Within the jazz spectrum, there have been a number of individuals whose proficiency on their respective instrument of choice has caused them to be cited as the genre’s standard bearer in that respect. To wit, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker have pretty much defined the idiom as saxophonists. Likewise, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie irrefutably cemented their legacies as jazz’s defining artists with respect to the trumpet. In turn, few have attained such a high level of proficiency on the guitar as did Wes Montgomery and Django Reinhardt.
However, the role of the flute in the jazz realm has to date not been as distinctly defined. The Moe Koffman Quartette certainly demonstrated its potential with his 1958 monster classic, The Swingin’ Shepherd Blues (Jubilee 5311). In 1962, Herbert Jay “Herbie Mann” Solomon set the standard of excellence with his landmark Herbie Mann At The Village Gate album (Atlantic SD-1380). But in the ensuing years, the impact of the flute on jazz was largely defined by occasional reminders from such capable soloists as Hubert Laws, Jerome Richardson, Nestor Torres and the late Ronald Theodore “Rahsaan Roland” Kirk.
However, those limited expectations are bound to change with Lady Of The Island, the latest release by New York-based flautist, composer and producer Andrea Brachfeld…
By Michael McDowell
The Shape of Things to Come
http://blitzmag.blogspot.com/2007/01/shape-of-things-to-come-by-michael.html