Speak/Sing Native™ Artist Archive
R. Carlos Nakai
Diné (Navajo)
“I consider myself a traditional flutist…. Tradition is what people do now, rather than looking back at historic or romantic times. Our compositions deal with how we are as people today.” - R. Carlos Nakai, Indian Country Today, 1995.
“Raymond Carlos Nakai was born in Flagstaff, Arizona on April 16, 1946, to a family of Navajo and Ute descent. His father Raymond Nakai served as the Chairman of the Navajo Nation from 1963 to 1970. As a child he would audition tapes for a Navajo language radio show hosted by his parents; in doing so, he heard a recording of William Horn Cloud, a Lakota musician from the Pine Ridge Reservation, playing the flute. When he enrolled in a high school on the Colorado River Indian Reservation in Arizona, he sought to play the flute in the school band, but was assigned the cornet instead, which, he later said, he was less interested in.
“His musical interests took a turn when he was given a traditional cedar flute as a gift and was challenged to master it. As an artist, he is an adventurer and risk taker, always giving his musical imagination free rein. Nakai is also an iconoclastic traditionalist who views his cultural heritage not only as a source and inspiration, but also as a dynamic continuum of natural change, growth, and adaptation subject to the artist’s expressive needs.
“Nakai’s first album, Changes, was released by Canyon Records in 1983, and since then he has released forty albums with Canyon plus additional albums and guest appearances on other labels.” (source Artist website)
Professional Information
Albums on Canyon Records:
1983 - Changes
1985 - Cycles
1986 - Journeys
1986 - Jackalope, with Jackalope
1987 - Earth Spirit
1988 - Carry the Gift, with William Eaton
1989 - Canyon Trilogy
1990 - Winter Dreams, with William Eaton
1991 - Spirit Horses, with James DeMars
1992 - Emergence: Songs of the Rainbow World
1992 - Ancestral Voices, with William Eaton
1992 – Weavings, with Jackalope
1993 - Boat People (A Musical Codex), with Jackalope
1993 - Dances With Rabbits, with Jackalope
1994 - Native Tapestry, with James DeMars
1994 - Island of Bows, with Wind Travelin' Band, Shonosuke Okhura and Oki Kano
1995 - Feather, Stone & Light, with William Eaton and Will Clipman
1995 - Awakening the Fire, with Will Clipman
1996 - Kokopelli's Café, with The R. Carlos Nakai Quartet
1997 - Two World Concerto, with James DeMars
1997 - Inside Canyon de Chelly, with Paul Horn
1998 - Mythic Dreamer
1998 - Red Wind, with William Eaton and Will Clipman
1999 - Inside Monument Valley, with Paul Horn
1999 - Inner Voices
1999 - Big Medicine, with The R. Carlos Nakai Quartet
2000 - Ancient Future, with The R. Carlos Nakai Quartet
2000 - In a Distant Place, with William Eaton, Will Clipman and Nawang Khechog
2001 - Edge of the Century, with AmoChip Dabney
2001 - Tribal
2002 - Fourth World
2003 - Sanctuary
2004 - In Beauty, We Return
2005 - People of Peace, with The R. Carlos Nakai Quartet
2005 - Our Beloved Land, with Keola Beamer
2006 – Reconnections, with Cliff Sarde, William Eaton and Randy Wood
2007 – Voyagers, with Udi Bar-David
2008 - Talisman
2008 - Guadalupe, Our Lady of the Roses, with James DeMars, Isola Jones, Robert Breault, Carole FitzPatrick and Robert Barefield
2010 - Dancing into Silence, with William Eaton and Will Clipman
2016 - What Lies Beyond
2020 - Nocturne
Albums on other record labels:
1988 - Sundance Season (Celestial Harmonies)
1988 - Desert Dance (Celestial Harmonies)
1990 - Natives (Silver Wave Records), with Peter Kater
1992 - Migration (Silver Wave Records), with Peter Kater, David Darling, Paul McCandless and Mark Miller
1993 - How the West Was Lost (Silver Wave Records), with Peter Kater
1994 - Honorable Sky (Silver Wave Records), with Peter Kater, David Darling, Paul McCandles and Mark Miller
1995 - How the West Was Lost Volume Two (Silver Wave Records), with Peter Kater
1996 - Improvisations in Concert (Silver Wave Records), with Peter Kater
1998 - Winds of Devotion (EarthSea Records), with Nawang Khechog
2001 - Through Windows & Walls (Silver Wave Records,) with Peter Kater
2014 - Ritual (Mysterium Music), with Peter Kater, Paul McCandless, Jaques Morelenbaum and Trisha Bowden
Albums on Canyon Records:
1983 - Changes
1985 - Cycles
1986 - Journeys
1986 - Jackalope, with Jackalope
1987 - Earth Spirit
1988 - Carry the Gift, with William Eaton
1989 - Canyon Trilogy
1990 - Winter Dreams, with William Eaton
1991 - Spirit Horses, with James DeMars
1992 - Emergence: Songs of the Rainbow World
1992 - Ancestral Voices, with William Eaton
1992 – Weavings, with Jackalope
1993 - Boat People (A Musical Codex), with Jackalope
1993 - Dances With Rabbits, with Jackalope
1994 - Native Tapestry, with James DeMars
1994 - Island of Bows, with Wind Travelin' Band, Shonosuke Okhura and Oki Kano
