7 Flute Covers of Future's 'Mask Off' #MaskOffChallenge

Rapper Future's eponymous 5th album includes the song "Mask Off," a track released in 2017 that soared in popularity and has arguably reinstated flute as a feature in hip-hop (though some trace the re-emergence to Atlanta trap music of the 2000's). 

The track's main sample is flute lick from the 1976 recording of "Prison Song" by Tommy Butler:

This spurred a number of flute renditions of the lick in April 2017, which quickly spread online as the #MaskOffChallenge. Listen to these, they are very good: 

(Warning: some explicit lyrics, if you listen hard enough ... !)

1. Elena Ayodele

2. Ashley Michelle

@mochacurlie89

3.  Fabihah Siddique

4. Ariana Piknjac

@arianaflute

5. Jef Kearns

6. Bevani Flute

7. Michael Nguyen

**Bonus: This compilation video :)

Jean-Pierre Rampal playing Mozart's flute concerto No. 2 in D Major

A flute classic playing a flute classic! World-famous French flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal playing Mozart's flute concerto No. 2 in D major, k. 314, telecast by Radio-Canada on Feb. 24, 1966:

Olga Zmanovskaya, Gabriel Faure's "Sicilienne"

A classic, beautiful piece of flute repertoire, gorgeously played on both flute and harp. Olga Zmanovskaya on flute, Elizaveta Bushueva on harp:

Mathilde Calderini, Claude Debussy's "Syrinx" and Gabriel Faure's "Fantasie"

Stunning rendition of both Debussy's "Syrinx" and Faure's classic "Fantasie" by Mathilde Calderini, from the Concert Revelations Classique Adami 2012, Festival Pablo Casal Prades: 

Emmanuel Pahud, Claude Debussy's "Syrinx" for solo flute

An absolutely beautiful rendition of a classic flute solo at the Berliner Philharmonie. As one comment on this video mentions, the performance manages to be both warm and haunting:

ABRSM Flute Grade 2 Success!

Congratulations to classical flute student Betty O. for her amazing effort in preparing for the ABRSM Flute Grade 2 exam, in which she earned the grade of Distinction!

Keep up the great work, Betty! :)

Music Help's Iceland's Teens Live Healthy Lives

Would you like to help your teenager or pre-teen spend leisure time in a healthy way?

Take a lesson from Iceland!

In 1992, the country of Iceland found in a national survey that 25% of its teenage population smoked daily, and 40% had gotten drunk in the past month. Contributing factors to unhealthy lifestyle choices were stress and boredom.

On the advice of psychology professor Harvey Milkman, Iceland decided to give its youth something better to do--music, dance, hip hop, art or martial arts.

Today:

"Today, Iceland tops the European table for the cleanest-living teens. The percentage of 15- and 16-year-olds who had been drunk in the previous month plummeted from 42% in 1998 to 5% in 2016. The percentage who have ever used cannabis is down from 17% to 7%. Those smoking cigarettes every day fell from 23% to just 3%."

Music enhances your life! Start today :)

Yusef Lateef's The Gentle Giant

Here's a YouTube rendition of Jazz legend Yusef Lateef's full 1972 album, The Gentle Giant. A standard for all lovers of Jazz:

Small But Mighty: The Chieftains' Whistle Duet

A clip from The Chieftain's 21st Anniversary Concert, featuring Sean Potts and Paddy Moloney on whistle, joined by Matt Molloy. By some miracle, the red-topped whistles are perfectly in tune and delightfully rich in musicality. A gem:

Harry Bradley and Brid Harper with Maud Miller, Donegal Reel

An excellent treatment of two classics, Maud Miller and the Donegal Reel, by legends Harry Bradley on flute and Brid Harper on fiddle at Scoil Gheimhridh Ghaoth Dobhair, Co. Donegal, 2014-15.

Two Reels from the Mulcahy Sisters

A lovely set from the Mulcahy sisters, Louise and Michelle, at the 2013 Gathering Festival; excellent tunes and instrumentation:

Medicine By Day, Music By Night: 2016 Ceoltoir Og na Bliana

The 2016 Young Musician of the Year, Orlaith McAuliffe, on how she came to play fantastic flute music. 

With 96k views on the second video, suppose you can't go wrong!

Pitching Perfect: Ah Surely and The Copperplate

A delightful treatment of the reel Ah Surely into The Copperplate by John Blake, playing as part of The Truckley Howl, on what appears to be an F-flute. 

Get ready to listen to this one on repeat:

Reel Perfection at the Riches of Clare

Have a listen to this truly smashing set of reels from the June 2016 Riches of Clare concert, featuring Elaine Hogan, Padraig Rynne, Tara Breen and Conor Crimmins.

Tommy Guihan with a Blast of Reels

Here's an excellent set of three reels featuring flute legend Tommy Guihan, culminating in a rousing version of The Galway Rambler. Enjoy!

Seamus Tansey and Jim Murray on Traditional Flute Styles

Here's an excellent (and hilarious) piece of footage of Seamus Tansey and Jim Murray demonstrating two Irish flute styles from south Sligo. 

What do you think--which shtyle comes out on top?

Molloy & Galway: Two Flute Greats Square Off!

Two greats of traditional Irish and classical flute--soft-spoken demigod and Co. Roscommon native, Matt Molloy, and reknowned Ulsterman, Sir James Galway--square off in this 1977 Irish television segment. 

Have a listen to these two bastions of skill!