It’s been years since I posted on my page, and it is about time I explained. I basically have stopped playing except for practicing now and then and an occasional performance at a religion service at my synagogue. The reasons are complex, age for one, a marriage for another, my lack of desirable performance opportunities, but most important the futility of recording any more CD’s. I have recorded 19 CD’s as a flutist, received a number of signs of recognition including nominations by the Jazz Journalists Association and Best Latin Jazz Flutist and Latin Jazz albums on a number of websites. I received positive reviews on my albums and my work is known by a number of flutist that I think very highly of and many people in the jazz and Latin community that I respect.

That brings me to the last reason I have stopped playing. In recent years, I have come to realize that the level of jazz flute playing exhibited by a few new players is far beyond anything I could have accomplished at any point in my career. The combination of classical training and modern jazz education has finally created some real monsters, the most amazing is a Turkish flutist who calls himself SharpEye, his name (without the Turkish punctuation) is Sarpay Ozcagatay.  He hasn’t recorded beyond the album that I reviewed and although a recent graduate of Berklee College of Music he is now on the faculty there and has published a three-volume flute method full of etudes that I could never dream to master (although I may try before I pack up the flute completely).

All that said, among my 19 albums is everything I ever hoped to record. And to record more would be redundant. I have a body of work that this page testifies to. Pretty much everything I recorded is up on youtube or soundcloud so people who want more than the brief samples on the page can hear it all. I have boxes of CD’s in my closet that I would be happy to give to anyone who wants them. Just email me and we can figure out how to get them to you.

I hope my music has made a contribution to jazz and to the flute. And trying to make the best music I could has been a reward in itself. If you click on my blog icon on the top of the page you will get the whole story from start to finish. Thanks for your interest in my music.

Mark

TRIO JAZZ BRAZIL  —  February 9, 2013; 9pm (1 set)
Mark Weinstein, flutes; Paul Meyer, guitar; Vanderlei Pereira, percussion.
Hat City Kitchen
459 Valley Street
City of Orange, NJ 07050
(862) 252-9147

“If you are one that thinks “delicate” when they hear ‘flute,’ forget that. Weinstein’s approach is full-bodied and surging and loaded with swagger and swing.”
– Mark Keresman, Jazz Improv

“Mark Weinstein…a man rightfully viewed as a leading light in the world of Latin jazz.”
– Dan Bilawsky, allaboutjazz.com

The good news is that the Latin Jazz Category has been reinstated thanks to the efforts of a number of musicians on the East Coast (Bobby Sanabria, Ben Lapidus ) and West Coast (John Santos, Mark Levine) as well as many others across the country.

My latest recording El Cumbanchero with arrangements by Aruan Ortiz is in the running for the first round of nominations. I hope you will go to my myspace page to check out the music and vote for it as Best Latin Jazz recording.

EL CUMBANCHERO  for the Best Latin Jazz Album, category 35, #045.

“It’s hard to walk into a style with a clearly defined lineage of great instrumentalists and then try to bring your own voice to the forefront. While the flute has plenty of space for creative interpretation in the jazz world, the role of the instrument has been spelled out through years of history in the Cuban charanga orchestra. When Mark Weinstein brought together the Cuban charanga with jazz improvisation, he faced the responsibility of respecting the instrument’s long history in the music while asserting his personality. Weinstein certainly isn’t a newcomer to blending jazz ideals with thick Cuban traditions – his ground breaking album Cuban Roots brought jazz into the world of Santeria rhythms. Armed with gorgeously intricate arrangements from pianist Aruán Ortiz, Weinstein delivered a memorable performance that brought the best of the two musics together in a highly artistic blend.”
– Chip Boaz