they made some new fans last night.

Michael Graham Allen, (AKA Coyote Oldman) took the stage next, and provided an incredible sampling of music and sound from a variety of his historical recreations. Michael is now building (and selling) an array of flutes based on his research into all of the different flutes and flute tradition from across North America. Michael has brought these sounds back to life, and it was mesmerizing to hear him play all of these flutes. Like I said in my earlier post, I really think that Michael Graham Allen may be a living “Kokopelli”, spreading the ancient sound of the flute traditions to a new generation. Michael invited Rick Dunlop on stage for a couple of pieces, including one where Rick played him Moyo drum in an Anasazi-tuning. It was one of those magical moments of the evening.

Here's a picture of Michael Graham Allen (l) and Rick Dunlop (r)

Scott August took the stage last, and he entertained us with a selection of many of his best songs. Like Michael Graham Allen, Scott has become one of the most proficient performing artists on the Anasazi flute. When Scott combines the Anasazi with all of the sound textures that Scott is able to coax out of his computer in the studio, it’s an incredible thing.

So now I am off to day 2 of the event. But one memory stands out from yesterday. Geri Littlejohn is in town, and it was fun to see her again. I think that I hardly saw her throughout the day when she wasn’t giving hugs to someone. Geri brought Zebb along for the trip, and I think that at eight, he’s already a great “flute salesman”. He challenged me to a game of “corn hole” (tossing the corn filled bags at a target), and he beat me 11-9. I’ll remember that game for a long time.

PS – Happy Birthday to Rick Dunlop (it was it birthday yesterday). Nothing like throwing yourself a big party, complete with 30+ flute vendors and a huge concert!!

Michael Graham Allen in Concert

Here's a picture of Michael Graham Allen (aka Coyote Oldman) from the
concert last night at the Yosemite
Flute Festival. The photo isn't great because it was taken with my
iPhone and no flash. But I thought that he kinda looked like Kokopelli
here, don't you think?

Yosemite Flute Festival Concert

Sound check for the concert. Here's Garth Brooks tuning up for the
show. Tonight's gig includes Elysium Calling, Coyote Oldman and Scott
August.

Informal jam

Dave Blonski, Stephan DeRuby, and Rick Dunlop in an informal jam in
preparation for tomorrow nights concert.

Yosemite flute festival 2009

Open mic has started. Here's John Kulias on stage. Lot's of others
coming up. It's warm here.

Yosemite Flute Festival 2009 Day 1

It's Friday morning. A crisp autumn morning in the Sierra's.
Last night, we had the volunteer and vendor BBQ. It was a fun event, and a great chance to chat with everyone in a real relaxed atmosphere. All of the flutemakers are here and most of the performers. I am looking forward to a great day.