Hard Core Flute.

Gotta love a bit of flute metal !

Nestor Torres

Here's a great clip I found of Nestor Torres (flute) playing with a youth based Latin band called Soulsa Caliente. He uses J.S Bach's Partita for solo flute as an introduction to a very Latin number 'Cafe Cubano'. The build up and transition is seamless from one to the other is seamless.


 

Dream on The Way Single Launch Tour

Jarrah Thompson and I are currently in the middle of a National Single Launch tour promoting the release of our single 'Dream on the Way.' This single is the first to be released from the album recorded in Brazil called 'Rio Claro' which will be released in March 2011. You can download the single for free at: www.jarrahthompson.bandcamp.com

In the meantime, you can check out this clip of us down at the Longley Hotel in Tassy. Had a beautiful time at the Longley, our hosts Jack and Jill were extra lovely!

'Lost Control' - Stargazer (2008)

Jarrah Thompson (guitar, vox, stombox) Asha Henfry (flute)

Photo by Tony Gough

Kensington flautist flouts the norm

-By Mark Smith

KENSINGTON flautist Asha Henfry has never been one for convention when it comes to music.

Where others follow traditional classical and orchestral paths while learning the instrument, Henfry has always preferred to take an individual view.

Therefore agreeing to a random request to join Melbourne 1970s style psychedelic-rock band Jarrah Thompson while living in Perth last year was to be expected. The move has paid dividends, leading to a six-week Brazilian tour earlier this year, an appearance on Programa do Jo - Brazil’s equivalent of David Letterman - and a spot on the band’s second album Rio Claro.

This month Henfry will join guitarist Thompson on a three-month national tour in support of the album’s first single Dream on the Way.

The duo will be joined by the full band for the single’s launch at Northcote Social Club on October 28. Henfry described the band’s live show as a blend of experimental world music with a blues/rock vibe.

Tracks on the band’s Myspace page reveal a sound that throws back to Jethro Tull, Ted Nugent and Led Zeppelin.

“It’s an exciting time,” Henfry said of the band.

“Jarrah has been working hard on this for a long time and we are getting to the stage where we are starting to get some interest from festivals.”

Jarrah Thompson Band will perform at Northcote Social Club on October 28.

To book a flute lesson with Henfry, email ashahenfry@gmail.com

Flute Teaching in Melbourne

For the last 10 years I have taught flute in my home studio in Perth and now in Kensington, VIC as well as in Primary and Secondary schools. I have always loved teaching as I find watching the students grow as musicians to be an exciting and fulfilling experience. In my one-on-one teaching I find using a variety of teaching methods to be benefitial to the learning process. In lessons I often draw from my knowledge of Classical music, Jazz, Contemporary, World Music and Improvisation.

During my time as a teacher, I have also been fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to work for the Starlight Children's Foundation creating and conducting music workshops for hospitalised adolescents. My experience with the Foundation was extremely fulfilling and allowed me to exercise my passion for teaching in a very different way.



I am currently teaching in my home studio in Kensington, VIC. Please contact me via email to secure a place.

ashahenfry@gmail.com

FEES:
Half hour lesson (recommended for beginners) = $30
One hour lesson = $50

The BIGGEST flute in the world!!

Was doing some research on amplifying flutes actually, but stumbled across this great video and had to share it with you! I'll let you know when I've figured out the best solution for amplifying a flute, it's a tricky one!

This is possibly the silliest and most amazing instrument ever invented, the subcontrabass flute! ENJOY!

Melbourne International Jazz Festival

Melbourne...what a great place to be living! It's a never ending festival! There's never a shortage for something to see and do, to get inspired and to see some good live music. From May 1st the Melbourne International Jazz Festival starts, going for a full week. Being a flute player myself, I'm always on the look out for jazz saxophonists who also play flute. They are always an inspiration to see, with their amazing improvisatory skills and awesome technique. One concert I was particularly interested in seeing was 'Sangam' with Eric Harland, Charles Lloyd and Zakir Hussain. As you may have already read, I have a particular fascination with Indian music and Zakir Hussain is someone I have been wanting to see in concert for a long time. He is one of the most famous tabla players in the world, playing with a whole variety of musicians. Charles Lloyd is a multi-instrumentalist, and a great flute player.

Here is the Charles Lloyd Quartet with Charles on flute in 1972, unfortunately there is no video footage for this one but the music is great.




If your interested in the Sangam trio check this out. It's a bit of a doco on how the trio came about and includes some beautiful performances.

Johnny Heartsman

Not many people seem to know of Johnny. I was introduced to him by one of my teachers that had an awesome recording of him playing the flute in a Roland Kirk/Ian Anderson kind of style. I was totally inspired! The sounds he created were like nothing I've heard the flute do before. I wasn't interested in the rest of the CD, but Johnny was also a very talented vocalist, bassist, organist and guitarist.

Here's Johnny busting out some awesome blues flute.

Expanding Horizons

During my years as a flautist I have realised that being put into the Classical flute player box was definitely not where I wanted to be. I want to be versatile and creative with my playing, try new techniques and learn new instruments. So this is what I now set out to be. I still love playing Classical music but I have interests in so many other style of music I don't want to stifle.

