Dan’s Flute Bio (OK. As Sheree so wonderfully put it, here is "the story".)

Daniel Raymond DiCicco, started out life at a very young age.

Before I was born, my parents moved to Montana from New York after World War 2 to escape the prejudices that surrounded their marriage - a German/Italian American (Dad) and an English/Scot/French American (Mom).

My Brother Dave, my Sister Barbara and myself were raised in a loving family totally devoid of ANY knowledge that certain people could hate each other for no logical reason. We Kids grew up playing Cowboys and Indians, but it never made any difference who played whom. The only Blacks in our town were on the university's basketball team, so we had no reason to hate them. I NEVER heard either of my parents say anything derogatory about Japanese people, even though my Navy Dad fought against them in the Pacific.

The Boy Scout troop that performed the best at Summer Camp when I was a counselor was comprised of kids from the Northern Cheyenne and Crow Indian Reservations in southeaster Montana: the kids whose ancestors did in Custer. Ever since I can remember, I thought the Indians in our country were victims of greedy European-based capitalists.

In general, I grew up interested in things "indigenous" (existing or growing naturally in a region, native). I always liked Indian stuff. My parents had in their collection of 45 RPM records a series of Native American songs. I distinctly remember some of them to this day. I can remember the words to a Plains Indian song that comes into my head when I least expect it. It was during those formative years that I first heard the “Zuni Sunrise Song”, “Rise, arise, arise,” followed by an answering echo.... It is really very cool.

My Brother Dave took me to the Taos Pueblo in the summer of 1991. (What a spiritual place!) From one of the shops on the south side, came wonderful flute music out into the plaza. It drew me in. I asked about the music and a man behind the counter told me it was his son, John Rainer Jr. While he was telling me this, I noticed a rack of post cards and one was a photo of the very man talking to me. In the photo he was holding an armful of beautiful walking canes. They were decorated with metal bands, multi-colored ribbons and carved designs. I asked him about the photo and he told me that it was taken when he was Governor of Taos - with a walking cane that was given him by the President of the United States. (I want to think it was Jimmy Carter.) The other canes in his arms had all been given to previous governors of Taos by the corresponding presidents, dating back to - oo-oo, come on, memory - maybe Theodore Roosevelt. I bought the post card and his son's cassette, humble tokens of a very wonderful experience. I played the cassette almost into oblivion.

My facts may not be accurate, but I can only rely on my memory. When I play my "tapes" back, what I just wrote you is what I remember. I returned to visit my brother and the Taos Pueblo a few years ago, but the Rainers' shop was not there. By then I had misplaced my cassette of John Rainer Jr.’s beautiful flute music, and I thought his music was lost. This whole portion of my story has a continuing part a little later, so just “park” this part, for now.

Then in 1993, Sheree bought me an inexpensive Native American (style) Flute kit from the Northern California “Trees of Mystery” tourist shop. I assembled the kit and played that flute off and on for six years. When Sheree's daughter Juli gave birth to Callista on May 21, 1999, a song came out of the flute that, seven years later, is still Callista's. When Juli gave birth to Briana on September 23, 2005, my flute “hatched” another song that became Briana’s song.

In October of 2005, Sheree and I were in the music store Yabobo in Nevada City that had Native American Style Flutes for sale. I picked one up and gently blew into it. The tone that came out of that flute was so rich that I could not believe it. But the flute was rather expensive, so I put it back.

A few weeks later, Sheree gave me that flute for my birthday. It was a five-finger pentatonic “G” made by Jim Pappas of Stardust Flutes. That flute grew on me like no other musical instrument I ever had. (I played trombone from the 4th grade, followed by a little piano, ukeleles, guitars, harmonicas, and a Native American style drum. In fact, my trombone kept me from going to Viet Nam - I fulfilled my military obligation by playing trombone in the 46th Army National Guard Band.) I played my new flute at night on our front porch, while I fed the dogs dinner, and on weekend mornings while I fed the dogs their breakfast.

Well, as time went on, the neighbors started hearing me, and they became interested in my flute. But that is their story, so they will have to tell it....

Anyway, for Thanksgiving 2005, we loaded our dogs into the van and drove up to visit Juli, Callista and Briana. We had a great time and I played my flute for “the Kids.” They loved it.

On the way home, Sheree took me to the “Trees of Mystery” tourist shop, where she had purchased my first flute 12 years earlier. Along with the tourist shop, they have a wonderful Indian Museum, that we toured - while our doggies waited so patiently in the van. Touring the museum, I noticed flute music being played over their sound system. I asked about it, and they showed the CD, and we bought it. On that album was a most amazing flute song, “Cold Wind” by somebody named Mary Youngblood. (If I were not so excited about writing all this down, I would end here and state, “The rest is history.” But I cannot do that to myself.) By the time we got home, about 9 hours later, we had played that CD constantly, it was SO GOOD.

A few weeks later, we were back at Yabobo. I mentioned how much I liked my flute, and the clerk told me the maker was local, and gave me a copy of his instruction sheet. Then I asked if they had any Mary Youngblood CDs, and she showed me a whole row. She then said, “Mary’s local, you know.” I stood there with my mouth open. She continued, “She won a Grammy, you know.” My open mouth was drying out. She started rubbing salt in my wound, “She gives lessons, you know.” I felt the lights going out. Then came the “coup de grace” when she asked, “Would you like one of her business cards?” Sheree almost had to call 911. I crawled out of the store to get some fresh air....

When we got home, we both started Googling Mary Youngblood, Native American Flute music and makers. It was during those frantic days of searching that I stumbled across a listing of music by John Rainer Jr. My heart almost stopped, as I found “Zango Music” that carries John’s CDs. I ordered them immediately and attached a note about how happy I was to find them and how John’s Father sold me the cassette in 1991..... Claudia wrote back and told me that John Jr.’s son Lee is her contact and that John Jr. is gravely ill. I since then Googled John Rainer Sr. and found out that he died, but was a major factor in the Indian Education Movement across the Southwest.

Oh, and why am I telling all this? Because on John Jr.’s second CD, which I never heard, is a rendition of the “Zuni Sunrise Song”, the same I had heard almost 50 years earlier. Also on John’s second CD is a song featuring his Father, singing a solo. It is so cool, I can’t tell you.

And Mary Youngblood? Well, we saw her in concert in Grass Valley on February 4 of this year and met her after the show. And for Valentine’s Day, Sheree gave me a one-on-one music lesson with Mary on March 6. I had a blast playing for Mary, jamming with her and playing 4 or 5 of her 250 flutes.

In the meantime, Sheree and I have been trying to deal with our new disease - “Flute Fever”. And there is no known cure. We bought more flutes from Jim Pappas, Neighbor Dick finishes them for us, as Dick and Sue are now infected with the disease, as are Robin and BG. Every day we infect more people.

The story of Loping Wolf is now in the form of this Web page. And before I start telling you about everyplace our Flute Fever has taken us, I need to break it up into different pages to keep things easier to manage. (The story behind the name “Loping Wolf” is a whole book in itself....)

So, that is my flute bio, to date. More to come in the next half hour....

And as they say in flute circles,

Blessings,

-Daniel White Buffalo
of Loping Wolf
March 31 2006
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