American Indian/European Fusion

I went to a wonderful concert Monday night, sponsored by Robert Jonas's Empty Bell center, and featuring Vince Redhouse. Vince had been a jazz musician from childhood who, at age 37, embraced his "Indianhood" and began playing the Indian flute. He extended its traditional Dorian scale into a full chromatic scale, and thereby can perform with European instruments in playing classical western music, like Satie and Debussy. He was joined Monday by drums and two electric guitars. The effect is magical and a little haunting as he weaves the sounds of the two cultures into a musical unity that belies our visceral memory of them at war.