With lots of time on my hands, I have been surfing YouTube for solo improvisers who provide moving performances that speak to our present lives in isolation. Today I am sharing two of them, Derek Charke and George Grant.
Flutist and composer Derek Charke teaches composition at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. His flute and bass flute improvisations are inventive, very well sculpted and full of things that I didn’t know the flute could do. His improvs are full of alternate and unusual fingerings, and embouchure tricks. He also has his flutes constructed with open holes to accommodate easier pitch bending. His bass flute work is particularly fascinating. I have never seen a bass flute live! He apparently is equipped with a pair of iron lungs, as well.
He has collected his recent improvs into one large video, which I have linked to below so you can binge listen like I did. I was transfixed for about 45 minutes. Enjoy!
George Grant is a Professor of Music Therapy at Utah State University. He specializes in vocal toning and throat singing. He is no slouch on the hand drum either. His music is something altogether different from that of Derek Charke. As a music therapist, he emphasizes the healing and meditative aspects in his music. The things he does with his voice in this improvisation are not easy, and they are presented with a real emotional honesty. I love the simplicity of this music. One of my composition teachers told me that it seemed to him that the most spiritual music was often extraordinarily simple. I think he was right.
Composition and Improvisation 