R. Carlos Nakai is the world's premier performer of the Native American flute.

Of Navajo and Ute heritage, R. Carlos Nakai was born in 1946 in Flagstaff, Arizona. From early youth he involved himself in the culture of his people and also lived and studied with the other North American tribes.

In 1973, at Northern Arizona University, originally trained in classical trumpet and music theory, Nakai was given a traditional cedar wood flute, as a gift, and challenged to see what he could do with it.

He mastered the traditional flute melodies and musical forms of the Plains and Woodlands tribes and soon began to adapt these ideals to fit a style of his own. While firmly rooted in and always sensitive to the traditions of the Native peoples of North America, Nakai nonetheless has explored new ways of presenting his flute music. His recordings reflect the duality of honoring tradition and developing new expressions.

His first solo album, "Changes", was released on the Canyon Records Productions label in 1983 and since then he has released over twenty-six more recordings with Canyon. In addition to his solo appearances throughout the United States, Europe and Japan, Nakai has worked with guitarist William Eaton, pianist Peter Kater, the classical ensemble Tos and various symphonies, founded the ethnic jazz ensemble, Jackalope, and released an album, "Island of Bows", with Wind Travelin' Band, a traditional Japanese ensemble from Kyoto.

In 1992, he recieved the Governor of Arizona Arts Award, being the first Native American so honored.

In 1994 his third collaboration with Eaton, "Ancestral Voices", was a Grammy Awards finalist in "Best Traditional Folk Music". Nakai earned a Master's Degree in American Indian Studies, from the University of Arizona.

He would later recieve an honorary doctorate, from Northern Arizona University.

Nakai sees his role as a performer of the traditional flute not to reiterate the traditional sounds, but to find new avenues of expression for the cultures of native peoples."