Makiyo Sakai talks: Flute and Jazz, indescribable fascination
I first encountered the flute when I was in elementary school. I was fascinated by its gentle and beautiful tone and rich expressiveness, as if it were singing with my own voice. I was committed to classical music in my school days, but Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, and Chick Corea’s piano introduced me to jazz music. I often listened to their music, thinking how cool they were. Jazz is the music of the moment, created on the spot, and no two performances are ever the same. It is the music that allows me to express myself most freely. At first, however, jazz flute was not so my liking, and I was playing the piano only. Yet, it changed my mindset completely after I listened to Hubert Laws’ flute. His flute playing sounded jazz— but its tone and delicate nuance were beautiful, and its rhythm was cool. I was surprised that such a jazz flute existed—that led me where I am today.
The flute has a tone that blends well with any genre of music. It also go well together with and melting into jazz as if enveloping it. There are many jazz music that become more sophisticated with the addition of the flute, including Chick Corea’s “Spain” that brought in a lot of flute to its original composition. There is still a strong image that the flute is about classical music, but I am not so conscious of genres or categorization. The flute is a musical instrument that lives in all kinds of music. It can express beautiful and sparkling tones as well as deep emotions with thick and calm sounds. I change the way I play the flute for each musical genre, but I am not really concerned about that while playing it. I have many opportunities to play jazz arrangements of classical music, and hope that I could bring out the charm of the piece and composer even more by arranging it. The “Swan Lake,” which we will perform today, was arranged with an image of McCoy Tyner’s piano. I want to make it a fun and thrilling performance with a jazz quartet.
My recommendation for jazz flute? It would be performances by Hubert Laws, Jeremy Steig, Joe Farrell, Herbie Mann, Sam Most, and Eric Dolphy. I am sure you will discover the breadth and charm of the flute as a musical instrument! It’s gentle at some time, and powerful and aggressive at other time. While the flute could express the breath of life, jazz allows me to express myself freely. Through those, I feel joy everyday in conveying my inner thoughts and wishes to the world.
Interviewed on 10/31/2023
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