**This is a digital download only**

For over 35 years, 11-time Grammy® nominee and Platinum Record recipient R. Carlos Nakai has been at the forefront of the musical development of the Native American flute, introducing the traditional flute to the genres of jazz, new age as well as classical music, perhaps the most challenging of all for the traditional flute. From Graceful Fields is Nakai’s fifth classical album and features the ethereal and playful From Graceful Fields (for flute and a cappella women’s voices), by Giuli Doyle, a new Nakai composition, Passages (for flute with Luis Engelke on trumpet, William Eaton on harp guitar, Will Clipman on drums), and Souvenirs by James DeMars (for flute with DeMars on piano).

"I’ve long been interested in performing the Native American flute in a classical setting, whether with only one or two other players or a full symphony orchestra. I suppose my desire comes from my ensemble experience as a trumpet player with the Navajo Nation Band and my pleasure in working with other musicians.

When I began working with Canyon Records in the mid-1980s, I mentioned to my producer, Robert Doyle, that I wanted to perform classical music. Canyon then commissioned composer James DeMars to write the first concerto for Native American flute and chamber orchestra, Spirit Horses, to mark Canyon’s 45th anniversary in 1986. Jim would go on to create many other compositions for Native American flute in many settings, including the Two World Concerto (commissioned by the Phoenix Symphony) that I would perform more than thirty times. It’s fitting that Evensongs, a duet for flute and piano, composed by Jim is premiered here.

My interest in classical music goes beyond performing as for many years I’ve composed my own works for the traditional flute. I’m proud to include on this recording, Passages, a commission from the International Trumpet Guild. My long-time collaborators William Eaton and Will Clipman, worked with me to create the accompaniment for the trumpet and record it for the backing track required by the commission. Luis Engelke, who negotiated the commission and then guided me through the process of realizing the commission, also edited, performed, and recorded the trumpet part. Composing this work was made more pleasurable because it was for my first instrument, the trumpet.

Giuli Doyle, wife of producer Robert Doyle, created something not done before in setting the flute with unaccompanied women’s voices. This recording saw many challenges as it developed, but Giuli always worked closely with me to make sure that her writing would bring out the best of the flute. I very much liked working with the sound of women’s voices unaccompanied, perhaps because I come from matriarchal society, the Navajo. My favorite movement is the second, Impatiens, because it uses the high-C flute, which no one has composed for. I also liked the sections of faster, dancing rhythms, which reminded me of dancing in the pow-wow circle." - R. Carlos Nakai.