Flute is the new celebrity instrument
OrchestrasSir James Galway reports that he was ‘thrilled to be able to share a Christmas message to talented and inspiring flutist, Lizzo. Lizzo is encouraging a whole new wave of young players around the world.’
The pop singer makes no secret of her tootling skills. Nor does the French footballer Mbappé.
Here’s an all-time list of power flute players:
1 Frederick the Great
2 Sarah Palin
3 Sir Keir Starmer
4 Kylian Mbappé
5 Halle Berry
6 Alanis Morisette
7 John Coltrane
8 Roger Daltry
9 Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales
10 Lizzo (responding below to James Galway’s message)
My reaction: https://t.co/J8BlIml37O pic.twitter.com/FdmYfajUxv
— FOLLOW @YITTY (@lizzo) December 26, 2022
1) OK, the master of mass marketing himself, James Galway, surely knew that if he tweeted a message to Lizzo that it’d be retweeted millions times more to her fans than if he had just tweeted the same video but addressed to the world in general from just his account.
2) Calling Lizzo a flautist is like calling me a rapper, ok? It’s not because I can recite exactly two verses from a rap song from the 1980s that I can rap by any definition of the word.
1) How dare James Galway draw attention to his own flute virtuosity! 2) just because you’re a bad rapper doesn’t mean you can’t call yourself a rapper, I think that has been demonstrated repeatedly
*So* tempted to say the only good rapper is a dead rapper (and there are plenty of those). But I shan’t.
“She was classically trained as a flutist by Claudia Momen for 8 years, from the age of 10 until she graduated Alief Elsik High School in Alief, Houston in 2006, where she had started rapping. In college, she studied classical music concentrating on flute at the University of Houston.”
Lizzo performs live, on her records and the red carpet. Check yourself….
“The Minnesota-by-way-of-Houston artist played in marching bands from 8th grade until she graduated University of Houston, where she majored in classical flute performance and blew, as she once said, “the baddest piccolo in the land.” She has since “snuck” the flute into all releases, from her 2013 debut Lizzobangers up to her most recent EP Coconut Oil, and frequently performs with the instrument live. She even started a #fluteandshootchallenge for her followers, now a well-populated Instagram tag.”
https://www.papermag.com/lizzo-flute-haters-2619430172.html?rebelltitem=6#rebelltitem6
Today on Instagram, Lizzo, whomst we do not deserve, addressed such cretins in a “PSA for the weirdos that think I have the TIME to fabricate a flute back-story, RENT a flute to tour with and PRETEND to play. Bitch, I’m a full time artist. I been on this flute shit, read my old interviews ho! Enjoy this F natural.”
“Okay so I just saw there are people who are, you know, doubting that I’m a classically trained flutist, all these videos are fake, we got people doubtin’ me. Back when I was an artist that had like ‘Batches & Cookies’ or whatever, they didn’t give a shit what I was doing or what I was actually talented at. And I just really think that’s really a sign that I’m finally poppin’!”
Thoroughly:
“I’mna celebrate by putting my flute together and actually blowing notes out of it, so you hoes can shut the fuck up. This is Sasha flute. This is an open-hole C flute, a Muramatsu, look at the B foot. Wow, she knows a lot about flutes! Guess she didn’t study it in college.”
And mercilessly:
“And now, I’m gonna play my favorite note in the entire scale, F. F Y’ALL.”
Class act. We should be so proud – our new culture is gonna be great!
Educate yourself:
During college, as a Cougar, Lizzo played flute in the Spirit of Houston Marching Band. On that recent visit back, she surprised current band members by simply walking in – and playing an impromptu solo.
They surprised her right back, performing her song Good as Hell. It was great fun for all involved, but then, band always was for Lizzo.
“I always had so much fun in band, that was my favorite part of school,” Lizzo said. “I was like ‘Can I just go to band school?’ That’s why I became a music flute performance major.”
From the Univ. of Houston:
https://stories.uh.edu/2020lizzo-s-rise/index.html
Lizzo is the recipient of a number of awards, including three Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Soul Train Music Awards, a Billboard Music Award, a BET Award, and a Guinness World Record. At the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards she received eight nominations, the most for any artist that year, including for Album of the Year for the deluxe version of Cuz I Love You, Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Truth Hurts”, winning the categories Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Jerome” and Best Pop Solo Performance.
At the 2020 BET Awards, Lizzo became the first act to be nominated in both the R&B/pop and hip-hop artist categories in the same year.
In 2021, Lizzo was given honorary membership into Tau Beta Sigma National Honorary Band Sorority, Incorporated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Lizzo
Which means what? She has commercial success, that’s all.
