Modern for Meditation, Image or Therapy, Day or Night: An Interview with the NightDancers

By Mark Kirby

When you ask someone why he or she likes a band, actor or style of music, the public response is either, "they're awesome," â they rock" or "it's entertaining stuff." Mankind tend to say that music is simply for entertainment. And as for musicians, the reason they play music either involves "the call" to do so or the ego-driven need to stand in front of a crowd. On the contrary why do we still have music? Is it, as Shakespeare stated, "to soothe the savage beast"? It's not like it's life or death. Or is it? For Gera Clark and John Sarantos, who perform on Native American flutes as the NightDancers, music is that deep. Mister Santos started with the simple eagerness to especial himself musically, on the other hand discovered that the Native American flute, by its nature, takes one beyond pigeonholed functions, including new-age "meditation" music. Ms. Clark's airing to music started with desperately needing something of a life line at a critical time. She states: "After a prolonged critical illness, I began to assign my growth back together... While on this spiritual path, I discovered the Native American flute." In this period of art-as-diversion, or lifestyle accessory, it is a wonderfully acceptable surprise to be reminded that, as Clark and Santos reveal in the interview below, music is a powerful and healing force.

[Mark Kirby] What kind of piece was played in your national when you were growing up?

[Gera Clark] My mum played classical music on the piano as an escape from her existence as an urban housewife raising four children. When I started school, my mother went back to assignment and I noticed her appetite for opera increased dramatically. My dad fancied himself as being Bing Crosby and I would grasp him now and then trying to learn the cha cha. Meanwhile, my sister would sneak in rock and roll. We aspired to write music calm in the style of Carol King. We further listened to some of my relatives' records, one being Seamus Ennis, my grand uncle who played the Uilleann pipes (an Irish type of bagpipes).

[John Sarantos] During my early years, my mother would play classical and operatic music when I was in school, nevertheless correct petite music was played while I was home apart from at Christmas.

[Mark Kirby] What kinds of music have you studied prior to the Native American flute?

[Gera Clark] As a child, my mother would bribe me with soda to take piano lessons because she wanted me to be a child prodigy. When I was able to biking on my own, I took up the traverse flute, which I carried with me for three years.

[John Sarantos] I tried learning the drums from the junior grand school rhythm teacher, but he told me I had no rhythm and would not profession with me. After attending a Jethro Tull concerto and life inspired by Ian Anderson's flute playing, I tried the transverse flute, but was told by my flute instructor that I was tone deaf and she wouldn't endeavor with me. I tried singing, but I was told that I was tone deaf by three larger Los Angeles exclamation coaches and they would not grindstone with me. I tried guitar and banjo, however it was exhausting to play due cords as I could not sing along with myself. Then I discovered the Native American flute.

[Mark Kirby] How did you come to start playing Native American music in general, the flute in particular?

[Gera Clark] After the bereavement of my spouse and a brisk rebound marriage and divorce, followed by a prolonged critical illness, I began to place my continuance back together. I also began searching for beauty. While on this spiritual path, I discovered the Native American flute.

One day, I found myself approximately a hundred miles west of Original York standing outside a Tibetan Buddhist Temple, when suddenly I heard the most divine sound. Following the powerful, yet haunting sound, I discovered it emanating from a Native American flute, played by Ed Callshim (Ponca Sioux). After this experience, I last of all found a flute of my own at the National Museum of the American Indian in Distinct York. Later, when traveling to Niagara Falls with my teacher, Amy Lee (Iroquois), a downreaching doting to connect with my earlier travels in the southwest was awakened. On one particular journey, I erect myself exploring the canyons along the Rio Grande. Eventually I was led to the mountains and the Taos Pueblo, where I heard that haunting sound drifting through the air. I followed it to its source, a little adobe. Looking inside, I met a beneficent and talented gentleman who encouraged me to play the native flute. That gentleman, unbeknownst to me at the time, is one of the finest Native American flute players in the world, John Rainer, Jr. (Taos/Creek). Leaving Advanced Mexico with renewed faith, I was led, via The American Indian Regional House in New York, to Franc Menusan (Muskogee Creek). He became my extremely patient mentor for many years.

On my birthday, I flew outside to an R. Carlos Nakai (Navajo/Ute) concert with the San Francisco Symphony, where I learned about the Renaissance of the Native American Flute workshop in Montana. I came back to Advanced York and booked myself a flight to Montana, which was where I met John Sarantos, and our euphonious business was born.

