“I sure couldn't have imagined, five or six years ago, that I'd be sitting here in Missoula getting ready for a performance,” said LaRocque. “This whole experience has just been surreal.”
LaRocque was one of about two dozen musicians - professional and amateur and even beginner - who spent much of the past week at the Tarkio River Lodge in Tarkio, northwest of Missoula, participating in a Native American flute workshop.
For LaRocque, the concert represented a watershed event in his musical career - if “career” you can call it.
“I've only been playing the flute for four years,” said the bald man with deep smile lines creased in the corners of his eyes. “If you had told me before then that I could play an instrument, I'd have told you that you were crazy. Š The great thing about the Native American flute is that you can just shut your eyes and begin playing. It's so sublimely simple, yet hauntingly pleasing.”
As he spoke, LaRocque fingered one of the flutes in his hands. Consisting of nothing but a wooden baffle tied onto a smoothly finished wooden tube drilled with a few finger-holes, the instrument boasts a simple, organic appearance that is reflected in its deep, singing resonance.
Though the instrument's heritage traces deep into Native American history, most of Sunday's performers were not tribal members. According to R. Carlos Nakai, one of the organizers of the Tarkio workshop, the ability of people from a wide range of cultural backgrounds to tap into the instrument's spirit is an indication of the binding power of its music.
“This workshop has such a cross-section of cultures, but we are all Native Americans, because we love this place and we live here and we can speak a common language,” said Nakai.
In the world of Native American traditional music, Nakai is a superstar. He has sold more than 3.5 million records of his music, and has been nominated for six Grammy Awards along the way.
Sigrun Kuefner came to Sunday's concert especially to hear Nakai perform.
“I love his music, and think he is one of the greatest Native American flute players ever,” said the Missoula resident. “I am so excited to get a chance to hear him.”
But for those who organized Sunday's concert, the performance wasn't just about hearing a great master of the instrument play. John Sarantos, one of the instructors at the workshop, said he was equally excited to offer his students a chance to perform - some of them for the first time ever in such a public forum.
“Our main goal has always been to help our students share their music with others,” said Sarantos. “That's part of the healing aspect of the music. These players aren't here to become stars or make a living; they're here to develop their own inner peace and to share that. So having a concert like this just made great sense.”
At 2 p.m., Arlee-based flutemaker Ken Light took the stage to welcome the audience. Listeners sat rapt as Light performed two short, lyrical melodies on his flutes. Then, a parade of more than a dozen students took the stage to play melodies that they mostly made up on the spot.
“One of the things that we stress in our workshop is to play the music that's inside you,” explained Light from the stage. “That's why you don't see us come up here and open our sheet music. This is improvisational music.”
After the hour and 45 minute concert, several concert-goers milled around and chatted with the musicians and perused an array of flutes available for sale.
“It's such beautiful, meditative music,” said local resident Mike Johnson. “It was a long concert, but I stayed to the end because I couldn't leave, it was so haunting.”
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