"La Flauta Invisible" Jose Alberto "El Canario" Invisible Flute Transcription

Jose "El Canario" Alberto Justiniano (The Canary) is a salsa singer from the Dominican Republic who released his first album in 1984 and was given his seminal nickname for his legendary whistling abilities, which are displayed here.

He has a beautiful, clear tone, and a huge range (G#4 - F6), spanning almost two octaves, whereas most people only have about a one octave whistling range. This range fits perfectly into the ideal range of a standard flute, and as such can be conveniently studied and learned by anyone who is interested in flute, jazz flute, and latin jazz improvisation.

The notes themselves aren't very difficult, but his dynamics, articulation, syncopation, and laid back feel are elite level, and make this solo special. Not to mention the really fun bird call imitations he does in the middle! No wonder they called him "El Canario"!

"La Flauta Invisble" (The Invisible Flute) Full Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etZJPEVcpSU

This seems to be live only, as I could not find an official recording so I don't know the year or album it was originally released on. If anybody knows, feel free to comment and help us out with your knowledge!

As usual I tried my best to indicate as many of the details of expression as possible. As it is so often with the greats, it's not WHAT you play but HOW you play it, and in my opinion Sanborn is a master of expression and stands out even amongst the all-time giants in this respect. Enjoy and listen deeply!

As always, the notes on the page are just a fraction of, and a distant approximation of, the music itself. One must listen closely and repeat many times to get all the details of the nuance out. My only hope is that writing the notes out in this more detailed fashion helps people to HEAR more clearly. Please let me know what you think in the comments and don’t forget to check out my other transcriptions.