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“All over the world man has relied on the mystery and power of animals to guide him.”

It’s cold out but I’ve got some errands to run and the Johnny Whitehorse/Totemic Flute Chants CD 2008 Grammy Award winner for Best Native American Music recording loaded and ready to be heard.  I mount up and head south toward the greenway ramp. Cold weather riding presents its own challenges because basically it hurts and you better be dressed for it or you will pay.

The challenge for the flute player is to keep it interesting.  To me flute playing is like a poetry reading; completely snooze worthy and boring with each melody floating into the other.

This concept album for flute revolves around animal totems, what they represent and how our four legged, finned and winged brothers and sisters can help us. There are explanations for each in the liner notes on the insert.

Coyote is the storyteller that talks to his brothers and sisters and is  keeper of the wisdom of foolishness.  The wisdom of foolishness?  Consisting of a Drum and a high-pitched soprano voiced flute that if you listen closely you find it sounding just like trickster.   In my head I’m thinking that this is a pan flute or two flutes played at once.  I know that it can be done. I’ve seen it done.  Is that coyote giggling at the end there?

In trac three as the phoenix of ancient lore, Thunderbird provides purification and resurrection.   The song includes drumming, keyboard and guitar.  There are programmed special effects that are tasteful.  The drums go double time in the background and we all know rhythm changes are cool.

Using an eagle bone whistle to represent the Eagle totem, “prayers are sent to Eagle for clarity and intuition.”  The same eagle bone whistle that is used by the dancers in the Circle during the Sundance.  It’s an incredibly beautiful sound and it’s quite eerie how realistic it sounds in the background.

By the time I hear the Bear totem trac, I’m very cold despite the layers I’ve got on.  I’ve taken my glasses off because they fog up, there are tears streaking down my face, my heart is broken in several places and I can’t think.  I’m freezing to the bone, which has never happened to me before.  “Medicine keeper, Bear is the totem of healers.  Bear is the watcher, the spirit of restoration and calm rejuvenation,” I am reminded by the liner notes.  Rejuvenation will have to wait however, while I pedal hard for home and a hot shower.

The CD ends with the Wolf totem guide and “is known for his strength and stamina.  Wolf is playful yet confident, offering balance for the foundation of reason.”  The wolf totem must be the one that protects me as I ride “Street wolf” style down Hennepin Avenue dodging traffic like the mad man that I am.  I’m not sure how reasonable that is but it most certainly is Street WOLF!

This CD, is full of subtle nuance and complexity, is more profound in its execution and more precise in its conception than I had anticipated. It has saved me from myself by reminding me that Bear, my totem and Lakota namesake, has protected me over the years and I am grateful.      My expectations on initially seeing the title on the insert was that this was going to be another boring flute CD not the profound conceptual performance that I’ve been given.  Making each trac sound different from the one before it and still maintain the integrity of the flute is no mean feat.  Johnny Whitehorse Totemic Flute Chants has that nailed.

There’s nothing like standing in a shower of scalding steamy hot water after a ride like this.  Amazing what a half hour of hot water can do for an old Dogg like me.  Whoever invented the shower was really on top of their game.  Why didn’t you tell me that Johnny Whitehorse was actually Robert Mirabal, quite possibly the greatest Native American performance artist to set foot on the Ordway Center for Performing Arts stage.  Yeah, yeah, oh well, next time.  I just turned sixty years of age and I know now that “My totems protect me” otherwise I never would have made it this far.

For Further Info: http://www.johnnywhitehorse.com/

Johnny Whitehorse is a character creation of Robert Mirabal.