NightDancers

by Mark Kirby
Monday, March 17, 2008

Whether it has to do with the philosophy of better living through habit, thought or magical action, things that are associated with "New Age" are theoretically supposed to have some basis in spirituality. Yet much of this spiritually is lightly rooted in the shallows of corporate productivity techniques or power-of-positive-thinking type truisms with some pseudo eastern promises for dressing.

Then there is the New Age philosophy that harkens back to something ancient, even primordial. This is especially visible in the music. So much of what is called New Age music is made from artificial ingredients, from canned sounds created by synthesizers tuned and programmed for maximum vapidity; and voices, always the voices, high and breathy with a thin, grating tone that someone somewhere decided signified the celestial. But there are musicians who create spiritual and contemplative music based in the traditions and sounds of antiquity, from nations and cultures with long shadows such as Africa, China, Japan and India.

Riding on this track is the group NightDancers, a duo consisting of flautists Gera Clark and John Sarantos, who perform original songs based on the folkloric styles of several Native American tribes. The music on their CD Montana Crossings is both ethereal and earthy, reflecting the unitary, all-is-one world view common to Native American cosmology. The songs are mostly built on simple three to seven note motifs that go through different permutations. The flutes - NightDancers plays twenty-five different kinds of these wooden, handcrafted instruments - blend together and dance, their music resonating in what sounds like a valley high up in the mountains or a cathedral (kudos to engineer Jim Anderson of AVATAR Studios in NYC). The effect of the music is meditative and dreamy. The music itself is never static or boring; in fact its intricacies reveal themselves with repeated listening. The titles evoke, perhaps invoke, aspects of the natural and supernatural worlds, which many indigenous tribes say are one and the same.

The song titles and how the pieces are composed and arranged reflect this thinking. Musically these pieces evoke the objects and ideas behind the titles as well. The opening track "Spirit Winds" starts with soft, breathy tones that rise from silence in unison. Then one flute states a simple theme that is answered by a counter melody from the other flute; they go back and forth, each musical voice getting time and space alone while connecting with the other. The title track starts with bursts of fluttery, echoing sounds, followed by a long-toned plaintive melody calling to mind Montana’s terrain of mountains and wide-open plains. One characteristic element of all the songs is how the flutes will hit consonant harmonies that ring out dramatically, and dissonant unison lines that buzz gently yet also sooth in an odd sort of way.

On "Butterfly Dance" the flutes play lines that gently glide like the butterfly itself, answering and echoing each other in way that suggests the "round" form found in European folk and classical music. On "Turtle and Bird," NightDancers take evocation literally. One flute moves in long-toned, deliberately paced turtle lines while the other play’s light riffs that flit and hop like our aviary brethren would. As the piece continues, the unitary theme comes through as the two flutes move together, conversing in similar voices that stills maintain their original animal character. "Elk Medicine" is a gentle wail of pleading and prayer and is one of the strongest tracks on the record. It is also an example of healing music. The opening cry is answered by melodies that create a sense of quietude and peace. And healing.

Ms. Clark and Mr. Sarantos take the healing aspects of their music literally. Clark, a RN, has been teaching people how to play the flute for meditation and stress relief. She also started New York City's Miracle House Flute Circle where she works with cancer patients using music for healing. Sarantos teaches flute workshops all over the country.

Montana Crossings creates music that is relaxing and interesting, that can be played either as background or as an immediately engaging listen. - MusicDish

Marisa Maack
Volunteer Coordinator
Miracle House

I just wanted to personally THANK YOU for taking the time and effort to come to the Miracle House apartments and teach and share the flute with our guests. I have gotten wonderful feedback and they are really looking forward to the next Circle. - Miracle House

by Ben Johnson
Thursday, November 15, 2007

This may be the most unique CD release party we've ever written about.

Not because it's at the Every Thing Goes Book Cafe, or because it's free, though those little facts never hurt. No, this one's different because, instead of an indie rock band or rap artist, it's NightDancers: A Native-American flute music duo that rocks something like 25 different flutes and writes original, contemporary songs.

Jethro Tull, eat your heart out -- there's a new flute-toting band in town.

Actually, it was Tull who first inspired John Sarantos, a 59-year-old teacher who just moved to the city from Milwaukee, Wisc., to get into music.

"I was so impressed with Ian Anderson that I went out and bought a silver flute," says Sarantos. "But after two weeks, my instructor said I was tone deaf and wouldn't teach me anymore."

Messed up, right? That's OK, because Sarantos didn't give up, and years later, he became a connoisseur of Native American flutes, and eventually met up with Gera Clark, a resident of Silver Lake who was also getting into the traditional instrument.

