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Letters to the Editor

Dear Mary,
It is always a pleasure to receive my copy of Flute Focus. I have always found that the magazine has contained something of interest to me... Please do keep up the broad, interesting and often surprising coverage of the magazine!
John Sutton

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01

Jan

2009

Jim on Jazz - January 09
Written by Jim Langabeer   
Wanted: Jazz Flute Player
"Jazz Flute Player Wanted for 3 nights plus 1 rehearsal per week with established quartet in a prestigious jazz club. Duties include up to four festival appearances and two CD/DVD recordings per year. Must have a good straight classical tone as well as a more appropriate jazz tone, a full 3+ octave range to D above C, and some ability with multiphonics, jazz vocal tones and special effects. Some alto flute and piccolo required."

I've been preparing to respond to an offer like this for years, and if normal professional flute auditions are anything to go by, there may well be at least a hundred applicants, and a short-list of twenty auditioning on the day. Probably tens of thousands of students begin learning flute each year, but how many jobs are there for professional players? Why do we all really play, and love our flutes? Jazz musicians and critics give the impression that there are only a handful of good flute players around. But this isn't really the case. I suspect there may be thousands! Here then is someone's list of the top 100: it can be found in several web sites with the attached criteria: “This list of jazz flutists is based on their improvisation, influence, originality, versatility, and impact on modern music. It's mostly classic jazz, but a little bit of smooth jazz too. Edited by: Alvin”

  1. Eric Dolphy
  2. Herbie Mann
  3. Rahsaan Roland Kirk
  4. Jerome Richardson
  5. Hubert Laws
  6. James Moody
  7. David "Fathead" Newman
  8. Frank Wess
  9. Jim Newsom
  10. Yusef Lateef
  11. Ali Ryerson
  12. Sam Most
  13. Charles Lloyd
  14. Bud Shank
  15. Jim Walker
  16. Nestor Torres
  17. Alexander Zonjic
  18. Tim Weisberg
  19. Robert Dick
  20. World Class Jazz Flute PlayersJames Galway
  21. Gigi Gryce
  22. Gilberto Valdez
  23. Sam Marowitz
  24. Jerry Dodgion
  25. Severino Gazzellioni
  26. Jeremy Steig
  27. Kent Jordan
  28. Dave Valentin
  29. Joe Farrell
  30. Jeremy Clay
  31. Roger Glenn
  32. Dan Trimboli
  33. Albert Socarras
  34. Nathan Davis
  35. Paul Horn
  36. Wayman Carver
  37. Ian Anderson
  38. Bobby Jaspar
  39. Buddy Collette
  40. Harry Klee
  41. Holly Hoffman
  42. Steve Kujala
  43. Sam Rivers
  44. Ira Sullivan
  45. Prince Lasha
  46. Lloyd McNeil
  47. Byard Lancaster
  48. James Newton
  49. Joe Henderson 5
  50. Bob Downes
  51. Lew Tabackin
  52. Moe Koffman
  53. Bobbi Humphrey
  54. Ronald Snijders
  55. Phillip Bent
  56. Doug Harris
  57. Jane Bunnett
  58. Bennie Maupin
  59. Magic Malik
  60. Hermeto Pascoal
  61. Micheal Edelin
  62. Jorge Pardo
  63. Thijs Van Leer
  64. Julien Monti
  65. Deepak Ram
  66. Jamie Baum
  67. Thomas Chapin
  68. Mathias Ziegler
  69. Mathieu Schneider
  70. Andrea Brachfeld
  71. Bill McBirnie
  72. Stefan Keller
  73. Urban Hansson
  74. Paul Cheneour
  75. Sherry Winston
  76. Kenny Stahl
  77. Derrick Davis
  78. Bettine Clemen
  79. Jan Leder
  80. Zig Noda
  81. Eddie Perales
  82. Robert Goldman
  83. George Colovus
  84. Simeon Shtrev
  85. Sahib Shihab
  86. Nora Nausbuam
  87. Peter Guidi
  88. Mark Weinstein
  89. Mark Alban Lotz
  90. Danilo Lozano
  91. Leo Wright
  92. Raghunath Seth
  93. Nicola Stilo
  94. Harold McNair
  95. George Adams
  96. Pannalal Ghosh
  97. Hariprasad Chaurasia
  98. Sonny Fortune
  99. Viviana Guzman
  100. Howard Rumsey

OK! So, flute readers, how many of these players have you heard? How many are in your record collection? Can you recognise any from their distinctive style or sound? And how many more would you like to add to this list? I could nominate several, beginning with the great Australian player Don Burrows.

I also feel that we should make an effort to chase after some of these ‘great-unknowns-to-us’, and get to hear them. Wouldn't it be wonderful if a record company could put out a selection of, say, 200 tracks of indispensable jazz flute recording. I'd review it!

Jim Langabeer Jazz fluteJim Langabeer is a flute player, teacher, composer and lecturer, and a jazz specialist. He is an international multi instrumental performer with many concert and recording credits.