PAST AND PRESENT

An interview with Peter Phippen

by Serge Kozlovsky
 

Frankly speaking I got to know about you and your music by pure accident. One of visitors to my site asked me whether I had ever to listen to the music of Peter Phippen. I determined that I should hear this music without fail and wrote to you. Once I received long-awaited albums released by Canyon Records and finally heard your music I was nicely surprised: to listen to Peter Phippen's music is like to meet with an old friend whom you haven't seen for a long time and whom you wanted to see so much. And what is your music for you yourself?

Thank you for your kind words Serge. Music is something I have always done just for myself, since childhood. I improvise music everyday, in the backyard, in the woods, by the water in quiet parks near my home or late at night in my small music room. So, I feel very fortunate when other people are interested in what I am doing.

What is your own attitude to what you do?

My music is who I am, all I have been and all I ever will be. It is something I was born with, I guess. I could not imagine living without being able to play.

What feelings does this music rise in you?

I play what I feel. That can change from day to day, I do not like to control my music. I prefer to allow the music to just "happen". There are times when something will affect my life, then it shows up in my music. Sadness, loneliness, happiness, any feelings a person can have are there, I just open my spirit, and let my feelings pour out through the instruments.

How and why did you get to the conclusion to play various kinds of flutes?

Well, it was an accident, and a strange story. I had been making a living performing as an electric bassist since I was 12 years old and I had no intention of becoming a flutist. Then one day in the spring of 1987 my wife Julie was shopping for a couch and she took me along. We came upon a "World Bizzare" gift shop and went in there to look at sofas. There was a basket of bamboo penny whistles from India in that store, just cheap tourist items. I was bored with looking for a couch, so I picked one up and started to play it. I was quite surprised. I had never been able to play recorder in grade school, but here I was, playing the daylights out of this cheap little piece of bamboo, so I bought it for 25 cents. A good friend of mine, Tiit Raid, an art professor at the University of Wisconsin, listened to me play this small bamboo whistle one night and the next day he gave me a Bansuri bamboo flute from India saying, "Peter if you are going to play the flute, play this one"! And I have been playing every since. When I started to play my Bansuri in a small coffee shop, and people would hear me play, they began to give me flutes of all kinds. They would say such things as, "this flute was my father's, but I think it belongs to you" or "our grandparents went on a trip a long time ago and they brought back this flute. We think you should have it". That first year I was gifted with over 40 flutes from all over the world. Some were very nice. It was then I realized that I had to learn all I could about these instruments... a daunting task that would take the rest of my life... and that I would never reach my goal.

What was an incitement to you to give preference to flutes namely?

It is the sound, so many different sounds, all from basically the same type of instrument. It is the small differences between each individual instrument. What a challenge to learn all the different embouchures and fingerings needed to properly play the many types of aerophones mankind has to offer! I have fallen in love with a musical instrument... an instrument with a long, rich history.

Which of the flutes are your favorite ones and why? Which flutes from your great collection do you play with the most interest and comfort?

A simple transverse bamboo flute with 6 tone holes and an embouchure hole made from a single node of Florida bamboo, (made by Patrick Olwell), is my instrument of choice. To me, this flute has it all, and is a mainstay for all of my recordings and live performances. I am most comfortable playing Patrick Olwell's bamboo flutes.

I also like to put quite a bit of time into playing Shakuhachi, Bansuri and Nay flutes which are both antique and contemporary depending on the mood I'm in or the sound required at the time. My modern Shakuhachi are made by Ken LaCosse and my Bansuri, both are from Kirti Shah at One World Trading.

Antique Native American flutes that are not traditionally tuned are also on the top of my list. (I favor a 1920 Richard Fool Bull Lakota Flute) Sometimes I think it is good to forget our western ears and the tonalities we are accustomed to. However, I do play western tuned Native American flutes when needed. My favorites are made by Butch Hall, Coyote Oldman and Ed Hrebec.

I recently obtained a unique flute that I enjoy playing. It is a late 1800's Zulu transverse bamboo flute. Rarely seen among the Zulu, who, if they make it and use it, call it "igemfe", the name of a totally different instrument. It is a curious specimen being closed at both ends and having four tone holes arranged in pairs. Another flute I play and favor for a different sound is a 1829-30 Asa Hopkins Baroque flute of boxwood and ivory. Hopkins was an American maker who only made 21 flutes in his lifetime. Another interesting flute I own is a Papago flute made by my late friend Dr. Richard Payne, a wonderful replica of an 1880's Native American flute. Other interesting replicas I play are Anasazi and Hopi flutes made by Coyote Oldman. These represent the oldest known American flutes. They are true flutes, very hard to play and interesting because of the scale the instruments possess. They are very much like Nay flutes of Egypt.

Various kinds of flutes, penny whistles present the instruments which are likely to be found in the musical culture of each nation. You are well aware what a great variety of these instruments exist in the world. What are common features for all them?

They are all aerophones, true flutes played vertically or horizontally as an open pipe which requires an embouchure. Instruments like a Shakuhachi, Bansuri, Dizi, African Hunter's Whistle, Nay, Quena, Pan pipe, Anasazi, Hopi....to name a few....these are true flutes. A Native American flute with a fetish on top fall under the category of aerophone, and are called "flute", however, they are not true flutes. They are whistles, like an Irish whistle or recorder. Yet a bullroarer is also an aerophone as is a conch shell.

Judging by your albums it is the Native American music that is the most congenial to you. Is it really so, and if so then why?