[John Sarantos] My mother, who was 84-years-old at the time, introduced me to the music of the Peter Kater and R. Carlos Nakai duo. Mr. Kater, who is of German heritage, played piano, and Mr. Nakai the native flute. I discovered that I very like the sound of the native flute. I went to a Kater and Nakai concert in Chicago, where Nakai mentioned a week-long workshop at the Feathered Pipe Ranch in Helena, Montana. I had a choice of paying about $1,200 for the flute workshop taught by Mr. Nakai and his companion and flute-maker, Ken Light, or going to Japan for two weeks, all expenses paid by the school where I was teaching. I chose Montana.

[Mark Kirby] What lead you to play this kind of meditative music?

[John Sarantos] We don't think of it as matchless meditative music. We worked impenetrable to stay elsewhere from falling into that stereotype of dulcet style on our CD. Although a quota of people benefit our record for meditation, they also use it for healing and relaxation. Various clan who keep cancer told me that they find inner quiet while listening to â Montana Crossings'.

[Gera Clark] In fact, after John had his cancer surgery last year, we persuaded that 10% of the gross sales from â Montana Crossings' would be used to pay for flutes for cancer patients. So far, we hold donated flutes to cancer flute circles and individuals in New York City, Chicago, Lansing, Michigan and Jefferson City, Oregon.

[Mark Kirby] Are Native American flutes besides like shakuhachi flutes or transverse flutes in terms of technique?

[John Sarantos] Neither. The shakuhachi can haul three months honorable to bias one note. The transverse requires several hours of playing to get down honest the basic scale. The native flute is one of the easiest instruments to play. I gain taught elementary children to play the native flute, and they have started playing songs in about five minutes or less.

[Mark Kirby] Describe the flutes that you use in terms of size, number of holes, type of wood, etc.

[Gera Clark] We use flutes ranging from four to six holes and from four inches to five feet.

[John Sarantos] Traditionally, most flutes were imaginary from soft woods; for example, cedar and pine. However, when the Europeans came, they brought with them tools that specious it easier to create flutes absent of harder woods; some flutes were much made from out of date gun barrels.

[Gera Clark] Today, flute-makers are creating flutes from all types of woods, from cedars to walnut to iron wood, to even flutes trumped-up elsewhere of one of the hardest woods: ebony.

[John Sarantos] We also acquire a broad assortment of clay flutes based on the Aztec and Mayan cultures made by master flute-maker Xavier Quijas Xyotol.

[Mark Kirby] How did you arrive at the brand of NightDancers for your melodic duo?

[Gera Clark] One generation John and I were talking and discovered that we both used to jaunt around our individual houses in the centre of the night without any lights on. We came up with the name Night Walkers.

[John Sarantos] However, most humanity we talked to concept that the name sounded extremely all the more adore vampires or ladies of the evening.

[Gera Clark] After discussing a fluctuation of names, we came up with NightDancers.

[Mark Kirby] When did you decide to file â Montana Crossings'?

[Gera Clark] John and I had been playing cool for about two years. John would junket from Milwaukee during his vacations, and we would play for our acquaintance Bob Hegler, who encouraged us to keep playing together. We enjoyed playing so still that we used to spend hours playing over speaker phones when John was still living in Milwaukee. When we started performing in local New York venues, citizens would ask if we had a Disc they could purchase. After about a year of doing live performances, we felt that we had created a wide variety of songs that we wanted to hand with others.

[Mark Kirby] Why did you choose to transcribe at Avatar Studios in Fresh York City?

[John Sarantos] I had been writing enter reviews for the International Native American Flute Diary for about ten senescence and could tell when an artist used a home personal computer all the groove up to a professional sound studio. If we were going to deposit our time, attempt and income into a recording, we wanted it to sound the culminating it could. I asked indefinite people whether they could recommend a sound studio in New York City. Avatar Studios was one of the top three studios on several people's lists.

[Gera Clark] We were and very lucky that Tino Passante of Avatar recommended Jim Anderson for our sound engineer. Jim understood the sound that we were striving to obtain, and he succeeded in capturing that sound.

[Mark Kirby] How are the titles connected to the songs you are playing? Are these titles indicative of what the classical is supposed to evoke?

[Gera Clark] The titles are indicative of the inspiration behind the music.

[John Sarantos] Hopefully, everyone man testament have their own emotional response to the music depending on their own journey.

[Mark Kirby] What types of events or venues cook you play?

[Gera Clark] One of our goals is to nourishment spread the allure of the flute to others, if it be playing our air for others to listen [to] or sharing our knowledge on how to play the flute.

[John Sarantos] herefore, we play in a array of venues for all types of events. You can view our schedule at: http://www.nightdancersmusic.com and http://www.myspace.com/nightdancersmusic

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