Local flutist earns Grammy nomination Local flute player Peter Phippen was nominated for a Grammy award for the album "Woodnotes Wyld: Historic Flute Sounds from the Dr. Richard W. Payne Collection," a tribute to his late music teacher.
Posted: Wednesday, February 9, 2011
By Rob Hanson Leader-Telegram staff
Local musician Peter Phippen was in disbelief when he found out he had been nominated for a Grammy Award - and for some valid reasons.
After all, his album that was nominated is literally nothing more than an improvised historical field recording of a bunch of old flutes. It was recorded on basic technology, and for the most part wasn't even supposed to be released.
But Phippen's sole desire to preserve the sounds of the past is where the idea for the album "Woodnotes Wyld: Historic Flute Sounds from the Dr. Richard W. Payne Collection" came from in the first place. And although simple, the charm that comes with an album dedicated to capturing only the purest sounds might have been what caused some to take notice.
In reality, Phippen, originally of Potsdam, N.Y., isn't too excited about the Grammy nomination. He will be on the road for a flute seminar in Virginia during the time of the awards ceremony Sunday in Los Angeles. And even if he could make it, he wouldn't. Awards for Phippen's category, Best Native American Music Album, aren't part of the televised portion and are handed out in the afternoon. Not to mention, travel and lodging are not included.
However, exposure provided by the nomination has given Phippen the opportunity to tell the album's story, which is really that of the late Dr. Richard W. Payne.
After picking up the flute in the late 1980s, Phippen spent many years learning the history of the flutes he had acquired. Through his travels, he learned of Payne, of Oklahoma City, Okla., a flute maker who also had one of the world's most extensive antique flute collections.
Phippen wrote to Payne in 1998 hoping to buy one his flutes but got an interesting response. "He sent me just a one-sentence reply," Phippen said. " 'I don't know if one of my flutes belongs to you, but if you're ever in Oklahoma City, look me up.' "
And that's exactly what Phippen did the next time he was performing even remotely close to Oklahoma City.
Upon arrival at Payne's home, Phippen said he was instantly put on the spot.
Payne pulled flute after flute from the walls, quizzing Phippen on their origins and how to play them.
"He didn't take on a lot of students, but I must have proven myself worthy," Phippen said.
In the coming months, Phippen worked just long enough at home to pay the bills and then would spend weeks in Oklahoma City taking lessons with Payne.
Each lesson began at 4:30 a.m. and ended that evening at a local airport where Payne would watch the sunset and Phippen would recite what he had learned.
"He was probably one of the most remarkable men I've ever met in my life," Phippen said. "And debatably, he was the world's leading authority on Native American, Meso-American and South American flutes.
"He knew so much about every flute culture in the world."
Phippen recorded many of his lessons for his own use. He also recorded random scales and improvisations on some of Payne's oldest and rarest flutes simply to preserve sounds that many people otherwise might never have the opportunity to hear. But that's about as far as it went.
Payne died in 2004, and the recordings sat in a drawer for years until friends of Phippen at the International Native American Flute Association encouraged him to release the work as part of a historical music series.
"Peter can play anything ... so this is really a profound recording so everybody can hear these old flutes," said Kathleen Joyce-Grendahl, of the INAFA.
From there Phippen took the raw recording to Ivar Lunde Jr., conductor of the Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra and owner of Skyline Studio in Eau Claire. Although they added a touch of reverb and eliminated some of the recording's background noise, Lunde and Phippen wanted the final product to stay true to the sounds of the flutes.
"Peter and I agreed that this was supposed to be a historical representation of some of the instruments that he had played," Lunde said. "Since it was a historical recording, we tried to make flutes sound like they really do ... rather than with manufactured equalization."
Despite the Grammy nomination, Phippen is only taking limited credit for "Woodnotes Wyld," His name only appears in the album's liner notes, and Phippen donated all the publishing rights to the INAFA.
"Using my late professor to further my own career," Phippen said. "Just ... wouldn't be right.