"There's a few different stories that go with the instrument -- the woodpecker had made the holes, or the termites hollowed it out," says Clark. "I played silver flute for years, but when I picked up the Native-American flute, I had to sort of throw out everything I'd learned. You can get the tonalities of different animals out of it. It's a very relaxing instrument -- and it's also taught me to be an instrument of peace."

There are apparently two different kinds -- one is woodlands native, and one is plains native -- but with what Clark and Sarantos are calling a renaissance of the Native-American flute, there's been new innovations and explorations. Sarantos says that he's discovered only about five different early 1900s recordings of what may or may not be traditional Native-American flute music, but most of the NightDancers stuff is purely original.

By now, you know as well as we do that these two players -- who after meeting at a workshop in Montana began to jam together over speaker phone -- are serious about their craft. Clark could tell you the entire history of the flutes, which come in many different shapes, sizes, and lengths, and Sarantos, who describes the instrument as "very haunting," helps Clark lead regular flute circles and teaches the instrument.

The duo's record, "Montana Crossings," is filled with the duo's original music recorded at NYC's Avatar Studios by avant jazz guru Jim Anderson.

"We feel like a lot of the songs that come to us are channeled through us," says Sarantos. "With the CD, we had ideas of the beginning, middle and end, but we also improvised a lot of the melodies."

NightDancers play at 8 p.m. tomorrow at the ETG Book Cafe, 208 Bay St., Tompkinsville. Admission is free. For more information, call 718-447-8256, visit etgstores.com/bookcafe or nightdancersmusic.com.

Contact AWE music writer Ben Johnson at bjohnson@siadvance.com or MySpace.com/statenislandrocks. - Staten Island Advance Weekly Entertainment

by John Tenting
Tuesday, December 4, 2007

With the use of original contemporary Native American flute songs, NIGHTDANCERS have put together an unusual collection of music that is rarely heard. History proves that the Native American culture used music as a way to produce healing qualities. With the debut release of, "Montana Crossings" Gera Clark and John Sarantos have recaptured that soothing and mystical art and preserved it for eternity. Using a collection of twenty-five flutes creates a combination of sounds that would otherwise be stale in comparison. On a special note, 10% of the physical sales of this cd will be donated to buy flutes for Butch Hall Flutes for Cancer Patients. This pair uses the tonal quality of each flute to harmonize with the other. The clarity and sound of the wood is amazing. This is a mood inducing, thought provoking collection of instrumental arrangements that create a relaxing sound to the ears. These songs were recorded impeccably at Avatar Studios in New York by Jim Anderson and mastered with that same attention to detail by, Fred Kervorkian. My words can not do justice to the feeling these recordings produce. Being part Native American myself, I felt connected to these songs and sounds. From the inventive, playful interaction of the instruments on "Turtle and Bird" to the solo flute sounds on the beginning of, "Windhorse". - World Voice News

(The Official Publication of the
International Native American Flute Association)
by Jesse Ramos

Listening to Night Dancers Gera Clark and John Sarantos play their flute duets is an evocative, healing and transporting experience. The titles of their selections along with their flute music bring the listener to Rocky Mountain Big Horn, where you soon are gazing at Bitterroot Sunrise mountain range, and then witnessing a Butterfly Dance. You are taken Into the Night by Spirit Winds where you fall into a Forest Dream. The titles are as evocative as the music they name. This CD is an extraordinary collection of smooth and beautiful melodies. Two flutes playing duets that soar, glide, dance and mystify. There have been scientific studies on how music can be healing, soothing and comforting to the soul. Montana Crossings posses all these properties and I predict word of mouth will make this CD one of the best selling flute compilations.

Whether you play this beautiful contemporary Native American flute music in the morning, mid day or evening you are magically transported to another time and space. I first played Montana Crossings early one morning and I was compelled to stop my morning musings and listen closely to the haunting melodies and I erroneously thought this is a great morning CD. A few days later I played it one evening and I thought these exquisite flute sounds are the perfect accompaniment to a day’s end, they usher in dusk and is the quintessential background music for a sun setting peacefully. Then one hot August afternoon I played it and I was an eagle, soaring through Montana’s skies with wings brushing mountains majesty. As you listen to this album you will grow to appreciate the different flute sounds, the subtleties, richness of soft notes, tender melodies, haunting whispers and sounds that skip through the air like tossed pebbles in a lake rippling into a hundred circles of flute sounds.

Night Dancers Gera Clark and John Sarantos have created a wondrous gift of Native American flute music rarely heard played so beautifully. Take the journey with this astonishing music.

Montana Crossings by NightDancers is available from CD Baby, Itunes, and Digstation.com.

NightDancers website: www.nightdancersmusic.com - Voice of the Wind Volume 3, 2007