1995 - Feather, Stone & Light, with William Eaton and Will Clipman
1995 - Awakening the Fire, with Will Clipman
1996 - Kokopelli's Café, with The R. Carlos Nakai Quartet
1997 - Two World Concerto, with James DeMars
1997 - Inside Canyon de Chelly, with Paul Horn
1998 - Mythic Dreamer
1998 - Red Wind, with William Eaton and Will Clipman
1999 - Inside Monument Valley, with Paul Horn
1999 - Inner Voices
1999 - Big Medicine, with The R. Carlos Nakai Quartet
2000 - Ancient Future, with The R. Carlos Nakai Quartet
2000 - In a Distant Place, with William Eaton, Will Clipman and Nawang Khechog
2001 - Edge of the Century, with AmoChip Dabney
2001 - Tribal
2002 - Fourth World
2003 - Sanctuary
2004 - In Beauty, We Return
2005 - People of Peace, with The R. Carlos Nakai Quartet
2005 - Our Beloved Land, with Keola Beamer
2006 – Reconnections, with Cliff Sarde, William Eaton and Randy Wood
2007 – Voyagers, with Udi Bar-David
2008 - Talisman
2008 - Guadalupe, Our Lady of the Roses, with James DeMars, Isola Jones, Robert Breault, Carole FitzPatrick and Robert Barefield
2010 - Dancing into Silence, with William Eaton and Will Clipman
2016 - What Lies Beyond
2020 - Nocturne
Albums on other record labels:
1988 - Sundance Season (Celestial Harmonies)
1988 - Desert Dance (Celestial Harmonies)
1990 - Natives (Silver Wave Records), with Peter Kater
1992 - Migration (Silver Wave Records), with Peter Kater, David Darling, Paul McCandless and Mark Miller
1993 - How the West Was Lost (Silver Wave Records), with Peter Kater
1994 - Honorable Sky (Silver Wave Records), with Peter Kater, David Darling, Paul McCandles and Mark Miller
1995 - How the West Was Lost Volume Two (Silver Wave Records), with Peter Kater
1996 - Improvisations in Concert (Silver Wave Records), with Peter Kater
1998 - Winds of Devotion (EarthSea Records), with Nawang Khechog
2001 - Through Windows & Walls (Silver Wave Records,) with Peter Kater
2014 - Ritual (Mysterium Music), with Peter Kater, Paul McCandless, Jaques Morelenbaum and Trisha Bowden
Traditional, jazz, classical
Musician, songwriter, singer, recording artist, educator
Video
- R. Carlos Nakai, (flutes and vocals), Will Clipman (percussion), AmoChip Dabney (keyboards, sax and vocals), Johnny Walker (bass)
R. Carlos Nakai Quartet @Native American Music Awards (NAMA) - R. Carlos Nakai, (flutes and vocals), Will Clipman (percussion), AmoChip Dabney (keyboards, sax and vocals), Johnny Walker (bass)
Venue: Native American Music Awards
Format: Official
Duration: 3:06
RCNQ promotional clip
- R. Carlos Nakai (flutes and vocals), Will Clipman (percussion), AmoChip Dabney (keyboards, sax and vocals), Johnny Walker (bass)
R. Carlos Nakai Quartet - R. Carlos Nakai (flutes and vocals), Will Clipman (percussion), AmoChip Dabney (keyboards, sax and vocals), Johnny Walker (bass)
Venue: RCNQ promotional clip
Format: Official
Duration: 1:04
- R. Carlos Nakai & Dawn Avery
Indigenous Indigena - R. Carlos Nakai & Dawn Avery
Venue: Live at Montgomery College
Format: Live
Duration: 5:30
Tribal Information
Diné (Navajo)
also known as "Navajo"
"The Navajo Nation extends into the states of Utah , Arizona and New Mexico , covering over 27,000 square miles of unparalleled beauty. Diné Bikéyah, or Navajoland, is larger than 10 of the 50 states in America.
"Visitors from around the world are intrigued and mystified when they hear the Navajo language – so, too, were the enemy during World War II. Unknown to many, the Navajo language was used to create a secret code to battle the Japanese. Navajo men were selected to create codes and serve on the front line to overcome and deceive those on the other side of the battlefield. Today, these men are recognized as the famous Navajo Code Talkers, who exemplify the unequaled bravery and patriotism of the Navajo people.
The Navajo Nation flag
"The Navajo Nation Flag, designed by Jay R. Degroat, a Navajo from Mariano Lake, New Mexico, was selected from 140 entries, and was officially adopted by the Navajo Nation Council on May 21, 1968 by Resolution CMY-55-68.
"On a tan background, the outline of the present Nation is shown in copper color with the original 1868 Treaty Reservation in Dark Brown. At the cardinal points in the tan field are the four sacred mountains. A rainbow symbolizing Navajo sovereignty arches over the Nation and the sacred mountains. In the center of the Nation, a circular symbol depicts the sun above two green stalks of corn, which surrounds three animals representing the Navajo livestock economy, and a traditional hogan and modern home.
"Between the hogan and the house is an oil derrick symbolizing the resource potential of the Tribe, and above this are representations of the wild fauna of the Nation. At the top near the sun, the modern sawmill symbolizes the progress and industry characteristic of the Navajo Nation's economic development." (source Tribal website)