This CD features solo flute compositions and performances by women that are connected by the Native Rhythms Festival Flute Competition.
The project is dedicated to the special bonds and friendships that were inspired by love of the Native American Flute and brought together by the flute competitions that are hosted by the wonderful annual event known as the Native Rhythms Festival in Melbourne, FL.
All of the women featured on this CD were competitors in the flute competition, except one was a competition judge. Some of them won first place, some won second and / or third place. Some became members of Painted Raven because of being recognized through this competition. All appeared on a Painted Raven CD because of this kinship. All became Kindred Spirits through this shared music project.
Many thanks to these beautiful and talented women for their hard work and collaboration efforts on this project. (Tracking all of them down was not an easy task, but every single one of them was found, and everyone single one of them delightedly participated in this project!)
Also, many thanks to the Native Rhythms Festival for making all of this possible, and for helping to put Painted Raven on the map in the NAF world by featuring them for the first time as performers at the Festival in 2010. We will be eternally thankful for this amazing opportunity they provided to us.
Inspired by the mystical winged-creature, the poem by Tennyson, and the beautiful flute that was custom made by John Ellis of Turtle Mound Flutes for the Native Rhythms Festival 2014 Dragonfly theme logo.
The song celebrates the appreciation of sunshine after much needed rain. Both are needed to bring life to the earth. It also has a double meaning. I often think of friends who deal with difficulties and sadness in their lives and can continue life even though the difficulties can be overwhelming.
Raven's head fetish Em flute by Brad Young, 4 Wind Flutes
This song was inspired by and is a tribute to my Mother, Caroline, who always took the time to show me the wonders of Mother Nature. I remember many picnics and times when we would go exploring in the woods, attempting to walk as quietly as we imagined our Native ancestors may have walked, so as not to disturb the wildlife. I remember many days lying on the ground looking at the clouds and many nights gazing at the stars, sharing the images that they created in our minds. As a child, my Mother affectionately gave me the name, “Red Feather”, and this song represents all of these memories that I will cherish forever. Thanks Mom!
This tune is inspired by the vast, revolving beauty of our own Milky Way galaxy, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope image gallery, and the story of God's promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars (Genesis 15:5). Thanks to the Hubble's instruments, we now know the visible universe alone contains over 220 billion galaxies, each of which contains billions or trillions of stars. Absolutely mind boggling!
This is a love song that was inspired by the lives and strength of Genevieve and John Czerwinski Sr. They had only been married for a few months when they were separated during World War II. They lived in a little village outside of Warsaw Poland. Shortly after they married, John was arrested in a round up by Hitler’s troops and sent to the concentration camp in Poland. Genevieve did not know if she would ever see John again. John survived the horrors of the concentration camp. After his camp was liberated, it took John several months to regain his health and the strength to return to to his wife and family. This is a tribute to that reunion.
(song recorded live Jan 2007 -Tyler County Art League fundraiser)
Remembering Leonard and so many dear friends who have moved on.
In the middle there is a bit that picks up the pace…
“Remember when I found this big beast? We danced round the fiesta grounds all weekend.
Folks were asking, How can you play that thing, it’s bigger than you are. That flute and I just kept dancing.
Packing it up, I made an offer, all the money I had, less than the listed price.
Leonard simply nodded his head and smiled.
Remember you? Could we ever forget.
(song self-recorded at home in her music room)
Leonard "Lone Crow" McGann bass D flute
(46 inches long with a 2" bore and side mouthpiece)
Where I live in Montana, the Bridger Mountain Range is nearby and the highest peak in the Bridgers is called Sacajawea. It is a beautiful sight when the sun sets on it, and so that is the inspiration behind my song.
I used to play flute with Utah Farris at his mother's nursing home several years ago. One day he brought this Sand Hill Crane flute and handed it to me to play along with him and his Crane head flute. I fell in love with that flute and purchased it on the lay a way plan. I wanted it so bad after I played the first note.
Well, over time Utah and I would always play these two flutes together and he would announce that we were playing "Sand Hill Cranes Walk This Way". They were always a hit. So, it only seemed appropriate that since I was playing this special flute solo, the song became the Lonely Sand Hill Crane Finds a Mate.
(song self-recorded using Audacity software)
C#m, poplar wood, carved Sand Hill Crane head flute made by Utah Farris -Flight Feather Flutes
While watching how to play a quad video, I was moved to tears, listening to the beautiful sound of this flute! As I was adapting to play this new flute, it takes a lot of breath when playing all four chambers, slowly this melody began to form and took shape. It has a very feminine energy and as I was searching for a title, this title came to mind.
The theme of this song is “transitions.” Part of this was motivated by moving, from Phoenix, AZ, to Gainesville, FL, from drafting design to care giving. It’s leaving and starting again, moving from the known to the unknown. In that move, there is so much emotion, going to a new place, a new life, an unknown welcome, unknown friends. The response is running, toward, around, away, back again.
(song recorded by John Mahoney in his refurbished garage in Glendale AZ)
I volunteered for quite a few years in our local Palliative Care Unit. I played my flutes for many people on their way home, and often was privileged to be there as they left this world. T.S. Eliot calls death "The Unremembered Gate", and in this song, I try to capture the calling of that gateway at the end of life.
(song self-recorded in her walk-in closet using a mini Olympus digital recorder and mixed with WavePad Sound Editor)
Grandfather tuned, branch flute made from sumac from Quebec by Dale Robertson of Fallen Branch Flutes.
Key of Ab
The song is titled Drifting Petals for the cherry blossoms falling off the trees into the water in a Japanese garden I once visited. God created even the simplest things to be beautiful. In the moments of peace, silence and serenity, our Creator walks with us in his garden.
Painted Raven's CD titled "Kindred Spirits", featuring women connected by the Native Rhythms Festival flute competition, returned to home base (Orlando, FL) for a brief pit stop, after traveling around the United States and Canada to collect autographs from the guest musicians that were not able to make it to the Native Rhythms Festival in Melbourne, FL November 12-15, 2015.
The package of CDs started off in Florida on 9/21/15, traveled to New York, continued on to Texas, then on to Montana, then to L.A. California for international customs processing before heading to Canada's west coast for customs processing to get into Canada. They then traveled all the way from Vancouver across to Canada's east coast to Montreal for customs processing to get back into the U.S. before returning home to Florida on 10/23/15, taking a little over a month to complete their long journey! The next stop was The Native Rhythms festival in Melbourne, FL to acquire the autographs of the remaining guest musicians(winners of the Native Rhythms flute competition) that attended the festival. After all the CDs were signed, each guest musician received one of them and the remainding autographed CDs were donated to the Native Rhythms Festival to sell or auction-off as a fundraiser item for the festival.
So, if you would like to acquire a small piece of this historical journey of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling CDs"(nickname taken from the movie, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), you will need to attend the Native Rhythms Festival to purchase or bid on one of these very limited, rare CDs with the autograph of every musician on the recording. You will never be able to acquire one anywhere else with every single autograph on it. This journey will never take place again. So please don't miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity and a chance to help support one of the greatest venues dedicated to the Native American Flute, The Native Rhythms Festival. Hope to see you there!
Every year since its inception in 2009, The Native Rhythms Festival has attracted performers, makers, enthusiasts, and admirers of the Native American Flute from all over the continent. As well as providing an entertaining, family friendly, and free venue for the community, it also holds competitions for artists, flute makers and flute players to be recognized for their talents.
A partnership between the Native Heritage Gathering and the Indian River Flute Circle, the free 3 day festival draws more than 13,000 people from around the world as it celebrates Native American culture and history during November, which is Native American Heritage Month.
