ABOUT THE ARTIST Ann Licater’s passion for the inspirational and healing music of the Native American flute was ignited at a powwow where she heard the beautiful call of a flute being played. Being an accomplished silver flutist herself, Ann followed that call to a booth where she purchased the first of many Native American and World flutes heard in her recordings Doorway to a Dream and Following the Call. On those albums, as in her healing concerts, Ann’s unique approach merges her intuition, spiritual perspective and traditional music background to create beautiful original melodies and inspired improvisational compositions. Her love of the wood and clay flutes led her to study with master flutist R. Carlos Nakai at the Renaissance of the Native American Flute, complementing her years of classical flute training at the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis, MN. Her passion for the flute is clearly heard through her beautiful, soul-stirring and healing music. Doorway to a Dream, Ann’s second album, released to rave reviews at the International New Age Trade Show (INATS) in July 2010 and has since won Amazon's Best Music of 2010: Top Ten New Age Albums," Best Native American Album for ZMR Music Awards, and numerous nominations including the 2011 Hollywood Music and Media Awards. The album presents both solo and collaborative tracks featuring Native American, world and silver alto flutes. Ann’s first CD, Following the Call, released in 2007 and was nominated Best Native American Album by radio programmers for the New Age Reporter (NAR) LIfeStyle Music Awards. It quickly became the #1-selling music CD at East West Bookstore, one of the largest body/mind/spirit bookstore in the United States. Ann’s music is featured on Sirius/XM Spa Channels, the nationally-syndicated radio show Hearts of Space, Echoes on Public Radio International, and nationwide on Soundscapes, a Music Choice cable radio channel. For Ann, one of the most meaningful expressions of Native American and World flute music can be experienced beyond the concert hall. Ann created and facilitates “Flute for the Soul” workshops, in which participants explore how contemporary replicas of ancient wood and clay flutes can be used as tools for personal discovery, spiritual practice and relaxation. By journaling, meditating and reflecting on an issue while listening to the ancient sounds of Native American and World flute music, she believes it is possible to tap into one’s intuition to discover more about oneself and one’s journey. One of the nation’s largest health providers, based in California, has engaged Ann as an ongoing workshop facilitator and performer. In concert, Ann performs on a dozen or more flutes made of wood and clay including a nose flute from Maui, a five-hole flute made from clay found in the Mayan region of Mexico, and a flute made of reclaimed redwood from a wine vat that once held Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon. When Ann performs, she connects with her audience by incorporating stories of origin about each of her flutes using her warm style and engaging stage presence. Ann enjoys performing in spiritual venues of all faiths such as Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, CA and Mission Santa Clara – one of the oldest missions in the U.S. – where she was a special guest artist of the San Jose Chamber Orchestra and The Choral Project during a sold-out holiday concert in 2008. She has graced the stage at international musical events such as the World Flute Fest at Carnegie Hall and Utah's Zion Canyon Art and Flute Festival, which honored Ann as a Rising Star in 2007. Ann holds a B.A. from University of St. Thomas, and a M.L.A. in Creation Spirituality from Naropa University. She resides in the San Francisco Bay area in Northern California. For more information on Ann’s albums, workshops and performances, which are booked through her Cul de Sac Mystic Productions, please visit www.annlicater.com ACCOLADES: Carnegie Hall Debut Sept, 27, 2008 at the 2nd Annual World Flute Fest in Weill Recital Hall. Guest musicians included Carol Alban, Taylor Eigsti, Matt Herskowitz, Marco Granados, George Cole, Robert Dick, et al. Best Native American Album nominee for New Age Reporter 2007 Life Style Music Awards. Top 12 New Age and Contemporary Instrumental Album - Bill Binkelman's (New Age Reporter) 2007 List Top 100 Album list for 2007 and 2008- New Age Reporter #1 Best Selling CD at East West Bookstore--largest Mind/Body/Spirit bookstore in the country Bill Binkelman- New Age Reporter says: "This is one beautiful and serene recording....if you enjoy Native-influenced flute music...this a must-have release." Nov, 2007. FULL Review below under "REVIEWS" "Sacred Moon" from "Following the Call" is featured on the nationally syndicated radio show, Hearts of Space (www.hos.com). The program #817, "Flute Rattle Drum...Space" was first broadcast on Oct 5, 2007. Hearts of Space can be heard on over 220 National Public Radio stations and on XM radio channel 77 seven nights a week. ALBUM NOTES Take a meditative journey with gifted world musician Ann Licater. These beautiful, original compositions and inspired improvisations played on Native American and World flutes resonate on a deep and soulful level. Use this CD to balance body/mind/spirit, gain access to intuition and as a tool for personal discovery while meditating, journaling or creating. The flutes used on “Following the Call” are from around the globe and seem to magically connect the listener in a meaningful and visceral way. Track #4, ANCIENT ECHOES is performed with a nose flute made of bamboo from the island of Maui. This musical tone-poem sounds like whales conversing. Track #5, SACRED MOON, is played on a Mayan ceremonial flute accompanied by a 400-year-old Tibetan metal bowl—the melody is hauntingly beautiful. Track #15, is played on a flute made of