She actually earned a bachelor’s degree from a second-tier music school in a second-tier city, which qualifies her to play in any community orchestra or to teach general music in schools.
Coltrane? How about Herbie Mann, Hubert Laws, Jeremy Steig, the 1930s pioneer Wayman Carver, to name a few.
I agree that John Coltrane seems out of place on this list. If it were about 10 special or unique flutists, the names you’ve listed are excellent choices, along with Eric Dolphy, who actually played flute with Coltrane.
Given, that I think the list is more about ‘Celebrities’ whose fame has brought attention to their flute playing way beyond what their skills with the instrument could produce – I think of a few others to replace John Coltrane on the list.
Perhaps astronaut Ellen Ochoa who played a short flute concert from space about 40 years ago; Athlete/Actor Terry Crews who does occasional flute bits in his role as host of AMERICA’S GOT TALENT; or even Andrea Bocelli, who -like Lizzo- now often plays the flute at his concerts.
That’s cool. Thanks for sharing.
Amazing to have watched this cultural cliff dive in real time. From Rampal to the degenerate melanin manatee in one generation.
This stinking ,racist,disgusting,bodyshaming comment should be banned instantly….If not,it should be made visible to a wider audience as an example of a degenerated mind.
His comment lacked nuance, but other than the “melanin” insult I’m not sure I disagree with his overall sentiment.
I didn’t realize that having melanin is an insult. I took St. Nick’s message as a little naughty, alliterative fun. Never underestimate the Liberal’s desire on for racism where it doesn’t exist.
Whilst I don’t support your characterization of the musician in your terms, I understand your frustration with the debilitating game of identity politics and the fetishization of race.
Wonderful news. Now USians can focus on playing flutes to help distract them from reality. Bread and circus
I always liked Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull but he was influenced by Roland Kirk and some might say that Anderson’s multi-phonics are simply the result of poor flute technique- but I still like him! Probably not in the ranks of great flute players though…!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c_ufaxeSTs
Lizzo is inspiring millions and millions of young people to explore and appreciate the classical repertoire for flute!
For decades, people have been saying things like: ‘xxxxx is inspiring millions of young people to play/listen to xxxxx’. No evidence is ever presented.
If true, classical concerts would be packed with young people.
Haven’t you heard of Twoset Violin?
Kids don’t like Beethoven. Change your programming if you want younger audiences.
“The only way for classical music to survive is for it to stop playing classical music”
Yeah. Right. Wake up…
Pretending that this degenerate slob is a “musician” in any way that compares to what truly gifted professionals accomplish is a debasement rather unique to our benighted time.
Lizzo is the recipient of a number of awards, including three Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Soul Train Music Awards, a Billboard Music Award, a BET Award, and a Guinness World Record. At the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards she received eight nominations, the most for any artist that year, including for Album of the Year for the deluxe version of Cuz I Love You, Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Truth Hurts”, winning the categories Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Jerome” and Best Pop Solo Performance.
At the 2020 BET Awards, Lizzo became the first act to be nominated in both the R&B/pop and hip-hop artist categories in the same year.
In 2021, Lizzo was given honorary membership into Tau Beta Sigma National Honorary Band Sorority, Incorporated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Lizzo
Is this supposed to be impressive? The synthetic music industry, which produces poisonous slop ad awards its own. A BET award? Guinness? Awards for hiphop? You might as well tell me she won a crown from Burger King.
Go on the Karl, go and win yourself the same amount of awards 🙂 If it’s not impressive, you must think it’s easy, right? Go on! We’re waiting with bated breath.
I’d rather be this “degenerate slob” touring the world performing my own songs than a “gifted professional” earning poverty wages and playing somebody else’s music to a half empty hall.
Bravo! It takes courage to admit you’d rather be a high-rent whore than a priest.
I’d rather be paying a mortgage than rent, and rather my audiences be screaming my name than clapping in near-silence.
Jimmy has been sending musical greetings over whatever means available since at least 1981, which is when I watched him call a friend of mine with whom he wished to become further acquainted and whose birthday it was. (JG had enjoyed working with my friend in the past.) As I held the telephone, he played Happy Birthday across the ocean to my friend (who quickly also became his friend.)
And what if the above twitter was simply Jimmy gifting his music to another musician? There IS this side of Jimmy.
That person looks like she needs a doctor.
You sound like you need a friend.
Not impressive. Now in an american “pop” “singer” “rapper” what not can play the contrabassoon, that will definitely be an accomplishment. And yes, Gallowsway is coat tail riding with the message abt flutes.
No Ian Anderson? What’s your problem?
And yet, they play only one note at a time. Harpists laugh.