I'm currently striving towards this goal by playing with a blues rock band, Jarrah Thompson and band. It's the most fun I've had on stage in ages and I get to express myself in a way I thought I might never get the chance! I will post some videos with Jarrah soon but in the mean time check out my performance of Ravi Shankar's L'aube Enchantee. In my Honours year at WAAPA I studied Indian and Japanese inspired flute music for the Western flautist. This piece by Shankar is a great way to introduce yourself with Indian melody, form and rhythm. This was played at my 2007 Graduation Recital with Tony Maydwell on harp.

The Tapestry at the Oxford St Markets - Leederville.

Earlier this year my very good friend/colleague/ex-housemate Holly Norman and I formed a percussion and flute duo named The Tapestry. Holly is an amazing percussionist and muso, playing a lot lately with WASO (the West Australia Symphony Orchestra). Although, when she plays with me there isn't so much of the timpani or crash cymbals but more of the cajon, djembe and marimba. I try to mix up my style a fair bit too using some ethnic flutes like the Bansuri from India. Our sound is one aimed at drawing on flavours from around the globe. We don't try to be authentic with our sound but more take traditional tunes and make them our own.

The Tapestry creates an improvisatory and relaxed vibe perfect for outdoor markets! Our first busking gigs were at the Fremantle Markets pub, which was great! The crowd often took a little bit to get going but once they did they were very responsive. After a few months we came to the conclusion that if we wanted to keep playing there and actually earn a bit of cash we were going to have to play some covers....which we really didn't want to do. So after a few quiet months we started busking again at the Field of Greens Fresh Fare Market which is an offshoot of the Oxford St Markets in Leederville, Perth. The market is held behind the Aranmore Catholic College on Franklin St, Leederville every Sunday from 8am till 12pm. It's a gorgeous dog friendly market full of delicious things to eat! Both times that we have been there the organisers have been so friendly to us, the kids have been great (thanks for dancing!) and we have made a lovely bit of money as a bonus. As Holly commented today playing at the markets is just like going out for coffee with a friend, a perfect Sunday morning treat.

The Tapestry will be playing at the Oxford St Markets again for sure!

The Vegetable Orchestra

I must have a thing for instruments made of vegetables! I just think it's incredible. The time taken to make the instruments, the fact that the instrument would only last a few days and also that you would always have a different sound to work with are all things most instrumentalists would dread. Us muso's seem to rely so heavily on our instrument and if it's the slightest bit out, i.e; a leaky pad, a broken string, a lose key we freak out a little. But then again, these guys are playing very simple things on their instruments, recurring themes that don't require alot of technical brilliance. Though I'm sure finding the right embouchure for some of these flutes and other wind instruments is no easy feat. Here's a video of the Vegetable Orchestra that might get you as excited as I am.

Live at The Little Creatures Loft with Mitch Becker

I recently did a show with Mitch Becker, a muso who's only been in Perth for a short while. I introduced myself after hearing Mitch and his girlfriend Sylvie play at the Mojo's Open Mic Night (which was a real hoot by the way!). Mitch uses an awesome percussive technique on his guitar, somewhat reminiscent of Flamenco. Mitch (guitar and vox), Sylvie (vox) and I (flute, of course!) played a very chilled out gig at The Little Creatures Loft.

Flute Salad!

So a little while ago I stumbled across the cutest Japanese man. Heita3 on Youtube, makes all his flutes out of fruit, vegetables, broccoli, carrots, asparagus, capsicums, apples, radishes and even ostrich eggs. He seems to be able to make anything into a working instrument! Some aren't as successful as others, but he admits all this himself. But not only is Heita3 a skilled craftsman, he is also a crack up to watch. The mind boggles.....he's great!!



On further research I found Heita3 was not alone and there are many people around the world making flutes from fruit and vegetables. The best thing about this research is that I found a couple doing it right here in Perth! I'm always surprised when I find out there are awesome people like this Western Australia, I bet there's a whole lot more. You can check them out here: http://www.flutenveg.com/. It seems as though Alain Thirion and Kerry Fletcher have done a whole lot of vege flute making in their lives and I'm really keen to check them out.



There are so many people doing great things out there and it all gets me totally inspired. I'm off to try making my own vege flute! I'll let you know how I go.

Biography

After the completion of a Bachelor of Classical Music with Honours at WAAPA, flautist Asha Henfry has been on a journey of musical discovery. Studying at summer schools across Europe with renowned flautists Peter Lukas-Graf, Ian Clarke and Wil Offermans gave Asha the desire to explore her love of the flute beyond the boundaries of classical music. Whilst travelling through India, and immersing herself in its culture and music, Asha’s love of non-western styles also grew stronger.  In Western Australia she formed the flute and percussion duo, The Tapestry and played with Chris de Groot’s Annexia Ensemble, performing his award winning compositions for silent films. Asha moved to Melbourne in 2010 joining the blues/rock outfit The Jarrah Thompson Band. During the bands 3 tours of Brazil she was exposed to the sounds of Brazilian choro and was instantly drawn to its joyful, virtuosic and playful sounds. Upon returning to Melbourne, Asha turned her interest to choro music and other Brazilian genres and soon after became a member of Panorama do Brasil. As a passionate advocate of Brazilian music in Melbourne, Asha also plays with choro group Sexteto Zona Sul, lead by guitarist virtuoso Doug de Vries, at national festivals and renowned Melbourne music venues. 

Please email me for performance or teaching enquiries.
ashahenfry@gmail.com.