felled Redwood found within a Humboldt County forest in Northern California. Its deep voice and resonance takes the listener to another time and place. There is a lot to experience with this CD from the lilting forest-like dance on Track #8, THREE GRACES, to the deeply earthy and ambient sounds of clay flutes on Tracks # 2 and #12, NUMINOUS GATEWAY and BELOVED. Track #7, WIND AND BUTTERFLY, feels just like its title--a monarch floating through a breeze. Each of the 16 songs has its own special meaning along the journey, but the best way to listen to “Following the Call” is from beginning to end for a long, relaxing and inspirational meditation. FLUTES FOR PERSONAL DISCOVERY If you purchase this CD and carefully listen to it, you'll hear that each flute performed on "Following the Call" has unique properties that may affect you on different levels as you experience their resonate vibrations. Note how you are drawn to certain flutes or songs depending on what you are discovering about yourself at the time. Take the time to journal, meditate and reflect on an issue you would like to explore and see how this music helps you tap into your intuition so you can discover more about yourself and your journey. If you have stories you wish to share about how this music has awakened your intuition, opened a door for your personal discovery and creativity or helped balance your mind/ body/spirit, please write to: stories@fluteforthesoul.com REVIEWS Excerpt from Spirituality & Health Magazine May/June 2009 Music Reviews by Kristine Morris Ann Licater skillfully blends intuition and her classical training to craft inspirational and healing music in the Native American tradition. The music is improvisational and meditative and the quality of sound of each of these hand-crafted contemporary replicas of wood and clay flutes is impeccable. Licater says, “These original songs have always felt co-created with another source. This is the beauty and mystery of improvisational playing and the reason Native American-style flutes are the ideal instruments to express songs from within.” Licater suggests that certain of the compositions or instruments will have different effects upon listeners depending upon what each one is experiencing in his or her life at the time of listening. She recommends noticing these effects and journaling and meditating on what we would like to explore while allowing the music to release our intuition and aid us in the journey of discovery. Review by Jonathan Widran for All Music Guide (AMG): What the listener gets out of this stark, soul-stirring, 16-track collection by life-long silver flute player Ann Licater -- who runs a series of "Flute for the Soul" workshops and holds a Master's in Creation Spirituality -- is partially dependent on the open-minded heart and spirit he or she brings into the experience. Though it's geared towards the new age market, listeners who simply expect relaxing melodies and the kind of gentle rhythmic accompaniment that contemporary commercial new age offers may be a little surprised -- this one is pure flute, sacred instruments gathered from different exotic locales, registering different tones which are each geared towards connecting with our own frequencies. The casual flute fan -- or lover of jazz flute music -- may not be able to immediately tell the difference; it might seem just like brief improvisational pieces. But Licater's intentions run deeper, and aspires to offering a truly healing spirit from track to track. An understanding of each flute she uses helps in picking up these subtle differences, and her liner notes provide the names of the flute makers and their contact information. Her collection is impressing, from the nose flute from Maui that she uses on "Ancient Echoes" (which hypnotizes in its approximation of conversing whales) to the Mayan ceremonial flute she ensembles with a 400-year-old Tibetan metal bowl on "Sacred Moon." Intended for pure relaxation, deep meditation, and powerful inspiration, Licater also offers ways for those she touches to more deeply understand the subtle ways our souls connect with the instruments that drive her passion. Review by Bill Binkelman for New Age Reporter: "Few instruments convey more depth of feeling, haunting beauty and serenity than flutes made of earth and wood. When wielded by a talented artist, their primal mystery blends with ancient spirituality and the music can be amazingly transportive. Such is the case with Ann Licater’s Following the Call, an album on which the artist uses her wooden and clay flutes to deftly weave spells that comfort and enlighten the listener. This is one beautiful and serene recording. Without going any further in this review, if you enjoy Native-influenced flute music, you should consider this a must-have release. Despite not bearing overt resemblance to the duo Coyote Oldman’s music (the latter incorporate much more spatial sound tweaking and studio wizardry), Licater’s songs induce the same sensations of calm, reflection and ages-old memories. Other than the presence of a Tibetan singing bowl on “Sacred Moon,” Following the Call features only flute (although Licater’s double and drone flutes may fool you into thinking they are multi-tracked, as they did me). Due to the variety of flutes heard and the diversity of the artist’s compositions, I never once experienced any feelings of monotony. Of course, when I read the liner notes and saw that the CD was co-produced by the extremely talented multi-instrumentalist (and fellow Native-influenced flutist) Gentle Thunder, I wasn’t the least bit surprised. GT, as she is known, is the consummate musical perfectionist (as well as being a passionate and spiritual person) so her sonic fingerprints were easy to hear. The smartest move that Licater, GT and Brian Todd (the third co-producer and the engineer, too) made here was to have no songs last much over