Greg Jones has done it again. If this flute maker had ANY interest in actively marketing his creations, I would be in VERY serious trouble. This may well be the finest eagle flute I have ever seen or heard. I can’t get anywhere near the level of skill and creativity necessary to build such a piece. I talk to this builder on a weekly basis, have done so for two or three years, yet we have never met. I shipped him enough Whitebait Kauri for a baseball bat, and three months later, he sent me this flute to market in his behalf, on my website. Greg Jones is an artist who, like me, is mildly eccentric. He is a published, lecturing, world recognized Master of the Chinese kung fu martial art of Son Soo , a Shaolin discipline, and is also a Guinness record holder for bungee jumping, having broken the distance record while skydiving. He has spent a lifetime jumping from planes and mountains, generating a full page list of broken bones, as well as a full page in “Ripley’s believe it or not” for his efforts. He has never been a stranger to publicity, until now. As a flute maker, He flies under the radar, and I am honored to be chosen to represent his remarkable flute building efforts.
In paraphrasing Greg, this flute is crafted in the spirit of the Bald Eagle, as follows: The wood is 50,000 year old “Whitebait” Kauri indigenous to New Zealand. The whitebait is a visual chatoyance or characteristic of only the RAREST of this ancient wood. The flute is 29-3/4 inches in length, with a 1-1/8” bore diameter.
The mouthpiece is shaped from moose antler ivory, the portion nearest the base of the antler, with brass wafers laminated to accent the yellow in the eagle’s beak. Greg indicates “A mature bald eagle has white tail feathers, so the ivory lent itself well to the theme”. The block is a combination of Kauri, ivory, and brass, consistent with the mouthpiece. The feather is carved from the same section of antler as the mouthpiece, and although separate pieces, they originated from one antler.
The flute was tuned at precisely 72 degrees F. and the playing holes, from the bottom up are F#, G#,A#, B, C# and D#. Greg adds “I didn’t sign or write the key note on the flute. I refrained from this for two reasons: I wanted to keep in the spirit of the symbolic freedom of the eagle, and not brand it, and secondly, I just couldn’t bring myself to detract from this beautiful wood.” “My name is Greg Jones of Wingshadow Flutes, and I hope your music finds peace and joy, flying with an eagle”. Again, I must add……………listen to the sound file. RH.