http://www.abqjournal.com/north/284640north_news02-12-08.htm

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Taos Pueblo Musician's Cd, Recorded Under a Pseudonym, Honored With Grammy

By Kathaleen Roberts

Journal Staff Writer

As if we didn't need more proof of Grammy myopia, Taos Pueblo flutist
Robert Mirabal's win for an album produced under a pseudonym clinches it.

Mirabal won for best album in the Native American music category for
"Johnny Whitehorse: Totemic Flute Chants," a CD he recorded to fulfill a
recording contract with Boulder's Silver Wave Records.

"At the time, the record label didn't have the funds to support a large
contemporary album with a full band," Mirabal said in a telephone interview
from Taos.

"Out of frustration, I said, 'What do I need to do, change my name to
Johnny Whitehorse?' "

The record company bought the ruse, even though they knew Whitehorse was
Mirabal's nom de plume.

"I was never signed (before then)," Mirabal said, "I would license my work
to them. That's funny, isn't it? They signed a character for a five-album
deal."

"We were joking at the time, 'What if he wins a Grammy?' " he contined,
laughing. "Everything was based on a very tongue-in-cheek creation."

The flutist/composer and soon-to-be-novelist was quick to emphasize that he
took the music very seriously. But the sounds go well beyond Taos Pueblo,
coalescing into a world music vibe. The album infuses Frisian, Pentatonic
and Aeolian scales with Middle Eastern and North African influences played
on everything from an Australian didgeridoo to Japanese flutes, set to a
hip-hop beat. Mirabal said he was inspired by the indigenous people he's
met throughout the world.

"We are all connected to the land by something almost supernatural," he
said.

Santa Fe's Larry Mitchell played guitar and keyboards and co-produced the
release.

"The interesting thing is we won in a traditional category, but it's world
music," Mirabal said.

The native category is still in its infancy; the National Academy of
Recording Arts & Sciences launched it in 2000. The judges rejected
Mirabal's drum kit-and-bass-pumped "In the Blood" from the nominations,
saying it was too contemporary.

Grammy officials told Mirabal they lacked enough native membership for a
contemporary category. In a letter to Mirabal manager Andrew Flack, senior
awards director Bill Freimuth said the current description covers only
recordings containing "substantial traditional elements."

But Mirabal isn't bitter.

"Ultimately, I think this is appropriate because it does create a
dialogue," he said. "Some people have taken a license to represent Native
Americans without knowing what they represent. (And) it's very difficult to
market a Native American artist who has a different identity than the
mainstream pop musician."

Mirabal rocketed to national fame in 1998 when PBS aired "Spirit: A Journey
in Dance, Drum and Song." The flutist composed the soundtrack using
traditional flute and percussion.

Mirabal was at the Taos home of his manager, Andrew Flack, watching the
ceremonies stream on the computer, when he learned he had won. The
recognition took him by surprise.

"We were up against one of my colleagues and friends, R. Carlos Nakai," he
said. "When the lady opened the envelope, I did the 'when the team wins at
the last shot'- I stood on the couch with my arms in the air."

After releasing "Johnny Whitehorse," "In the Blood" and "Pueblo Christmas"
in 2007, Mirabal decided to take a break and pen his memoirs in a novel
format. "Running Alone in Photograph" is slated to be published in May.

The win marks Mirabal's second Grammy nod; in 2006, he won for "Sacred
Ground."

"We have a certificate on that one because there were several artists," he
said. "We have it in the pueblo shop."

He hasn't decided what to do with his latest trophy.

"I'll give it to Johnny Whitehorse," he said, "and he'll probably melt it
down and make it into a bridle."