Humm, Serge, this is a hard question. I just play what I play. My music is just a moment in time, an improvisation, gone forever after I hit the last note. I cannot play the songs on my CD's the same ever again, nor do I want to. That would be like a painter painting the same picture over and over again. When I walk out on stage to play a show, I have no idea what I'm going to play until I hit the first note. I'll know what flutes I'm warm with, and what key I'll be playing in, but that's it. On my last two CD's, "Echoes of the Past" and "Night Song", there was only one written song on each recording... "Days of June" and "Lullaby". Any other songs that sound formally composed actually were not written. I don't know what to call my music. I guess it has to be called something, perhaps "natural"? I just hope that people will enjoy it for what it is. I do not feel my music is complex, yet it is hard to find musicians who can play it because of its simplicity. I feel my music is like a bamboo flute, deceptively simple.

Your music is a kind of meditation music. What do you feel, what do you imaging while performing your compositions?

Meditation music, yes, that is a good description of my work. I close my eyes and put the events of my life at the time of the recording into each piece of music. I was thinking about Dr. Richard Payne, my late friend and teacher, on "Blue Sunset" and "Papago Twilight". On "Daughter of the Mist", I was thinking of my daughter Nicky, becoming a young woman in front of my eyes and having to let her go out into the world on her own. On "Masked Dance" I was thinking of the human race (what a mess). On "North Wind Lonely Wind", I was just crying through my flute and on "Sins of the Father", I was wishing my son could be with me. It's usually deep and dark stuff going through my mind when I record... memories I want to save in the time capsule called my CD.

Now let's touch on your albums released by Canyon Records. When and why did you start collaborating with this label?

My two favorite sound recording labels for many years were ECM Records and Canyon Records. I had been listening to ECM's recordings since 1976, very gray and dreary sound recordings. (I mean that in a good way.) Then I discovered Canyon's recordings around 1988, very mysterious recordings, really natural with a touch of darkness. (I liked that very much.) At that time, I was playing bass with a rock group that was about to land a deal with Curb Records out of Los Angeles, California... and we did, releasing a CD in 1991. All this time I was learning the bamboo flute, and Canyon had a handle on flute music. So, I played bamboo flute day and night, recorded two solo CD's on my own, (both out of print now) and began to send Canyon my stuff. The rock group died a slow death, and I was very pleased when I got to record "Book of Dreams" with Canyon in 1996.

Would you be so kind as to tell in details about your albums released by Canyon Records?

"Book of Dreams" 1996 - South American flutes, Antique bamboo flutes from the Caribbean Islands and China, contemporary Native American flutes, guitars, bass, drum set, African drums

"Echoes of the Past" 1999 - Patrick Olwell bamboo flutes, Butch Hall contemporary Native American flutes, shakuhachi, overtone flute (from Norway) African drums, keyboards, female voice.

"Night Song" 2003 - Ken Lacosse shakuhachi flutes, Patrick Olwell Bansuri bamboo flute, antique transverse alto bamboo flute, Low "D" Irish whistle, antique Papago flute.

In general which of your albums is the most favorite and why?

"Night Song" is my favorite work, because this recording is the closest to how I have always sounded when I play alone late at night in my small music room.

How did you come to the new age music?

I have always played what I call space music. I used to play it on my bass through all kinds of effects before I became a flutist.

And, to the point, do you consider the music you perform the new age music?

I'm not sure what to call my music, perhaps it is "New Age". My work is gentle and flowing, yet it has a natural, earthy edge to it that I do not hear in much "New Age" music. I think it is best that the public draw it's own conclusions. I'm really too close to the work to say.

Where were you born?

I was born in Potsdam, New York on April 24, 1956

Have you a family?

Yes, my wife, Julie Phippen, daughter Nicky Phippen-Beaulieu (who is expecting a boy in March), son-in-law Brian Beaulieu, son Joshua Daby and granddaughter Emma Rose Daby, daughter-in-law Liz Daby ( who is expecting another child in August).

What interests do you pursue in your life?

I like antiques and the wisdom of old people, anthropology and the study of music's origins, the wind in my face, warm rainy days, the deep woods, and hot summer days with no clouds in the sky.

What musicians do you collaborate with and why?

I like to collaborate with musicians that can improvise better than I can, then all one of us has to say is "C# minor in 7 " or something to that effect. I like a percussionist who has tons of "chops", but plays gently only using his "chops" when they are needed. This would go for any musician I would want to work with.

What are your plans in general? When we can listen to a new album of yours?

I am working on a collaboration with Coyote Oldman at the moment, and of course, I am working on another solo CD. The release date for both of these recordings is not determined yet.

Would you be so kind as to tell about your teaching activity?

I would be more than happy to. I love to go into schools, colleges or groups of adults and lecture on improvisation, flutes of the world ( past and present), folklore stories involving flutes, along with some playing and comparative study. I really enjoy this as I feel I am giving something back to the schools or colleges I am serving. My programs are about teamwork, the nature and structure of music from various world cultures, history, storytelling, and self esteem. I hope that through an understanding of music and experience with performance, young students will be motivated to continue exploring the world of music on their own.

You'll find a lot more information about this subject on my web site.

Is there something I haven't asked you that's important for you to tell right now?

Serge, what is important to me right now is to thank you with all of my heart for giving me a chance to talk about my music and introducing me to your country, readers, and listeners. Your kind words about my work at the beginning of this interview were some of the nicest things anyone has ever said about my work. Your words are poetry. Thank you.

P.S. Peter Phippen’s web site address is http://www.peterphippen.com

Canyon Record’s web site address is http://www.canyonrecords.com