four minutes. These shorter “tone poems” impart more feeling and carry more emotional impact by not wending down the über-improvisational road (which sometimes leads to noodling and, in turn, leaves the listener feeling restless or even bored). By interchanging the wooden and clay flutes song-by-song, either alone or combined, Licater also manages to make the music more multi-dimensional than expected, as opposed to only sounding Native-influenced. Who knows what part of the modern (or ancient) world you may imagine yourself visiting. The opening title track sets the stage with a somber and moody wooden flute melody, followed by “Numinous Gateway,” a more ethereal and flowing clay flute number. “Spirit Dance” introduces higher pitched tones and a somewhat livelier mood, while “Unfolding Mystery” evokes the image of fog covering distant hills. “Wind and Butterfly” hints at Asian flavors blended with the more expected Native ones. Licater’s trills introduce a subtle but distinct playfulness, perfectly capturing the visual essence of butterflies dancing on the breeze. “Mystic Messenger,” played on a clay ocarina, is minimal by comparison and conveys a sense of ages-old spirituality. “Winged Prayer” has a palpable gracefulness to its gently lilting higher pitched notes, and the closing “Full Circle” ends the sixteen-track long album with a peaceful “traditional” Native-like piece on which Licater plays her double flute with dexterity and feeling. What’s all the more remarkable in Ann Licater’s case is that she actually received her formal musical training in classical (silver) flute (here in my hometown of Minneapolis at the renowned MacPhail Center for Music) yet she plays these wholly different instruments as if born to them. Following the Call is the ideal CD for those who desire acoustic music (as opposed to electronic ambient) which can help them center themselves, heal, relax, or de-stress. In addition, it would be perfect for late-night reading since at low levels it’s never invasive or intruding, yet the mood it establishes (of quietude and repose) will be felt nonetheless. I highly recommend this album and would love to hear more from this talented artist. Review by Jim Brenholdts for AWARENESS MAGAZINE: The Native American flute is an extremely deep acoustic instrument. It has inherent overtone and psychoacoustic properties that allow it to be a natural meditation and healing tool. In the hands of an expert, it transcends reality and ventures into surreality and beyond. Ann Licater is such a master. Indeed, she holds a master's degree in creation Spirituality and is a life-long silver flute player with classical training. Following the Call: Wood and Clay Flute Music for Meditation and Inspiration is her debut CD. It is on her own "Cul de Sac Mystic" label. A Tibetan singing bowl accompanies the flute on track five - Sacred Moon. The rest of the CD is Ann on wood and clay flutes. The music soars! It takes focused listeners to new heights and new depths. Each note vibrates within the heart and speaks to the soul. While Ann has a unique touch on the flute, she allows the resonance of the flute to be the tour guide. The tour is a spiritual path to the heavens - perhaps to Heaven itself. The only limits are those imposed by listeners. This is a breathtaking performance and a different perspective on joyous space music. It celebrates humanity's inner spaces. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of CD's of acoustic Native American flute music. This happens to be one of the better ones and it is highly recommended. MORE REVIEWS: "The quality of sound of each of these hand-crafted contemporary replicas of wood and clay flutes is impeccable"--Spirituality & Health Magazine- May/June 2009. "Soulful"--Organic Spa Magazine- Jan/Feb 2008 “Ann Licater's new Native flute CD "Following the Call" is both beautiful and meditative. It is also our third best-selling CD (after Loreena McKennitt’s Ancient Muse and Steven Halpern’s Chakra Suite) this quarter”—Lee Starkey, Music Buyer, East West Bookstore, Mt. View, CA- May, '07 “Ann’s flute playing touches the soul and makes it dance—surely a way for each of us to tap our wisdom”—Reynold Feldman, PhD- Executive Director Wisdom Factors International and author of three books on wisdom. “If you are in the healing or medical arts, a massage therapist, a therapist, or you are looking for music to serve as a background for your meditative or journaling time, I would encourage you to check out this album” -- Mike Oitzman leads the Northern California Flute Circle (www.naflute.com) and publishes a blog dedicated to the Native American Flute. You can read more from Mike at: naflute.blogspot.com NEWS: Ann Licater and Jeff Oster Collaboration: Ann Licater & Jeff Oster- “Amazing Grace”- For a New Era of Transformation. Ann Licater (Native American & World Flutes) and Jeff Oster (Flugelhorn) rehearsed together for the very first time within 24-hours of Obama's acceptance speech. Three days later on Nov. 8 2008, they performed in Mountain View, CA to a sold-out show. In honor of these transformational times, they performed "Amazing Grace"--a duet with Native American flute (heart of the people) and Flugelhorn (honor and heraldry). That night--after experiencing the overwhelming emotion of the audience--they set an intention that through their music they would honor the man who has opened the door to a new era for all people—Barack Obama. They look forward to their musical union that began during this historic election. Their duet arrangement of "Amazing Grace" was recently submitted for consideration to be performed by the duo at the 2009 Inaugural Ceremonies. Listen to Amazing Grace at www.myspacemusic.com/annlicater or www.myspacemusic.com/jeffoster. MP3 coming to CD Baby soon. Cul de Sac Mystic Productions P.O. Box 1423 Campbell, CA 95009 www.annlicater.com www.fluteforthesoul.com